A West Hills Gem Earns a National Honor

 

It comes as no surprise that Portland’s newest addition to the National Register of Historic Places was designed by the city’s most famous architect, Pietro Belluschi.  What adds to its historic gloss was an unusual twist that made the house his own residence for his final 21 years.

Belluschi in 1947 designed a single story, 2,500-square foot home at the end of a narrow dead in  Northwest Portland’s Hillside neighborhood for Portland psychiatrist D.C. Burkes and his wife, Genevieve.  Its flat roof, massive windows and clean, unadorned structure exemplified the new International Style, combined with Belluschi’s appreciation and love for Oregon’s native woods.

As the picture above suggests, the exterior at the entrance was not imposing.  One had to go inside to be swept up by the bright natural light, amazing views, honest use of materials and comfortable human scale that always seemed to be common in Belluschi’s work.

Looking through from back to front (Brian Libby photo)

During a career that spanned more than 60 years, Belluschi had a hand in some 1,000 different buildings, ranging from houses, to churches, office towers and even a small shopping center.  Portland is blessed to be home of several.

 From 1951 to 1965, Belluschi served as Dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning in Boston, while also keeping busy as an architect and consultant.  Meanwhile, the Burkes couple no doubt relished living in their house with expansive views of downtown and wooden louvers under the east-facing windows that allowed cool air to swoosh up the hillside and cool the house in hot weather. 

 Other unusual features included bedroom ceilings of woven wood strips and a fishpond that traversed under the outer wall from the front entrance into the living room.  (A screen subsequently was installed to keep out four-footed creatures that managed to swim their way inside unannounced.)

Eastern facade with louvers under windows (Brian Libby photo)

After the death of her husband, Genevieve Burkes reached out to Belluschi who had returned to Portland from Boston.  She said planned to sell the house, and if he was interested in buying it, she would sell it to him for the same price she and her husband paid in 1948.

Talk about a bargain! Belluschi was quick to accept. It served as his residence until his death in 1994.

Turns out Belluschi also gave serious thought to expanding the house by adding a second story.  His son Anthony, an architect who had practiced extensively in Chicago, talked him out of it.  Anthony Belluschi said a second story would harm the proportions of the house both inside and out.  Instead, Anthony Belluschi later added a single-story addition in the back yard. Anthony and his wife, Marti, are the current owners.

Readers not familiar with Belluschi’s work in Portland can see the Equitable/Commonwealth Building at 421 SW 6th Ave.; the former Oregonian Building at 1320 SW Broadway; the Portland Art Museum Belluschi Building, 1219 SW Park Ave; and St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Zion Lutheran Church and Central Lutheran Church. 

A visitor needs to see the inside of the Burkes-Belluschi House to appreciate its design, which represents a complete architectural break from the traditional imposing houses and mansions in the same neighborhood.    Fortunately, Restore Oregon, a statewide historic preservation organization plans to tour the house on May 10.  Details will become available at restoreoregon.org.

 ---Fred Leeson

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Progress Update on Historic Statues

Lincoln as he once stood in the South Park Blocks 

After a few years of near silence about several Portland monuments toppled or damaged during political protests dating to 2020, encouraging news is beginning to unfold after discussions with citizens, historians and artists.

 A progress report delivered to the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission on Feb. 24 suggests that sculptures of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt could be returned to their South Park Block homes sometime this year.

 Darion Jones, assistant director of the city Office of Arts & Culture reported on the following statues:

--Abraham Lincoln: Repair work was started last November to repair damage when the statue was felled.  The bronze alloy in the statue’s base turned out to be brittle and must be replaced before the statue can be returned.  Jones said a return date has yet to be determined, but it could be within a couple months.

--Teddy Roosevelt: Conservation work expected to take 18 months could be finished by year’s end.  Historians recommended by the Oregon Historical Society will write interpretive and historical commentaries to accompany Lincoln and Roosevelt.

--George Washington: This statue was toppled from private property.  Jones said it requires fewer repairs and a new site for it has yet to be determined.  Siting will involve community discussions, he said. The Washington statue also will have interpretive historical information added, wherever it eventually lands.

--Promised Land: This sculpture showing a pioneer couple and a son is being deaccessioned by the city because of its failure to include any other historical communities that inhabited Oregon.  The inclusion of weapons and the son holding a Bible suggests a religious preordination for taking over the state.  Jones said the city of John Day has expressed interest in the statue and that it likely will be sent there.

 --Harvey Scott: This statue will not be returned to its former location in Mt. Tabor Park.  The pioneering newspaper editor wrote disparagingly about Blacks and the city plans to deaccession the statue.  Jones said the process is more complicated because it was located in a national historic district, so additional procedures will be required.

--York: After Scott was toppled, a so-called anonymous “guerilla” bust of York, a Black slave who played important roles in the Lewis & Clark Expedition, was placed on the pedestal that formerly held Harvey Scott.  The York statue subsequently was destroyed beyond repair.  Jones noted that there is substantial interest in recreating the York statue and finding a suitable location for it.  One suggestion has been in Northwest Portland where a street already bears his name.

Figuring out what historical figures deserve to be honored and where "has been very complicated, very emotional for the city," said Kimberly Moreland, a landmarks commissioner.

 Community meetings and planning for the statues has been funded by a $350,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, Jones said.  He added that $100,000 also has been identified in city funding for repairs and installations.  If that amount is insufficient, Jones said public funding right be necessary given a major budget shortfall the city currently faces.

 The landmarks commission meeting did not address return of the David P. Thompson elk statue and fountain.  A city website said the statue and fountain should be reinstalled sometime this year, but no definite date is listed.

 ---Fred Leeson

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Could a New Public Market Survive Downtown?

 

Market would use ground floor of the Selling Building, left, and two-story building, right

Plans are certainly aggressive for a James Beard Public Market that would contain a restaurant, numerous fresh food stalls, a bookstore, cooking classes and an event space in the 600 block of SW Alder Street.

The proposed market would use the ground floor of the Selling Building at the corner of 6th and Alder, and an adjacent two-story building and basemen that the market has purchased next door.

 A successful new food venue surely would be a big “plus” for a downtown struggling with far fewer workers and many more shrouded retail windows than it had just a few years ago.  But even if the ambitious plans come to pass, will they succeed?

 History provides us with some interesting analogs.  Long story short: Success is not a slam dunk.

Beard Market supporters mention the wonders of Seattle’s Pike Place Market that has been a fresh food retail paradise – and tourist attraction – since its founding in 1909.  Interestingly, a young grocery clerk named Fritz Grubmeyer lived nearby and saw the value of the market from the outset.

 The young Grubmeyer later shortened his name to Fred G. Meyer and became one of the primary operators of the Carroll Public Market that on Portland’s SW Yamhill Street.  Meyer ran some stalls himself under sidewalk tarps and leased stalls to others between SW 1st and 5th Avenues.   From its beginning in 1914 with the city government’s approval, the market was a success.  Alas, the rise of the automobile put increasing pressure on use of Yamhill Street and City Hall came up with a new plan.

Carroll Market on Yamhill Street, 1925

The Carroll Public Market closed in 1934, which marked the opening of the huge Portland Public Market building that stretched 600 north and south at the foot of Yamhill Street at Front Street.  Alas, four lanes of traffic separated the building from the heart of downtown.  Fred Meyer and many other sellers at the Carroll Public Market refused to move to the new building.

 Meyer, of course, took his growing business indoors.  Over the decades he built a chain of Fred Meyer stores that added clothes and many other retail categories, making it the first “one-stop shopping” complex in the Pacific Northwest before his death in 1978.

Public Market Before its Failure

Meanwhile, the Portland Public Market limped along for a few years before closing as a failure.  The building was leased for military use during part of World War II, and then was sold to become home of the Oregon Journal newspaper for several years.  Ironically, the building was purchased by the city government and then demolished in 1969 to help make way for the new Tom McCall Waterfront Park.

 Which brings us full circle.  Could the new James Beard Public Market succeed?  For the good of downtown Portland, one hopes the answer would be “yes.”

But on the other hand, will many workers be returning downtown when the pandemic has taught them the benefits from working on computers at home?  Will many people desire to live downtown when it is less attractive than it used to be?   Can the market survive or thrive with competition from seasonal farmers’ markets in the South Park Blocks?

 Someday, history will reveal the answers.  A proposed opening date has yet to be determined. 

 ----Fred Leeson

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Any Chance of Saving Them?

Montgomery Hall

Blackstone

Sadly, the absence of any official landmark status means that two residential buildings that Portland State University plans to tear down will not have any public hearing as to whether they could be saved and refurbished, instead.

 Regardless, at least a few people who care about the PSU campus and its physical role in downtown Portland’s urban fabric have registered complaints.  Odds of the two buildings’ survival is slim, indeed.

News of the planned demolitions inspired Chet Orloff, a former executive director of the Oregon Historical Society among many other civic “hats,” to send his concerns to PSU’s president, Ann E. Cudd.

His letter, repeated here with his permission:

“Dear President Cudd:

“I am writing to you today as a former faculty member of PSU, Executive Director of the Oregon Historical Society, a member and leader of several city, state, and federal organizations, and (even) as a former student at BU, UO, and PSU.

“As you might imagine, I am deeply concerned with the possibility that Portland State may demolish Blackstone and Montgomery halls. While it could be a minor challenge to raise the funds necessary for renovating these two historic buildings for student housing, it would even less of a challenge for you to stop this further erosion of our city's historic landscape. Alas, it won't stop with these two buildings. A bad precedent will be set.

“I join many others––including current and former students as well as active community members––in reminding you of the relative simplicity of doing so. Further, you now have on your staff, in Earl Blumenauer, a proven leader in urban affairs who, I believe, will be a strong advocate for such preservation and reuse, as he was while on the City Council and in Congress.

“I could say much more but I won't. You know what is best for PSU's strategic purposes and I can only presume that you will do your best to lead the University in the preservation of so much that makes the South Park Blocks live up to their ideal: a place that helps preserve some of the best of our city.”

So far, according to another concerned person, PSU’s answer has been “crickets.”

Both buildings are interesting historically and architecturally.  Yes, their interiors are badly run down, but redesigning and reconfiguring their interiors likely would be less expensive than demolishing and building something entirely new.

Those of us who care about preservation are often accused of being lost in time and out of step with the modern world.  My answer: When we needlessly destroy attractive assets of the past, we needlessly destroy our own history and a sense that our living generations are a steppingstone between those who came before us and those that will come later. 

Unnecessarily destroying our past means destroying part of the roadway that made us who we are.

 ----Fred Leeson

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An 'Oops' at North Portland Library

 

For more than a century, the Multnomah County Library has done an admirable job maintaining and preserving three neighborhood libraries that were built with funds donated by Andrew Carnegie.

 The North Portland Library at 512 N. Killingsworth St. attracted sizable crowds when it reopened Feb. 8 after a renovation that included adding an attractive new community room added on at the southeast corner of the historic building erected in 1913.

New lights...

Forgive me, then, for quibbling about the replacement of old light fixtures on the ground floor with skinny circular LED fixtures suspended by thin bare wires. The new lights detract from the historic qualities of an attractive building designed in the Jacobethan style by architect Joseph Jaccoberger. 

 The only worse choice would have been neon.

 

...versus the earlier fixtures

A devout Catholic, Jaccoberger designed many churches including St. Mary’s Cathedral and Assumption Catholic Church, in addition to many large Portland homes of the early 20th Century.  The North Portland Library carries a distinct religious feel with the main reading room essentially serving as a nave with magnificent wooden trusses. 

 One can think of the whole building as a sanctuary for knowledge and education rather than religion.

 The only good feature of the inappropriate new lights is that they will be easy to replace someday with fixtures that better reflect the spirit of the building. 

Dark brick addition is the new community room

Inside the new community room

Carnegie used wealth from his fortune-making steel company to build more than 250 public libraries.  He funded seven neighborhood libraries in Multnomah County.  Three, North Portland, Albina and St. Johns, remain as branch libraries.  Two others, East Portland and Arleta, were eventually sold to businesses.  The former Gresham branch now operates as a museum and the South Portland branch was converted to a Parks Bureau office.

As we look back on Carnegie, it is amazing in this era to think of a fabulously wealthy American entrepreneur who decided he wanted to provide a public benefit with his blessings.  His blessings live on. 

 ----Fred Leeson

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