Good News in Albina

 

Good news appears to be in the offing for one of Northeast Portland’s most attractive landmark buildings, the  Multnomah County Library's Albina branch located at 216 NE Knott Street.

A renovation plan nearing a final proposal would restore the interior of the Spanish Renaissance-style building to make it the children’s reading room connecting to a proposed larger, two-story new library building facing one block to the south on NE Russell.

 The historic Albina branch was built in 1912, under the design of a young architect, Ellis Lawrence, who went on to have an impressive career both in academia and private practice. It was one of seven branch libraries funded in the early 20th Century by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.

 For a time, it sat in the heart of Portland’s Black community, that later was sundered by the Interstate-5 freeway and the unsuccessful Emanuel Hospital urban renewal project.  “This is what the community remembers,” said Chandra Robinson, an architect for LEVER Architecture who is working on the renovation and expansion plan.  “They’d like to see their grandkids have the same experience" in the old library.

Given all the neighborhood changes, the Albina branch was moved to the first of five subsequent locations in the mid-1950s.  In 1954, the interior of the historic building was serious impaired by closing in arched portals in the main room.  Those portals will be reopened under the renovation plan.

(LEVER Architecture) 

 The building “has some beautiful detailing,” Robinson told the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission recently.  Robinson’s firm is expected to return with a final proposed library plan in upcoming weeks.

The Carnegie-funded building served as a library until 1960, when the branch was first moved to other locations.  The historic building was returned to library service a year ago, but has been hampered somewhat by COVID-19 restrictions.

 As it stands now, the new building facing on Russell would have two stories, and would be connected to the historic building by a hallway allowing direct access between the old and new buildings.  Because of a change of grade in the block between Russell and Knott, the new “taller” building would hardly be visible behind the historic entrance on Knott.

 The new building would include the reading room and stacks for adults as well as library offices and a room for community use.  The new building would replace a warehouse and bindery that was erected behind the historic building in the 1950s.

 Though Ellis Lawrence’s firm designed more than 500 buildings during his 40-year career in Portland, the Albina branch was his only library building.  He also was founder of the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts, and served as its dean from 1914 to 1946, commuting on a regular basis between Portland and Eugene by train.

 The original attractive plaster ceiling and much of the woodwork details remain in the Albina branch, and presumably will be incorporated into the restoration.  One would hope the plan will include replacement of the standard fluorescent lights with something stylistically closer to the originals.  According to a construction schedule, the new building and renovation of the historic structure should be finished late in 2024.  

 ----Fred Leeson

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