Encouraging Work In Progress

 

Given the challenges many faced by historic buildings in Portland, it is refreshing to see work on two important restorations steaming ahead, two years after their plans were approved by the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission.

One is the Troy Laundry building, at 1025 SE Pine St., a rare industrial project dating to 1913 designed by Portland architect Ellis Lawrence.  Lawrence at the time was in the early stages of became a busy, productive and prominent architectural career.

 The other is the New Fliedner building, at SW 10th Ave and Washington St., which is downtown Portland’s best example of a Zig Zag Moderne design on its two public facades.  The building as we see it today was designed by Richard Sundeleaf, although the structure itself dated to 1906.  Until Sundeleaf’s colorful makeover, it had been the home of the Eastern Outfitting Co., one of Portland’s major apparel retailers of the era.

 Astute followers of Building on History will recall that both these renovation projects were described here as they went through historic design review by the landmarks commission in June and August of 2020, respectively.  Months passed while final plans, financing and building permits were achieved.

 The half-block Troy Laundry building was the culmination in Portland of the efforts of James F. Tait, a Scottish immigrant, who opened a laundry service in 1889.  As years passed and his business grew, Troy Laundry amassed as many 10,000 individual and business clients in the era before the presence household washing machines became, well, automatic. 

 Tait also expanded to Seattle, and is believed to have operated the largest commercial laundry business on the West Coast.  He was an early adopter of the 8-hour working day and provided a lunchroom for employees. +-

 Laundry operations folded, so to speak, in 1980.  The renovation will retain the historic characteristics of the public facades and the interior will be converted to a private athletic club.  The restoration is paired with construction of a 6-story residential building with 132 units and ground-floor retail abutting Troy Laundry on the north.

If all goes well, the 5-story, quarter-block New Fliedner building will be returned to its earlier status as an office building with ground-floor retail.  The office entrance will be through the stylishly-decorative portal on Washington Street.

 The building’s Zig Zag Moderne styling is a variety of Art Deco.  It varies from other Art Deco structures with its frequent cross-hatched designs at the main entry, at the cornice and on banding above the first floor.  Zig Zag lacks the rounded building edges intended to give Art Deco buildings an aerodynamic feel.  When finished, it should be a colorful and eye-catching sight.

 The New Fliedner was going through design stages at the start of the COVID pandemics.  The pandemic’s negative effect on retail and downtown office spaces has been dramatic.  Given the investment and attention to detail in the restoration, one hopes that the New Fliedner can still have a long and successful presence. 

-----Fred Leeson

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