Portland State University has filed its intention to tear down the Parkway Manor, a 90-year-old former apartment building, now used for student housing, that faces the South Park Blocks at 1609 S.W. Park.
The quarter-block Parkway Manor site is important because it is a public face on one of Portland’s most scenic, peaceful, charming urban spaces. The Parkway is not a designated landmark, but is listed on the city’s historic resources inventory. As a result, PSU must provide a 120-day window before demolition in case a buyer or someone comes up with a plan to save the building or move it. Since the land is owned by the state university system, any option besides demolition is moot.
A PSU framework plan adopted in 2010 suggests that new buildings on the Park Blocks will be smaller than in other parts of the campus in deference to its park setting. In past decades, the Portland Design Commission has paid rigorous attention to new buildings facing the Park Blocks, in an attempt to retain their calm, green, pedestrian-friendly ambiance. One hopes the same close scrutiny will be given to whatever new building PSU proposes.
PSU has served preservation in the past by restoring and finding
new uses for Shattuck Hall, a former elementary school, and Lincoln Hall, which
started life as Lincoln High School. The
framework plan makes a reference to historic buildings when it states, “While
substantial new development will occur within the expanded University District,
Portland State recognizes that historic resources are valuable cultural assets
that contribute to the University District and, as such, should be protected.”
Both the Parkway Manor and
Jeanne Manor were designed in a Zig Zag Moderne style, which falls into the larger
Art Deco realm. These buildings replaced
grander mansions that earlier lined the South Park Blocks. Their brick facades, attractive entrances and
human scale helped create the atmosphere of gentle urbanity that has remained
along the South Park Blocks for the intervening decades. These graceful older buildings set the
context for newer ones -- also heavily relying on complimentary brick facades –
added in the 1980s with Design Commission scrutiny.
----Fred Leeson
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fredleeson@hotmail.com
Not every building needs to be saved. I'm ok with turning into an academic building. It's a college campus and most of the other buildings have already been removed. We need to support and grow our local university. So sorry, I disagree with you on this one.
ReplyDeleteSo sad these lovely buildings arent saved. My grandmother lived at the Jeanne Manor for years, it had beautiful fixtures and amazing walk in closets, everything was trimmed with wood finishes. Nothing like the low quality builder grade finishes used in modern construction. Once they are gone they will never be recreated. Very sad indeed.
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