Architectural preservation clearly wasn’t a priority when
Portland Public Schools remodeled Jefferson High School in the early 1950s.
As the image above shows, the renovation sheared off portions of
the original roof, blew out mullioned windows, obliterated artistic
architectural details, erased a balustrade, eliminated some arches and scraped off decoration at the main entrance.
Further, the addition of an all-weather running track funded
with neighborhood support near the original northern front entrance means that primary
entrance to the 1909 building is largely unusable, pushing normal access to the east and west ends. The track and football field will remain in
their present locations under any new plan.
What remains is shown below.
“I weep at what was done to it in the 1950s,” said Peggy
Moretti, a member of the Portland Historical Landmarks Commission. Still, keeping what’s left of the old
building is important to the Jefferson neighborhood and alumni.
“People remember what it was when they went to high school,”
said Matthew Roman, another landmarks commissioner. “They want to go back to it.” Given
the passage of time, few Portlanders will remember the building’s original
appearance. One proposed option of tearing down everything on the site and starting over appears to be dead.
The landmarks commission will have some jurisdiction over
the major redesign of Jefferson now underway because the school is a
contributing element of the Piedmont Conservation District.
The renovation project is the most difficult design
challenge yet for the school district in its on-going renovation of Portland
high schools. The Jefferson campus is a
hodgepodge of buildings added in 1928, 1953, 1954, 1964 and 1968 on a 13.56
acre site. “All of these buildings are
in various states of mild disrepair,” said Chandra Robinson, a principal of
Lever Architecture, a firm working on the renovation plan. Many of the additions no longer serve the
purposes for which they were built.
Architects and school district planners have held several
community meetings about the Jefferson project.
As yet, however, there is no firm recommendation for what the plans will
look like. Robinson more details likely
will be available for the landmarks commission next spring. She estimated that construction would start
in 2024.
Elements not likely to change include the original building,
a gymnasium added in 1964 and the track and football field. Many of the other buildings likely will be
razed, to make way for new classrooms, science labs and performance spaces.
Robinson said the design will be intended for a student body
of 1700. Jefferson’s current enrollment
is about 700.
Suggestions from the landmarks commission about renovation
of the 1909 building included looking for architectural details that may have
been covered up instead of destroyed; adding some historic elements to the east
and west entrances; possibly restoring a more original look to the north façade
windows; making new additions more attractive to the facing neighborhood
streets. The commission also seemed to
favor creation of an open courtyard south of the 1909 building.
Sadly, restoration of the 1909 building will not achieve the
preservationist’s goal of honoring design, materials and craftsmanship of a
particular era. As Robinson put it, the
school district is not expecting to replace what has been gone for so
long.
----Fred Leeson
Join Building on History’s mailing list by writing “add me”
to fredleeson@hotmail.com
This is a massive misuse of taxpayer money. This simply makes no sense. They are going to build a school for 1700 students when only 700 students are attending located in an area thats not growing? The should instead sell it to PCC and let them expand their Cascade Campus.
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