What replaces Lloyd Center? Don't hold your breath.

 

Now that the long, slow death march at Lloyd Center is finally completed, our thoughts turn to what could replace the big shopping mall on 27 acres near the heart of our major Pacific Northwest city.

Alas, there is no way of knowing.  Yes, the City Council approved a “voluntary master plan” with pretty drawings showing office towers, high-rise residences and 8 acres of public open space, scattered among 14 specific “development areas.”  But a close look at the formal decision reveals important escape routes for the property owner, New-York based KREF Lloyd Center Owner LLC.  Here they are:

 1) Selling off parcels to other developers.  This no doubt is the KREF preferred strategy, but the problem lies with the high-rise commercial zoning.  The way to maximize profits under the zoning is to build high-rise buildings office towers and condos/apartments.  But we know the high-rise office market in Portland is almost dead, with major downtown buildings selling for small fractions of their earlier values.

   It is difficult to conceive of demand for tall new office space.  Based on some current condo prices, the outlook is almost as troubling for residential towers.  So how many prospective developers will be lining up?   The wait could take a long time.  If so, Northeast Portland could have a voluminous vacant scare abutting the prominent Sullivan’s Gulch and Irvington neighborhoods sitting nearby.

2) The owner or a buyer can elect whether to implement the any portion of the voluntary master plan, or else supersede the plan with a subsequent land-use review.

 3) The owner may also elect to render the voluntary master plan null and void by submitting a subsequent land-use application for the whole 27 acres.

 

By comparison, a “mandatory” master plan carries a 10-year time limit for execution, or the plan expires.  Given Portland’s current climate for high-rise buildings, the voluntary master plan approved on the Lloyd Center land could sit vacant presumably for longer than 10 years.  One wonders if there couldn’t have been a better urban planning strategy.  Alas, keeping the Lloyd Center in place was never a feasible option; in an ideal world, perhaps more attention could be been given to finding a productive new future for it beyond retailing.

 -----Fred Leeson

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The Fountain: Still the Answer

 

Portland’s City Council sits on the verge of making a terrible decision about a new large performance auditorium, with primary objections based both on urban planning and on formal financing plans.

Based on a July 28 hearing, it appears that the council on Aug. 11 is likely to endorse plans for a new auditorium to be built on the Portland State University campus to replace the aging Keller (nee Civic) Auditorium several blocks away.  These are the reasons the council’s prospective decision is wrong.

1) Urban planning.  The current auditorium is coupled with the famed Keller (nee Forecourt) Fountain that was heralded by the nation’s premier architecture critic of the era as one of the best public fountains built since Renaissance times.  It was intended to be a showcase front entrance to the auditorium, and it always SHOULD be.  Portland would be doing a disservice to one of its premier landmarks by moving the auditorium elsewhere. There is talk – and merely talk – of building a smaller auditorium adjacent to the fountain after the new performance center is built at PSU.

 2) Financial debacle.  There is no funding provided yet for the proposed PSU auditorium, nor for the smaller building that would replace the Keller Auditorium.  What makes more sense is a plan proposed by the Halprin Land Conservancy to renovate the Keller Auditorium to meet modern earthquake protection standards and upgrade the building with improved amenities for performances and audiences.  The Halprin solution makes much more financial sense, rather than subjecting the city and PSU to additional years of wandering forth with their hands outstretched.

 Lost in the financial discussion seems to the subsidies that the existing auditorium provides to other smaller public performance spaces.  Assuming that a new 3,000-seat venue would continue to operate at a profit, does PSU absorb all the benefit or continue to make contributions the other public spaces?  As PSU currently struggles financially by cutting staff and reducing programs, surrendering the auditorium to PSU makes wonderful sense for PSU but not for the city of Portland. 

 PSU administrators should to be told very clearly that they need to stick to their educational mission.  We have no assurance given the university’s financial position that it would not bungle auditorium operations if it succeeds in winning them.

 When the subject of moving the auditorium surface two years ago, this blog issued a post stating that “the fountain is the answer”  as to where the auditorium should be located. The fountain was the answer then, and the fountain is the answer now.

------Fred Leeson

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Return of the Busy Corner

 

 A small neighborhood grocery that served Southeast Portland’s Woodstock neighborhood for nearly a century begins a new life soon after a long vacancy and a detailed building restoration.

 The Busy Corner Grocery, a two-story frame building erected in 1911, has sat mostly vacant since its closure in 2007.  The empty shell was bought in 2025 by Matt Froman, a Portland firefighter with a passion for restoring vintage commercial buildings instead of seeing them replaced by new developments.  The Busy Corner was a common type of neighborhood store built in its era, with living quarters above the store on the main floor. While similar stores once dotted Portland’s oldest neighborhoods, most are gone today.

 Froman wasn’t willing to see demise of the Busy Corner, which likely would have given way to a housing project.  Restoration meant peeling off the T-111 plywood on four sides and a partial rock façade that had been applied to the front façade a few decades ago.  The restoration was guided by historic photographs that indicated the original wood siding and clerestory windows in front.  Luckly, much of the original siding remained under the T-111 and Froman managed to find similar salvaged siding to replace what was missing.

 

The exterior’s preservation also included restoring large painted signs advertising Coca Cola on the building’s south side and 7-Up on the north.  Froman felt the signs “tell the story of the building and its place in the neighborhood.” He liked preserving an era when advertising was provided by sign painters rather than by printed signs that are common today.  In their era, the signs provided the building owners a small income stream. 

 Finding a new use for the building has been difficult since 2007.  Froman knew the Busy Corner was too small to compete with two larger modern grocery stores just a few blocks away.  Fortunately, another old building aficionado fell in love with it, too.  Deanna Reed, a well-stablished hair stylist, will move her Arabella Salon from Northeast Portland in August and rename it the Busy Corner Salon.  Like Froman, “I really like old buildings and their stories and history,” she said.

 

Circa 2007

Froman’s latest plunge into historic preservation is his third so far.  In 2022 he finished restoring the old Phoenix Pharmacy at SE 67^th and Foster Road into a retail space.  The next year, he added a single-story building offering multiple small storefronts on Foster between SE 59^th and 60^th Aves.  Froman calls his interest in saving old buildings a “glorified hobby,” but warns that “it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme.”  Challenging as these projects are, Froman is not giving up.  He said he has another project in mind, this time on the west side of the Willamette River.  For now, the rest of us will wait in suspense.

 ------ Fred Leeson

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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

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A New Twist in the Lincoln Statue Saga

 

By acting in near-secrecy, planners charged with restoring the Abraham Lincoln statue in the South Parks have created an unexpected ruckus by deciding – several months ago – that Lincoln should be displaced from the original plinth and set at ground level.

The Portland Office of Arts and Culture and the Regional Arts & Culture Council made their decision last Dec. 18 and never announced it publicly.  It also appears that the decision was made without any opportunity for public testimony of the fate of the historic statue. 

“The plan is to place the statue on the ground, sited in front of its pedestal, and to its left
as you face the pedestal from the north,” according to minutes of the Dec. 18 meeting.   The minutes also assert that the statue, toppled by protesters in 2020, is supposed to be reinstalled this spring.

The proposed change for the statue’s future only became apparent recently when a preservation advocate made a request for public records.  In general, objections to lowering Lincoln to the ground stem from the apparent effort to minimize his importance as a historical figure and a belief that sincere “preservation” requires the work to be restored to its original status.

“The toppling of Lincoln in October 2020 was an initial act of disrespect and lawlessness, and the permanent removal of Lincoln from his plinth is also a transparent act of disrespect,” says William J. Hawkins III, a leading Portland preservation expert who closely follows conditions surrounding Portland’s public art works.    He said the new plan was never mentioned in meetings with the planners in the intervening months.  “We now see that they knew this plan would be met with rightful objections,” he added.

Letters are being sent to Mayor Keith Wilson and to Portland city councilors raising objections to the process.  The Portland Historic Landmarks Commission on June 1 said it had not been notified of the plan and called for an explanation. The landmarks commission has no jurisdiction over the statue because it was toppled before the South Parks Blocks as admitted to the National Register of Historic Places.  However, the statue, if returned to its original placement, could be added to the National Register district as a contributing element.

Ironically, a proposal from a landscape architecture firm consulting  on placement of the statue said it believed that the decision was “informed by an extensive community engagement process that has already occurred.”  Where and when that engagement process occurred is an interesting question, and likely will be probed by the landmarks commission.

Wherever Lincoln ultimately lands, he is to be joined by a sign “contextualizing information on Lincoln’s legacy and impact on Oregon,” according to minutes of the Dec. 18 meeting of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.  While the council believes placing Lincoln at ground level would make him more accessible to viewers, the council apparently did not address the greater potential of intentional or accidental damage at ground level.

 ----Fred Leeson

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Should Abraham Lincoln Stand Tall?

Preservation activists who struggled successfully for full restoration of the historic D.P. Thompson elk statue and fountain might find a new challenge in plans to restore the Abraham Lincoln statue in the South Park Blocks.

Portland’s Office of Arts and Culture has stated that the Lincoln statue will be returned to the South Park Blocks this summer or fall.  But the city has not specified a final plan.  One idea under consideration, apparently, is placing Lincoln on a smaller pedestal close to ground level, instead using the historic pedestal that is approximately three feet tall.

 Putting Lincoln at ground level presumably would make the statue easier for people with disabilities to enjoy and for everyone to see the work of art closer.  But there could be legitimate objections from those who believe the statue should be returned to the position where it stood for 93 years. One objection could be about an attempt to diminish Lincoln’s historic role.  It also would make the statue for accessible for intentional or accidental damage. A goal of historic preservation generally is to restore historic elements as close as possible to original condition. 

The Lincoln statue was toppled in 2020 as part of a “day of rage” involving indigenous history. While Lincoln is widely respected for helping to abolish slavery, he is criticized for allowing execution of 39 Sioux warriors after the Dakota war of 1862 in Minnesota.  Lincoln commuted death sentences for 264 Sioux involved in the same battle.

Darion Jones, assistant director of the Arts and Culture office did not respond to an email from this blog asking about the city’s plans. However, in a television interview he said there “is a proposal” that would place Lincoln close to ground level.

Aubrey Russell, a preservation advocate who has paid close attention to the city’s planning process, appears to have raised the first objections.  “The act of removing Lincoln from his pedestal has a universally understood meaning,” he says.  “It is a demeaning gesture which permanently
humiliates the person it commemorates.

“Removing Lincoln from his pedestal also diminishes a work of art, and a protected historic resource.  The city should respect its commitment to maintaining its historic resources, and art, intact,” Russell added.

As part of the statue’s restoration, scholars are working on an inscription that will provide context of Lincoln’s historical importance.  Chet Orloff, a retired executive director of the Oregon Historical Society, agrees with that strategy.  “I believe that the larger truth of Lincoln and his legacy must be told so that people can make their own judgment and not be ‘told’ where Lincoln stands relative to most of us.  I think he stands alone, and ought to be shown as such.  We debase and remove the statues of wrongful and supposed ‘heroes;’ but Lincoln was heroic in nearly all senses.  Portland, itself, would be debased in this regard.”

 The statue was placed in the South Park Blocks in 1927.  It was a gift from Dr. Henry Waldo Coe, and was sculpted by George Fite Waters. 

Once the city’s restoration plans are made public, challenges conceivably could be raised to the Portland City Council.

 ---Fred Leeson

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New Honors for Union Station

 

One of Portland’s most iconic historic buildings is earning new acclaim for its economic and cultural importance to Black residents in during a 75-year period ending in 1971.

 Union Station with its notable 144-foot-tall clock tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its transportation and architectural merit in 1975.  Now an amended nomination lists its major significance for Black history and commerce.

The amending information received glowing appreciation from the Portland Historical Landmarks Commission and will be forwarded what likely will be slam-dunk approval by a state preservation committee and then the National Park Service.

 In short, Union Station proved to be “the primary workplace and employer for the Black community in Portland, Oregon for the entirety of the 1896-1971 period.” Indeed, a 1941 study by the Portland Urban League concluded that 98 percent of working Black Portland residents worked in Union Station or for railroads that served it. 

 “The beginning of this date range (1896-1971) reflects the completion and first use of the station as a passenger terminal, with African Americans employed from the very beginning both at the station as well as on trains. The end of the period is when Black employment at Union Station began to decline precipitously” with the advent of Amtrak rail service.

 Researchers of the new historic material were Kristen Minor, a historic architecture consultant, and Zachary Stocks and Mariah Rocker, affiliated with the non-profit Oregon Black Pioneers organization.

 From Union Station’s earliest years, Blacks worked as Redcaps, Pullman porters, chair-car porters, baggage handlers, dining car cooks and waiters and car cleaners.  Given racial discrimination prevalent for several decades, Blacks were not selected for managerial positions.  Yet their jobs provided suitable income, for the most part, to support families and buy property. 

High Steppers, a band composed of railroad employees, 1923

“The significance of railroad jobs at Union Station to Portland’s African American community was not only economic; it held a cultural bond that shaped where families lived, provided the opportunity to earn a steady income without back-breaking labor, hosted Black union organization meetings, and fostered a sense of belonging that was unmatched by that of any other employer or commercial location in Portland,” the document states. .

“The arrival of the railroad represented a major gain for local Black employment, offering the chance to obtain jobs that were extremely limited otherwise. Railroad companies up and down the west coast sought Black labor for many customer-facing service jobs on trains beginning in the 1870s and 1880s. Railroads specifically sought Black workers for two reasons: first because they were cheaper than hiring white men, and second because African Americans especially from the South were considered proficient in customer service.”

 A. Philip Randolph, a New York labor activist who founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,  visited Portland at least six times between 1927 and 1954 as part of his organizing efforts.   In 1937, the union became the first African American labor union to sign a collective bargaining agreement with a major corporation, the Pullman Car Co.

In endorsing the national nomination, the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission called it “a strong example of how to look at important places through the lends of cultural significance.”

 ---Fred Leeson

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Tortuous History of a Mid-Century Modern Landmark

 

In the early 1950s, Portland’s civic boosters feared that Portland was falling behind major West Coast cities in erecting a center for sports and conventions.  Even in the backwaters, Spokane, Washington, was opening a new 5,700-seat indoor venue.

Portland’s response was a May, 1954 ballot measure calling for the creation of a new city agency, the Exposition-Recreation Commission, to build a sports and convention center for $8 million.

 Alas, the successful measure didn’t specify where it would be built, or even for what sorts of events.  Could it be more than one facility?  What about baseball, football and the Pacific International Livestock Show? How realistic was the $8 million figure?

 Controversies raged over the next six years, including three more ballot appearances, fights between the Portland City Council and its own Exposition-Recreation Commission and insurgence of East Portland voters.  By 1960, the new Veterans Memorial Coliseum finally landed in a location that never had rated as a favorite. (By then the livestock show that had been a major booster of the project found itself squeezed out.) 

 Portland author Michael A. Orr reveals the convoluted, messy origins of the Coliseum in his new book, “Building Portland’s Memorial Coliseum:  A Mid-century Political Firestorm.” Orr’s massively-researched and richly detailed narrative includes novel factors at the time such as plans for new freeways, Lloyd Center and federal urban renewal money that played indirect roles in the Coliseum planning.

  In the early going, the five-member City Council by 3-2 favored a downtown location at or near the Civic Auditorium for the new building.  The Exposition-Recreation Commission, also by a 3-2 split favored the East Vanport/Delta Park site in North Portland that had been devastated by the 1948 flood.  City commissioners worried about another flood and possible geological instability at Vanport.

The city attorney essentially scrubbed the Vanport site by advising the council that they did not have to cede the city-owned Vanport site to the Exposition Commission if they didn’t want to. And they didn't.

In response, East Portlander’s headed by the East Side Commercial Club sponsored a 1956 initiative declaring that the new facility had to be located east of the Willamette River.  The measure passed by a razor-thin 303 votes.  Two more ballot measures later I 1956 affirmed the earlier vote, paving the way for the Coliseum to be built between the east ends of the Broadway and Steel Bridges.

Clearing approximately 13 square blocks for the Coliseum and surface parking meant some 1,400 mostly Black renters had to be evicted.  As Orr writes, “the city destroyed the heart of Portland’s Black community flourishing in the years following the 1948 Vanport flood.” The former tenants received no recompense.

 The landmark mid-century modern Coliseum suffered from deferred maintenance after the new Rose Quarter arena (now called the Moda Center) opened in the 1990s, leading some to believe the Coliseum's future was in jeopardy.  Orr says recent renovations once again have made it a pleasant event venue.  “It doesn’t feel like a dump anymore,” he said.  “Now it looks as if someone cares.”

Sometimes history does swirl around to repeat itself.  The current squabble over public funding for Moda Center renovations could prove over time to be almost as messy as the Coliseum saga the Orr so deftly examines.   

 ------Fred Leeson

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Joe Brown's Carmel Corn: A Tasty Landmark

 

Without question, a property with age and widespread recognition needs no formal designation to be a considered “landmark” in the public mind.  Example: Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn in the Lloyd Center.

 The small confection shop was an original occupant when the big shopping mall opened in Northeast Portland in 1960.  Now, 66 years later, it likely will be the last store to close when the mall shuts its doors to the public for the last time on Aug. 8.

 In the intervening years, literally tens of thousands of carmel corn buyers have visited the shop, which has remained in its original location despite an assortment of mall renovations.  For all the shoppers who remember the glory years of the Lloyd Center, Joe Brown’s proved to be the stable reminder of Lloyd Center history.

  Joe Brown’s history goes back farther than the Loyd Center.  George Brown opened the first carmel corn shop in downtown Portland in 1932, naming it for his son Joe.  The shop added a second location downtown and a third I the Hollywood District before World War II.  Pressures of the war, alas, forced the company to close.

Joe Brown’s sister, Betty Kalk, revived the company when the Lloyd Center opened.  Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn remained in family ownership until 1992.  The popcorn is popped and the carmel coating is prepared and applied all in the small shop.

The current owner is David Ferguson, a commercial real estate consultant and business owner who bought Joe Brown’s in 2019.  He reportedly intends to relocate Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn to a new location, but he has yet to disclose where.  A strong possibility appears to the Grand Central Bowl & Arcade, where he has leased space in the past.

 As closure of the Lloyd Center looms, Joe’s Carmel Corn expects a rush of business.  The carmel corn is wonderfully tasty, and many folks presumably will be interested in a nostalgic taste and a nostalgic last visit to the emptying halls of the big and once-vibrant shopping mall.

While the future of Joe Brown’s Carmel Corn is somewhat uncertain, so too is the future of the Loyd Center site.  It is zoned for high-density urban use, and the owner has shown drawings of high-rise residences and office towers.  Alas, is there a market for towers these days?

 The owner’s choices appear to be 1) tearing down all existing buildings and waiting for new proposals to arise, no matter how long that takes or 2) closing all entrances to buildings and parking lots and hoping to keep out homeless campers while plans unfold. Neither option bodes well for the nearby Irvington and Sullivan’s Gulch neighborhoods.

 ------Fred Leeson

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The Face of the James Beard Public Market

Proposed Frontage on SW Alder Street (BCV Architecture/Colab Architecture)

 

Backers of the proposed James Beard Public Market in downtown Portland have won approval for exterior changes to two buildings that eventually could hold dozens of stalls selling fresh and locally-prepared food.

The proposed market would be housed in two buildings that provide faces on SW 6^th Ave. and Alder Street.  Two floors of the 12-story Selling Building at 610 SE Alder St., a Portland landmark dating to 1910, would have its first two floors returned closer to the building’s original design.  The second building, adjacent at 622 SW Alder, would feature mass timber framing highlighting its three stories.

 An opening date for the proposed market has not yet been specified.  Given the amount of work awaiting in the two buildings, no opening is likely before 2027. The market is expected to offer fresh fruits and vegetables, in addition to locally-prepared foods that could be consumed on-site.

“It’s going to bring a much-needed lift to the downtown,” said Peggy Moretti, a member of the Portland Histgoric Landmarks Commission that unanimously approved changes proposed for the Selling Building.

 The bottom two floors of the Selling Building were remodeled in the 1930s and again in 1948, when red granite was applied to the facades with smaller windows punched through at the second floor.  Those early renovations were made while the store was a women’s clothing outlet called the Lerner Shops.  The most recent tenant in the now-vacant space was a Payless shoe store.

Selling Building today 

The approved changes would restore terra cotta facing and historic window sizes to the second floor, and creat traditional storefront faces on the SW 6^th Ave. and Alder St. frontages.  The Selling Building was an early example of several 20^th century office towers designed by A.E. Doyle, a prominent architect whose designs are included in many downtown blocks.

-----Fred Leeson 

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Celebrating Return of the Elk

Reinstallation of the historic D.P. Thompson Elk and Fountain in April after an absence of nearly six years will be a wonderful moment for all of Portland and for those who believe in the importance of historic preservation.

For more than a century, the statue sitting atop an elegant decorative fountain was the kind of distinctive urban adornment that said yes, Portland is interesting, Portland is scenic and Portland cares about its historic monuments.

 But despite the glee of its return, we must not forget that it nearly didn’t happen.  A long-time Portland preservation activist, architect William J. (Bill) Hawkins III helped lead the fight to have the statue and fountain restored when many city bureaucrats were saying, essentially, “no thanks.”

 For private distribution, Hawkins last October issued a 40-page illustrated history of the fountain and the struggle to bring it back after it suffered damage from public protests in 2020.  In short, city transportation officials hoped to use more of the Main Street right-of-way for traffic lanes, the Water Bureau wanted to quit wasting water in the fountain and the Parks Bureau wanted to shed responsibility for maintenance.

 The city went so far as to file a demolition notice to remove the fountain and statue’s historic landmark designation. The Parks Bureau floated a plan to building a concrete pedestal for placement of the elk, instead of a fountain. 

The outlook for restoration of the fountain was so gloomy, this very blog in March 2022 wrote that restoration of the fountain was doomed. Readership was so widespread, it may have helped stimulate preservation activists.

 The fight for survival was personal for Hawkins, because his great uncle, Lester Leander Hawkins, had been the executor of D.P. Thompson’s estate.  In that role Leander Hawkins negotiated the siting and designs for the statue and fountain that had been given to the city in Thompson’s estate.  The elder Hawkins also had been a member of the city Park Board that established many of early Portland’s most important parks.

 Bill Hawkins started a drive to raise funds to study full restoration.  His effort was joined by the Portland Parks Foundation, eventually raising more than $200,000 to produce detailed design drawings.

 Meanwhile, City Commissioner Dan Ryan was negotiating with City Council members on the former five-member council, eventually gaining unanimous support.  The Portland Water Bureau agreed to install a water recirculating system that will save millions of gallons of fresh water, since the fountain is no longer used for watering horses as it was when it was erected in 1905.

In his history of saving the fountain, Bill Hawkins graciously avoided naming the bureaucrats who had opposed the fountain’s restoration.  He gives the most valuable player award to Commissioner Ryan, who also sits newer, enlarged version of the City Council.

 Between you and me, let’s also thank Bill Hawkins.  Not only for his work on the fountain but for his decades of advocacy trying to encourage preservation of public art and historic sites.  Preservation lets us save the best of the past, and lets us realize that just as greatness preceded us, it can also inspire those who follow us in making Portland an interesting, vibrant city.

 ----Fred Leeson

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New Future for the Airplane Factory?

 Three Portland-area real estate agents who paid $595,00 to buy a historic but badly abused landmark in Northeast Portland will be the latest to try reviving the 110-year-old building.

 The winning bid was revealed in late January but the apparent winner preferred to wait until the deal closed before disclosing ownership.  The registered deed lists a limited liability company with Joseph Tran, Tony Ngo and Henry Liu as company managers.

 They purchased the former Gordon’s Fireplace Shop, a three-story building that has been vacant since 2016 when the shop owner closed the business and sold the building.  Subsequent plans by an earlier buyer to renovate the building for ground-floor retail spaces and two floors of housing above collapsed apparently because of the Covic pandemic and possibly other factors.

 The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and sits at the prominent intersection of NE 33^rd Ave. and Broadway.  During its long vacancy, the building has been heavily plastered with graffiti and is viewed by many as an eyesore.  The building still retains a large vertical Gordon’s Fireplace Shop sign at the Broadway corner. 

An earlier owner had planned to remodel the upper stories into residential units and add retail spaces at the ground floor.  But that plan died with the COVID pandemic.  The latest buyers have not disclosed their plans

 Tran and Ngo are affiliated with the Real Estate Performance Group based in Clackamas.  Tran worked for 10 years as a pharmacist before switching to real estate 20 years ago.  Liu is an agent with a different real estate firm.

 The masonry building with heavy timbers used in interior post and beam construction was erected by the Oregon Home Builders firm in 1917, when the nearby neighborhoods of Irvington, Laurelhurst and Alameda were booming with new residential construction. The company president was O.K. Jeffrey.

In 1918, Jeffrey, whose homebuilding firm was suffering financially, converted the building to the O.K. Jeffrey Airplane Factory for the manufacture of wood and canvas wings and pontoons for World War I military airplanes. Its success was based on the region’s easy access to high-quality spruce timber used in airplane manufacturing of the era.  The building often was called the “airplane factory” for decades afterward.

 Oregon Home Builders eventually went bankrupt.  The building was used for many years for woodworking and retail furniture sales.  The upper stories were used for warehousing before Gordon’s Fireplace Shop took over in 1990.

The building appears to be sound structurally, but a new life likely will require earthquake bracing and new plumbing and mechanical systems.  Photographs posted before the auction showed that all interior partitions had been removed, thus reducing the need for internal demolition.

---Fred Leeson 

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Comment on Trump's Ballroom Plan

 

For what it’s worth, all of us who care have a chance to comment in writing about the Trump plan to build a massive ballroom in place of the East Wing of the White House that he tore down.  This topic falls outside the geographical boundaries usually discussed on this blog, but hey, we can still care.

 One can’t be too enthusiastic about the ultimate outcome since the National Capital Planning Commission that is seeking comments before the March 5 deadline has a majority of its members appointed by Trump.  Regardless here’s how to comment:

 https://www.ncpc.gov/participate/guidelines/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQBlNJleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETJ0UjRqUjM0QU1YT08zbGlac3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHpxNAp577e2MaPd2hZm0QewpuQMa266YbMMFVRpCN9mE9247x

 Click on the heading marked “review”.  Scroll down to “East Wing Modernization” and follow the directions.

 Some of my Facebook friends saw my post about this and have already responded.  The commission’s guidelines allow for public testimony on March 5, but my guess is that waiting for a turn to speak will be daunting.  Meanwhile, litigation is still pending that conceivably could halt the proposed plans. 

The commission earlier put images of the proposed design on its website, but has since taken them down.  To my eye, all the images were intended to minimize the project’s rather monstrous scale in relation to the historic White House. 

 The images, since removed, also showed landscaping for the grounds.  Alas, they spelled it “gorunds” which to me suggests the level of care that has been invested.  Make of it what you will. 

-----Fred Leeson

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A Step Forward for the Historic Zoo Train

 Chances for restoring a popular Portland family entertainment option – the Washington Park Zoo Railway – appear to be growing thanks to support from Portland Mayor Keith

Wilson and the Metro Council.

 Reviving the 3.5-mile recreational train loop through Washington Park may yet for a few years away.  However, momentum is growing to create a public-private partnership that would manage the popular train that dazzled riders from 1960 to 2013 when the park loop was closed.

 The Metro Council on Feb. 3 agreed informally to support a $50,000 contribution for a geotechnical study of the loop that is expected to cost $250,000.  The remaining $200,000 would have to be raised from other sources. 

 “So many of us have memories of the full loop,” said Christine Lewis, a Metro Councilor who served earlier on a task force that studied options for reviving the route.  “It was an iconic attraction for visitors and residents alike.”

 A short ride still exists within the zoo’s boundaries, but it lasts only a few minutes.  The long loop was closed in 2013 when other projects at the zoo altered the route.  The zoo itself has declined to maintain and operate the longer route that used to offer a stop within Washington Park.

The best option for running and managing the train appears to be a non-profit entity that can work out dealings with the zoo and the City of Portland, which owns the long loop as well as the train itself.  Friends of the Washington Park Zoo Railway is the likely candidate. The train presumably could operate profitably if preliminary problems can be resolved.

 Obstacles ahead include track and equipment repairs, and any safety issues uncovered by the geotechnical review.  That study would consider soil conditions, landslide risks and potential water problems and safety of retaining walls.

The Metro Council’s decision was supported by Olivia Clark, deputy Portland City Council president, who also served on the task force that studied revival of the train.  “It’s time to move forward,” she said.  “The public is ready.”

 ----Fred Leeson

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So Much History. But Now What?

 

Gus Solomon U.S. Courthouse

Buildings perched on two downtown Portland square blocks – both drenched with decades of legal history as well as architectural significance – sit empty these days with no new uses in sight.

 Between the two, Portlanders for decades swept into to two courthouses to engage in civil and criminal trials, visit local and federal government offices and attend public hearings.  But with state and federal courts having moved to high high-rise buildings, the Multnomah County Courthouse that dates to 1914 and the Gus J. Solomon U.S. Courthouse, finished in 1933, sit silent with doors and windows boarded over.

A Portland-based housing and real estate development firm headed by NBP Capital bought the old county building in 2018, and announced plans to convert it to office use.  That plan evidently died with the Covid pandemic and the ensuing collapse of the downtown office market.

 SKB, another real estate firm, bought the old U.S. Courthouse late last year, and plans to move its own office into the building.  The firm said it plans to retain much of the elegant marble-laden interior spaces, but what other uses might occur will take time to figure out.

Former Multnomah County Courthouse

Both buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The Multnomah County building, facing at 1021 SW 4^th Avenue, was built in two L-shaped phases while an earlier courthouse dating to the late 1860s was gradually demolished.  The courthouse was one of the final buildings designed by the firm of Whidden & Lewis, the city’s most important architectural firm from the late 19^th Century past the turn of the 20^th. 

 The county courthouse suffered numerous makeovers over the decades, but the grand hallways and main staircase remain on floors one through six.  The two upper floors contain a holding jail and small offices.

 The former U.S. Courthouse design is an interesting blend of Neo-Classical elements with Art Deco flourishes, as it was created at a time when architectural tastes were moving away from historical elements to modern forms.  “Stylistic definition of the Courthouse is difficult. It is typical of many General Services Administration properties in its eclecticism,” states the National Register listing.

The design firm was headed by Morris Whitehouse, whose long career in Portland included work for high-end clients including the University Club, the Waverly Country Club and the Eastmoreland Golf Clubhouse.  

The building’s name was changed to the Gus J. Solomon U.S. Courthouse in honor of the judge who spent 37 years on the bench.  Known as a stickler for accuracy and rough treatment for ill-prepared lawyers, Solomon also had a sense of humor.  Watching a case in his court, your correspondent once heard him explain why he often ruled quickly from the bench. “I do what I think God would do, and when I get reversed by the Court of Appeals, I know where they are coming from.”

 Both these buildings deserve brighter futures, as does the neighborhood they share in Downtown Portland.  Great minds need to get to work to find answers.

----Fred Leeson

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A New Chapter at Montgomery Park

 

There was, quite simply, nothing like it in Portland when Montgomery Ward & Co. opened its big new building NW 27^th Avenue in 1920.  By square footage, the nine-story edifice – with a 10^th added on a bay on the western façade, was the largest edifice by square footage in Oregon.  It also featured three railway spurs heading into the ground floor for delivering merchandise for retail and mail order sales.

While many commercial buildings of the era still featured historical architectural details of some sort, Montgomery Ward’s bold reinforced concrete construction celebrated its unadorned, muscular strength. As the largest structure in Portland and, supposedly, anywhere west of the Rocky Mountains, it was “the finest extant example of period reinforced concrete industrial architecture in the city,” according to a historic review.

 Now a new owner hopes to revitalize the mostly-vacant behemoth that looms on an 8.59-acre site that was once part of the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition. Menashe Properties paid $33 million for the building in 2024 – virtually a fire-sale price in a commercial real estate market reeling from work-at-home popularity inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Entering the atrium from the west

“Our goal is pretty straightforward: to preserve the character of the building while continuing to invest in improvements that support a vibrant mix of tenants and activity,” said Lauren Tangvald Menashe’s property manager.  “Montgomery Park has such an important place in the city’s history, and we definitely want to keep that spirit alive. A lot of our recent work has been focused on freshening things up. There have been upgrades to some of the common areas, general maintenance, and adding new tenant amenities.”

The goal is to fill six stories with offices, and offer space for retail, medical and other uses on the lower floors.

The building’s name was changed to Montgomery Park in 1984, when a company headed by Bill and Sam Naito purchased it from Montgomery Ward.  Bill Naito, never inclined to waste money, was proud that he only had to change two letters on the giant rooftop sign. The Naitos also did research that added the building to the National Register of Historic Places.

 In its heyday, Montgomery Ward was the nation’s first and one of its largest mail order retailers.  The company used the first three floors for retail sales until 1976, and closed warehouse operations in 1982.  A north-side wing was added to the building in 1936, giving it the u-shaped floor plate it retains today.  A glass covered atrium greets visitors from the western side.

New life at Montgomery Park might not be the only change in the neighborhood.  The Portland City Council last December passed a Montgomery Park Area Plan intending to stimulate more housing, transit and mixed business opportunities in the vicinity.  Should much of plan come to pass, the Menashe Properties investment will look all the better.

------Fred Leeson

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Good News at Central Lutheran: The Deal is Done

 

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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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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