A Grand Addition on Grand Avenue

 

Opening of the new Literary Arts location in Southeast Portland was a home run for the non-profit association as well as for historic preservation and the little-known East Portland-Grand Avenue National Historic District.

The building at 716 SE Grand Avenue, now recognized as a “streetcar commercial” architecture, opened in 1904 as Strowbridge Hardware.  It held a few other businesses over the years before its façade was completely shrouded by a fiberglass skin to become a furniture store.

 Fortunately, the fiberglass skin did little to harm the original brick face that laid hidden for more than 40 years until its removal in 2018.  Literary Arts, an organization that promotes books and authors, bought the building in 2022 and began the gradual makeover we see today.

It is a pleasure to enter the long-vacant building today.  Bora Architects and Interiors, working with a fee, opened up the two-story building and laid bare its timber intestines.  The ground floor is primarily a sales space for an inventory of 12,000 books.  A loft above provides classroom space and room for small author-related events.  Plans call for the addition of a coffee shop sometime down the road.

Bora left intact a few interesting historical element, including the inlaid tile at the entrance dating to when the store was operated by W.P. Fuller Paints.

In its day, the original brick façade was typical for an early-20th Century storefront.  Today it joins a handful of other historic commercial buildings on the same block, indicating that Grand Avenue was indeed the “Main Street” of old city of East Portland.  East Portland merged with the City of Portland in 1891.

 The attractive pedestrian addition of Literary Arts to Grand Avenue is a sign of renewed interest in the area.  Negotiations are in progress for the sale of another vacant historic building directly across the street, and a non-profit housing agency is working on plans for upgrading the old Clifford Hotel – now a residence for low-income tenants – around the corner on SE Morrison Street.

The Architectural Heritage Center also sits just across the street from Literary Arts on Grand Avenue.  The two non-profit agencies can make an attractive intellectual magnet for people interested in books and Portland’s architectural history.

When "modern" was a mistake (Portland Historic Inventory)

---- Fred Leeson

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