Good News, Bad News

 

People who appreciate the value of Portland’s historic architecture have reasons to be both glad and sad these days.  The good news is completion of renovations at the St. Johns branch library, where a renovation project added 2,900 square feet without damaging the ambiance of the 1913 historic building that fronts the new addition.

The sad news is that Portland State University has begun demolition of the Blackstone Apartments, a 1920s building facing the South Park Blocks that has been used as a student residence since the 1970s.  The troubled university, facing big a financial deficit and a drop in enrollment, is cutting programs while hoping that a new dormitory on the Blackstone site will help attract and retain students.   Regrettably, a nearby building with a historical pedigree that that housed single women in Portland’s boom years early in the 20^th Century also is scheduled for demolition. 

The St. Johns library, easily recognized by its classical pediment supported by four Ionic columns, was one of seven branch libraries built with money donated by the wealthy steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.  Two other Carnegie branches remain as libraries – North Portland and Albina – while the others were sold off or converted to other uses.  St. Johns is the last of the three Carnegie branches to undergo improvements funded by a bond measure in 2020.

 The historic St. Johns building was among the smallest of the seven branches.  Its budget allowed for no fancy interior details and the latest round of improvements added no inappropriate details. Walking through the heavy oaken doors into the interior provides a genuine feeling for its original design.  The building was designed by Folger Johnson, who, before his arrival in Portland in 1911, had spent two years studying at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, the world’s leading school at the time for classical and Renaissance architectural studies. If he could walk into the library today, Johnson would feel right at home.

 A new children’s library and meeting room was added behind the historic building.  Designed by Bora Architecture, the addition is clad in a dark, heavy composite material the presumably offers many years of service regardless of weather.  From a distance, it appears to be metallic but a finger test proves otherwise.  The clear distinction between old and new, while somewhat jarring, establishes that the new design is not trying to fool its users with phony blend of historicity.

The sadness at Portland State University involves more than the demolition of two historic buildings. While higher education faces new challenges from the internet and artificial intelligence, PSU finds itself losing students and now facing serious budget problems.  PSU’s upper management hopes that a new dormitory replacing the old buildings will attract and retain more students.  The university paid no attention to advocates who urged preservation and renovation, instead.

The Blackstone was designed by Elmer Feig, who did several Portland apartment buildings in the booming 1920s before the Depression ended his career here.  The Martha Washington was designed by A. E. Doyle, who remains to this day one of the most prominent architects in Portland history.  No other architect has had fingers on as many downtown buildings than Doyle.  Shiny though it may be, an undistinguished new dormitory is a poor substitute for what we are losing.

 ----Fred Leeson

 No AI is used in in this blog.  You can join Building on History’s mail list by writing “add me” to faroverpar463@gmail.com