Reincarnation for Oregon Casket

 

An historic five-story building in Northwest Portland’s Old Town is expected to become the first example of a vacant downtown building to be converted to housing units.

While many have talked about the need to remodel vacant or mostly-vacation downtown for housing, the design and building code challenges are daunting.  Plans call for the former Oregon Casket Co. building to converted to 34 housing units, with two live-work units on the ground floor and 32 on the floors above.

The building at 403 NW 5^th Ave. was built in 1897 for the Oregon Casket Co. and has had several subsequent tenants that used it mainly as a warehouse.  Kalberer Hotel Supply Co. was a prominent the occupant from the mid-1940s into the 1970s.

Details show the elegant cornice and original windows

Whidden & Lewis, Portland’s most prominent architecture firm near the turn of the 20^th Century, designed the building with a knobby stucco finish on the upper floors and an elegant brick cornice and quoins adding definition to the building corners on floors two, three and four.  It ranks as one of the least-recognized Whidden & Lewis structures, given that others include Portland City Hall, the former Multnomah County Courthouse, Arlington Club, downtown office buildings and many high-end residences.

 The Oregon Casket project is expected to cost about $10 million.  Prosper Portland, the city’s development agency, has agreed to a $7 million low-interest loan with a 15-year term once final designs are approved.  A Prosper Portland resolution said “office-to-residential conversions and the development of middle-income housing are high priorities for the City and for the Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood,” and align with city development strategies.

 The project developer is Owen Gabbert, head of a real estate development firm that has experience working on historic properties as well as new buildings.  Design Research Office, a Portland firm, is working on the plans.

 Images on the Design Research website show that the interior with its heavy post and beam construction is substantially clear, leaving considerable flexibility for interior design. (Oregon Casket Building | Discover Historic Living Spaces — Design Research Office ) Given its 128 years, the building has been largely immune from unfortunate renovations.  Even the original multi-pane, double-hung windows remain.

Renovation of the building for its new life is expected to occur in 2026.

The building currently does not have a historic designation, but it’s age, design history and its role in the development of Northwest Portland would make it eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.  Preparation for a nomination reportedly is underway.

 ----Fred Leeson

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An Honor for the Balch Gulch Bridge

 A 400-foot-long bridge that many Portlanders use without giving a second thought has been added to the National Register of Historic Places based on its importance in the city’s development and its vintage construction method.

The Balch Gulch Bridge, completed in 1905, carries NW Thurman Street across the gulch between NW 29^th and 31^st Avenues.  Soon after its completion, the bridge became a popular and well-publicized viewpoint of the young city during the 1905 Lewis & Clark Exposition.

“The city promoted the streetcar route into Willamette Heights as a scenic outing for fairgoers, and vantage points accessible only via the bridge were featured in promotional photographs of the fairgrounds,” historian Michael Taylor wrote in a comprehensive National Register document. “The bridge’s role in showcasing Portland’s natural beauty and development potential helped elevate the city’s image and encourage private investment, while the improved access to Willamette Heights accelerated the neighborhood’s first and most intensive phase of residential growth.”

A wooden predecessor built in 1892 was not strong enough to carry street cars.  Until the new bridge opened, trolley riders had to get off a streetcar, walk across the wooden bridge and board another car on the opposing side. Streetca tracks were removed in 1950. 

 The 1905 bridge is composed of two trusses of 160 feet and 60 feet in length, sitting on three steel towers atop concrete bases.  The deck of the bridge sits on top of the triangular truss structures. 

Drawing shows span trusses  and towers

Unlike modern bridge construction, the trusses were held together by pins – essentially large threaded bolts.  The pin system allowed for speedy erection and for some modest joint movement, based on load stresses.  As historian Taylor notes, pins in newer construction have been replaced by rivets that are considered stronger and less susceptible to wear.

Taylor wrote that pin construction “reflects the dominant connection method for truss bridges erected in the late nineteenth and very early twentieth centuries. By the early 1910s, most new bridges employed riveted joints, and over time Oregon’s inventory of pin-connected bridges has declined.”

The Balch Gulch Bridge underwent renovation s in the 1920s, the 1950s and again in 2014.  The 2014 work paid close attention to keeping or restoring original visual elements of the bridge, including reconstruction of decorative railings on the sides to match the originals removed in 1955.  The 2014 work also added new steel planks as the decking material.  

“Despite these alterations, the bridge maintains nearly all its character-defining features, including its Pratt deck truss design, pin connections, original steel trusses and towers with concrete footings, and location spanning Balch Gulch in northwest Portland’s Willamette Heights Addition,” Taylor wrote.  “It therefore retains integrity.”

------ Fred Leeson

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