What looked like potential good news last March has indeed
come to pass: The Portland Youth
Philharmonic Orchestra has completed its purchase of the historic Central Lutheran
Church in Northeast Portland’s Irvington neighborhood.
The sale is great news a couple ways. It marks the first permanent home for the
youth orchestra that traces its roots to 1924 in the same Northeast Portland neighborhood. The purchase likely means a caring, long-term
owner of the church, designed in a Northwest Modern style by architect Pietro
Belluschi in 1950.
“We are honored to become stewards of this incredible piece
of Oregon’s architectural history,” the PYP Executive Director Noreen Murdock
said in a statement. “This is a wonderful opportunity to develop an excellent
space for music education and performance while preserving a beautiful and
important existing structure.”
The purchase price has been reported as $1.5 million,
comparable to the vale of many larger, older homes in the historic neighborhood
that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The non-profit music organization will use the building to
house its own offices, provide teaching, rehearsal and instrument storage space
and for public performances. Some
internal changes are expected to be made in coming months, but the building’s
external envelope is protected by its historic architectural designations.
Use of the building by the orchestra’s 300 young members is
not expected to occur until modifications are finished late in 2026.
Belluschi, the building’s architect, earned a national
reputation as a leading Modernist architect whose notable credits ranged from
office towers to churches and houses.
One of his earliest “modern” designs was the Portland Art Museum in
1930. His work is recognized for its use
of modern building materials and sleek surfaces. In his Pacific Northwest residences and
churches, Belluschi favored “natural” materials including wood and bricks. Some of his buildings added Japanese
stylistic touches, such as the canopy over the entrance at Central Lutheran.
Central Lutheran closed the building during the Covid
epidemic and then put it up for sale. In
the preservation community, finding a suitable new purpose for a historic
building that has outlived its original use – and an owner that will preserve
its architectural integrity – is the best possible result. Portland is blessed
by the outcome at Central Lutheran.
------Fred Leeson
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