Progress at Two Historic Libraries

 

Albina Library

Two Portland architectural gems dating back to the Carnegie library era of the early 20th century are advancing with renovation projects that will inspire renewed library activity when finished in 2025.

 The larger project involves the Albina library at 216 NE Knott St. where a two-story addition behind the 1912 Spanish renaissance building will substantially expand facilities and activities.  The original building was designed early in the career of Ellis Lawrence, who for many years commuted between Portland and Eugene where he led the University of Oregon architecture program.

North Portland Library

The second historic library undergoing renovation is the North Portland library at 512 N. Killingsworth St.  It first opened in 1913, following the design of Josef Jacobberger who is best known for his work for the Catholic Church.  The North Portland library even shows some religious influences with its flattened gothic arches and elegant beams on the second floor reminiscent of a cathedral’s nave.

 Both buildings originally were funded by grants from Andrew Carnegie, the wealthy steel magnate who decided that his vast wealth could improve communities by erecting new libraries devoted to residential neighborhoods, rather than larger central city buildings.

 Both the Albina and North Portland libraries show the welcoming fundamentals insisted upon by Carnegie’s management team: Stairs rising from the sidewalk and electric lights generally flanking the doorway.  The theory was that visitors were to be “uplifted” and “enlightened” by their arrival.

 In all, Carnegie funded seven libraries in Multnomah County.  Three remain in the Multnomah County system, St. Johns, Albina and North Portland.  Two others, East Portland and Arleta, later were sold by the county and the last, South Portland, is used as a city Parks & Recreation office.

 The Albina project is expected to be finished in the second half of 2025; the smaller North Portland work is scheduled to be finished before next spring.  The new Albina space will include community meeting rooms and spaces devoted to teens and children.  North Portland will include a Black cultural center and a new outdoor space.

 Since both buildings are designated city landmarks, the plans had to be approved by the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission.  While that level of regulation was mandatory, the Multnomah County library staff should be complimented for their appreciation of, and dedication to, their beautiful historic architectural inventory.

 ----Fred Leeson

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A 'Tasty' Architectural Treat

 

The best outcome for any landmark building is for it to continue thriving with its original use.  Case in point: Helen Bernhard Bakery.

This Northeast Portland “institution” famed for its cakes, pastries, rolls and breads, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.  Helen Bernhard, the wife of a Lutheran minister, started a cake business from her home as a hobby in 1924. 

As years rolled ahead, the Bernhard residence at 1725 N.E. Broadway was expanded twice to accommodate business growth.  Then, in 1939 – the height of the Great Depression no less – the bakery expanded into a new building next door 1717 N.E. Broadway, where today it continues to serve a grateful breadth of customers.

With its gambrel roof and multi-paned front windows, one might think the retail shop is a remodeled Dutch colonial house since those were common residential features of the time.  Not so.  At closer inspection, the ovens and baking equipment sit in a larger portion of the same building behind the gambrel roof.  The building was designed by Richard Sundeleaf, recognized for his industrial and residential work over a 60-year career in the Portland area. 

The former Bernhard residence next door 

Helen Bernhard died in 1968.  After she retired, two generations of her descendants operated the bakery before selling in 1988.  Since then, the successful enterprise is being run by the second generation of the purchasers in 1988.  

A century of success is an amazing landmark for any small business.  While it is the goodness of the baked goods that draws in customers, entering an attractive, well-designed historic retail space adds to the pleasure of a visit.  May it stay thus for years to come.

---Fred Leeson

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Good News/Sad News

 

A Portland company renowned for saving and finding new uses for historic buildings has added another notch to its entrepreneurial belt with purchase of the four-story former Taft Hotel.

Through no fault of the McMenamin brothers, their purchase of the 117-year old building became possible after the sad failure of Portland’s disjointed systems for managing housing for troubled residents afflicted by personal tragedies including homelessness, mental disabilities and drug issues.

Until its closure late in 2021 because of management issues and maintenance problems, the Taft Hotel had provided housing for 70 low-income seniors, many suffering with mental and behavioral issues.

The $1.5 million purchase by the McMenamin brothers amounted to an interesting business opportunity, since the Taft building at 1337 SW Washington St. abuts the rear of the company’s popular Crystal Ballroom venue fronting on W. Burnside.  Purchase price for the 37,000 square foot building with 70 housing units and ground-level retail spaces amounted to no more than a single upscale Portland house.

The building had been owned by Reach Community Development, a non-profit low-income housing provider.  The Taft had been leased to a for-profit management company that walked away, citing building maintenance and other complaints.  

Mike and Brian McMenamin have built an eating, drinking, entertainment and lodging empire since 1984, by concentrating heavily on restoring historic buildings. Besides the Crystal Ballroom, their notable Portland-area venues include a former elementary building (Kennedy School) a funeral home (Chapel Pub) and county poor farm (Edgefield Lodge.)

The company speaks little to the press and keeps its plans tightly held.  The obvious opportunity at the Taft building is renovating into a boutique hotel since it sits close to the Crystal Ballroom and another McMenamin property, the Crystal Hotel, less than two blocks away.

While loss of the low-income housing is a blow to Portland’s fragmented low-income housing community, sale to the McMenamin chain could be an encouraging sign for downtown Portland, where numerous storefronts and office units remain vacant stemming from the COVID epidemic and downtown’s problems with unhoused campers and drug users.

The Taft building, completed in 1907, was designed by Portland architect Edgar Lazarus, who owned it until his death in 1939.  Lazarus also designed the nine-story Electric Building is best known for the Vista House at Crown Point, which takes advantage of magnificent views high above the Columbia River highway in eastern Multnomah County.

The Taft reflects what some historians call the "Chicago school" of architecture, with the tri-partite windows and wide spandrels.  The building was known for many years as Hotel Ramapo until changing to the Taft Hotel nameplate in 1955.  It because a residential care facility in 1985/86.

While the interior of the Taft building is reported to be in awful condition, the building has already been retrofitted with earthquake bracing which rates as a plus for the buyers.  That alone, along with the McMenamins’ reputation for undertaking responsible preservation projects, could provide the Taft building with many honorable decades ahead.  

 ---Fred Leeson

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Let's Save a Bridge Tower (or Two)

 

(Multnomah County)

Two diminutive, octagonal towers each a mere 11 feet wide rate high among Portland’s best-known landmarks.

Ask almost any Portland resident where the image above is located and the answer likely will be: “Burnside Bridge.”

Two operator’s towers with tile roofs were built on the two heavy bridge piers to provide controls for opening and closing bascules large ships pass.  Both have small staircases; one has a bathroom and the control equipment while the other is used for storage.

Neither will survive when Multnomah County builds its new “earthquake ready” bridge now in the preliminary design stage.  The “new” Burnside will replace the one that opened in 1926.

 There is no need nor space for retaining the historic towers in whatever form the new bridge takes.  Which begs the question: Will they be demolished or can a new use be found for or even both?

The county is well aware of the significance of the towers to the city’s landscape.  However, the budget for the new bridge must be limited to new bridge construction, and not for potential preservation and re-use of the towers somewhere else.

 However, because the bridge and towers are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the county cannot destroy historic fabric them willy-nilly.  Steve Dotterrer, a board member of the Architectural Heritage Center, sits on a committee charged with monitoring what happens to the bridges historic elements, including the towers and balustrades (railings). He said there have been “exploratory” talks with the county, but it is clear that the county budget cannot be used for erecting a tower at a new location.

 Heather Flint Chatto, the AHC’s executive director, said preservationists probably need to figure out a public/private venture that could preserve one of the towers perhaps in Waterfront Park as some sort of kiosk that includes a historic description.

 The towers were designed by the Portland architectural firm of Houghtaling and Dougan.  They may have been added when one of the bridge design engineers criticized Portland for having ugly bridges.  Houghtaling and Dougan also are known for designing the former Washington High School and the classical downtown Portland Elks Lodge that is now part of the Sentinel Hotel.

 While destruction of the operators’ towers is not eminent, it is a good time to start working on a preservation plan.  Given their compact size, it amounts to a “small” but important project.

 -----Fred Leeson

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Can Cleveland High School Be Saved?

 

In coming months, trying to save Grover Cleveland High School from demolition might ripen into a major Portland preservation issue.

 The Portland School Board has approved plans to demolish the 1929-era school and build a replacement on the same site, while Cleveland students would be bussed to the former Marshall High site in the meantime.  The board has already authorized architects to start drawing the plans.

 Trouble is, voters have not yet been asked to approve funding for the Cleveland project.  And the districts own preliminary studies indicate that thoroughly rebuilding the school’s interior with new classrooms and mechanical systems could cost less than a new building.  The refurbishing also would bear fewer environmental consequences than tearing down and building anew.

 The school district also cited a survey of 1413 respondents, 81 percent of whom said they preferred a new building to renovating the old.  Alas, 40 percent of those respondents were students who likely didn’t have any appreciation of the environmental costs of demolition and starting new.  Concern also has been raised about how wording in the questionnaire may have foreordained the answers.

 

So far, no public stances have been taken by the two neighborhood associations directly related to Cleveland.  The school sits in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood, while the football field four blocks away – “Cleveland Stadium” – lies in Richmond.  Decisions by those associations could have an effect on the anticipated ballot measure for funding or encourage the district to change its mind.

The board of directors of the Architectural Heritage Center, a non-profit organization that strives to protect historic buildings and public places, voted strongly in favor of preserving the historic structure.  The directors said the first priority should be renovating it as a high school; if that fails, the building should be saved for some adaptive reuse, such as a community center or private business.  The directors also noted the added environmental costs of demolition and new construction.

It will take a significant community expression if the building is to be saved in any form.

 The four-acre Cleveland site comprises the 1929 building designed in a Classical Revival style by the district architect of the time, George H. Jones. Subsequent additions of less architectural importance were built adjacent to the original in 1957, 1958 and 1968.  At some point, the multi-paned double-hung windows were removed from classrooms in the 1919 building, but restoring them with comparable new windows could return the historic facades to their original appearance.

 The historic facades are red brick with staggered quoins of glazed terra cotta surrounding multiple doorways and exterior corners.  A historic evaluation performed by the school district in 2007 concluded that Cleveland “retains its integrity of feeling, association, materials, setting and workmanship” reflecting its origins and history.  The study concluded that the building would be eligible to for placement on the National Register of Historic Places.

During a 14-year tenure as the district architect, Jones designed 25 buildings in the era of Portland’s rapid growth.  Many of them – Irvington, Beaumont, Riggler, Duniway and Beaumont to name a few – stand as charming and well-loved monuments in their neighborhoods. 

 The Cleveland project is another step in the district’s plan to improve all Portland high schools for another century.  So far, the district has done comprehensive and tasteful restoration/modernization projects at Roosevelt, Franklin, Grant, Madison and Benson.  The school board opted to tear down Lincoln and build new, and made the same decision at Jefferson, where restoring the much-abused historic building was not supported by the neighborhood.

The good news, then, is that the district might be willing to be flexible.  That’s what preservationists should be asking for at Cleveland, hoping that it leads to a better outcome than demolition.

---Fred Leeson

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The Fountain Dictates the Answer

Ira Keller and fountain designer Angela Danadjieva, 1970

When the Portland City Council sits down to decide on the location of a new Civic Auditorium, one immutable factor should make the decision easy.

 Sitting across the street from the current site is what Architectural Digest calls one of the world’s most “stunning” fountains.  The same one that the nation’s premier architecture critic of the era called “one of the most important urban spaces since the Renaissance.”

 The Ira Keller (nee: Forecourt) Fountain was designed to sit at the Civic Auditorium’s entrance.  It creates a vital, vibrant human space in front of the performance venue, gracing audiences with a spectacular experience both entering and leaving the Auditorium. Very simply, there is nothing that can match it anywhere in Portland – or anywhere else.

For this reason alone, the new Auditorium needs to sit in exactly the same place as the current one.  Building a new auditorium anywhere else would be a massive disservice to the fountain and to its role in the public realm.  The competing site is an old motel once desired by Portland State University that PSU now hopes to unload.

 Architectural Heritage Center directors and other preservation advocates also recommend keeping the current auditorium site.  But there has been little discussion about the value of the fountain and its potential to add greatness to a new auditorium across the street. (Or about consequences if the fountain becomes stranded.) 

The architecture critic who raved about the fountain in 1970 was Ada Louise Huxtable of the New York Times, who won the first-ever Pulitzer Prize for criticism the same year.  While applauding the fountain, she was less enamored with the Auditorium we see today. 

 She called it “a building of unrelieved blandness, sauced with piped-in music at non-performance hours.”  That should be a clue that we can do better – by designing a new auditorium that complements the fountain.  Portland’s best architectural minds should create a building that combines the drama of the fountain with the beauty of the art and music within the auditorium’s walls.

 And here’s another vital factor that must be considered when the City Council makes its decision:  What becomes of the fountain’s environs if the auditorium moves elsewhere?  Could the auditorium block become a parking lot?  Or a high-rise condo?  Imagine how the public would feel if the fountain becomes a “forecourt” for a parking lot, or the private front yard for upscale condo owners? 

Huxtable’s review of the fountain in 1970 touched on the importance of creative, attractive open spaces adding value to historic cities harking back to the Renaissance.   “These spaces have been the human and artistic cores of cities,” she wrote. “The 20th Century has substituted the parking lot.”

 We don’t do Portland a favor by diminishing a valuable asset we already have.  Let’s make the public space even more attractive and desirable with a well-designed new auditorium.

 -----Fred Leeson

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Good News for Veterans Memorial Coliseum

 

One of Portland’s best-known public buildings – beloved by many sports fans -- is on the cusp of a well-planned preservation/restoration project.  The work should add many successful years ahead for the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The 65-year old sports and event arena was upstaged in 1996 by the larger Moda Center located nearby.  Thanks to citizens who vociferously stood for preserving of the VMC when it was threatened with demolition in 2009, the building remains as a remarkable architectural jewel and as a viable venue for sports, concerts and other events.

The $53 million restoration/preservation plan is intended to bring the building up to modern building, electrical and safety codes and to provide more restrooms for women.  Replacement of the 21-inch-wide seats in the arena bowl with wider ones will reduce the building’s total attendance capacity.

The anticipated changes would reduce the 12,000-seat bowl to at most 10,051 for basketball and 9122 for hockey.

Consulting reports finished in 2021 also suggested that the glass facades that inspired the “Glass Palace” nickname might need to be replaced.  The analysis notes, however, “Any new materials that replace the existing must conform to the historic appearance” because the building has been listed as a national historic landmark.

The $53 million budget, composed of regional hotel/motel and rental car taxes, should support work from 2024 to 2026, but it won’t accomplish all the goals set out in the consulting reports.   “Current funding is not adequate to address all of the building’s long term needs and fully unlock its potential, but it will go a long way towards creating a venue that is more accessible, sustainable, reliable, comfortable, and safer,” said Karl Lisle, the city government’s spectator venues program manager.  “In the future, additional funding will need to be secured for additional capital investments.”

 

In its heyday, the Coliseum hosted the NCAA basketball championship in 1965 and the Trailblazers NBA championship game in 1977, as well as providing home ice for the Portland Buckaroos hockey team.  Concerts included Elvis, the Beatles and Johnny Cash, to name a few.

 

Glamor dissipated with the advent of the (Rose Garden) Moda Center.  In 2009, Portland’s mayor suggested tearing down the Coliseum for a baseball site.  A handful of dedicated Coliseum lovers, led by architecture writer Brian Libby, architect Stuart Emmons and the late Gil Frey, a veterans advocate, fought for its preservation, citing – among other issues – its potential value as a venue and its outdoor memorial to veterans killed in action.

 

Years ago, a college professor and architect criticized the building contending that it “lies to you” because the square curtainwall concealed an ovoid seating bowl.  What he missed was the interplay of the geometric shapes when lit at night; and the engineering marvel of four reinforced concrete pillars from which the roof and four walls are suspended.  Designed by the large architecture firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill, the Coliseum is an excellent example of mid-century modern design on a large scale. 

 

When renovations are completed, the Coliseum will remain as an excellent example of simplicity and thoughtfulness combined to create architectural beauty.  The building also will stand as a testament to preservation advocacy when enough caring people generate public and political support to save a valuable resource.

 

----------Fred Leeson

 

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A Sentimental Journey

 My first road trip since the COVID era allowed me to retrace neighborhoods in Helena, MT., that introduced me to old buildings in my childhood and became the inspiration for my interest in historic preservation. 

 There is no reason for anyone to care, perhaps.  Regardless, join me herewith:

  R.C. Wallace Residence, 1890

My mother inherited this house from Wallace’s daughter in 1955.  Wallace fought in the Civil War with Custer and Reno; at one point Custer ordered him to leave the regiment to do a security check on Custer’s wife.  After the war, Wallace made his way to Helena where he became a successful merchant and served as city treasurer. 

 Wallace’s daughter never married.  She rented rooms after her father’s death.  One tenant was my mother, who lived there for about five years before marrying my father during World War II. Mom owned this house for about eight years.  Its sale funded my undergraduate education at Stanford University.

 Cathedral of St. Helena, 1914

 

Patterned on the Votivkirche in Vienna, Austria, the cathedral with twin 230-foot spires is visible from almost anywhere in Helena.  As a kid, I could ride my bike all over town, paying no attention to directions.  When it was time to go home, I looked for the spires that were located one block from the Wallace house.

 The story I heard as a kid was that one of the wealthy donors was asked to pay for the second spire.  “I’d rather go to hell with the Baptists,” he supposedly said, but later gave in.  Construction occurred from 1908 to 1914.  The fact that the city population was about 11,000 at the time shows the extent of Helena’s great wealth stemming from its 19th Century gold-mining era.

Helena Civic Center (Algeria Shrine Temple) 1920

You don’t see much Moorish Revival architecture like this in Helena or elsewhere.  It was built for the Algeria Shrine, featuring a large amphitheater and ballroom.  It was badly damaged by the 1935 earthquake and was sold to the city government.  It served as City Hall until 1979 and is now the main Fire Station in addition to being an event venue. 

 Historic Sign

 

Starting in 1919, Helena resident J.E. “Eddy’ O’Connell began building a bakery chain in several northwest states that he eventually sold to General Baking Inc. in the 1960s.  O’Connell, known as the “velvet hammer” for his management style, eventually became General Baking’s board chair.  He hired my mother, a trained dietician, in 1938 to formulate recipes, provide sales training to delivery drivers and to supervise clean-up of the bakeries he bought.  They remained lifetime friends until his death in 1972.  

Recent repainting of the sign suggests that it likely bears historic status in Helena. Given the workings of the business world, there is no longer an Eddy Bakery in Helena.

To readers who made it this far, thanks for your patience.  Henceforth, Building on History will return to focusing on preservation issues in Portland, Oregon.

---Fred Leeson

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A New Era at the Architectural Heritage Center

Heather Flint Chatto

A new era of community-based architectural preservation advocacy in Portland appears to be in the offing with the hiring of Heather Flint Chatto as the new executive director of the Architectural Heritage Center.

 After engaging in the proverbial nationwide search for a new executive, directors of the non-profit heritage center found Flint Chatto close by in Southeast Portland, where she has been deeply involved in neighborhood planning.  The center's mission is to encourage preservation of important historic buildings and public spaces.  

 Flint Chatto brings 25 years of experience as a professional planner She brings over 25 years of experience as a professional planner and urban designer, with special interests in green design, planning for resiliency, zero energy buildings and sustainability policy.  Heather is known to many in the preservation field through her work as owner of Forage Design + Planning and as co-founder and Director of PDX Main Streets, helping communities to create main street design guidelines and identify their important historic buildings.

Flint Chatto is a strong advocate for creative ways to reuse vintage buildings as a key to curbing carbon emissions. She also values preservation for the social value of retaining a historic sense of place. 

 Most recently, Flint Chatto was principal of Forage Design + Planning and director of the not-for-profit PDX Main Streets, assisting neighborhoods in creating design guidelines that identify and retain important historic buildings. 

 Flint Chatto assumes her new post on June 1, succeeding Peggy Moretti, an interim executive who managed the AHC for the past 10 months.  Moretti will remain as a consultant during Flint-Chatto's first few months as executive director.

“I envision AHC as a convener of community thought leadership, fostering inclusive engagement, new partnerships, and expanded programming around diverse histories and cultural identities,” Flint Chatto said. “I look forward to advancing how preservation and rehabilitation of special buildings can be a catalyst for cultural placemaking, social uplift and economic vitality.”

 In 2015, and 2019, the Daily Journal of Commerce honored Flint Chatto as a Woman of Vision for her passion for education and design literacy, community planning work for main streets, and creative community engagement. In choosing Flint Chatto, AHC directors were impressed by her range of professional involvement and connections with many figures involved in Portland’s planning, design and development communities.

 She holds a master’s in urban planning from the University of Washington and early in her career worked as an urban planner in Santa Barbara, CA. While community outreach and education will be key elements of Flint Chatto’s new job, she also will be responsible for management of the AHC’s historic building at 701 S.E. Grand Ave., a staff of four and fund-raising and financial management. It adds up to a very full plate, indeed.

 ---Fred Leeson Join Building on History’s mailing list by writing “add me” to fredleeson@hotmail.com

Can There Be New Chapters?

Loyalty and Hamilton Buildings

The recent auction of two historic Portland office buildings offers further evidence of the economic trauma affecting a downtown now lacking the employees and shoppers that used to dominate the central city.

 Bargain hunters had chances to bid on the 12-story Loyalty Building at 317 SW Alder St. and the adjacent Hamilton Building at 529 SW Third Ave.   Both are designated Portland landmarks and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

 The Loyalty Building was erected in 1928, under the direction of Claussen & Claussen architects, a firm tht is now largely forgotten.  The six-story Hamilton Building dates to 1893 and was designed by Whidden & Lewis, the city’s best-known firm at the turn of the century. 

 A California investor bought both buildings late in 2013 for $12.45 million.  Today they stand vacant.  Results of the auction, which presumably ended on May 15, are not yet known.

 

A closer look at the stylish Hamilton

Given frontages on both Alder and Third Avenue, one has to wonder whether the Loyalty Building could be converted to apartments.  Conventional wisdom says “no,” the work would be far too expensive. 

But wait!  An article in the May 6 New Yorker magazine, “Design for Living,” discusses in detail how  a New  York developer, Nathan Berman, has found success transferring obsolete office towers “into warrens of one- and two-bedroom apartments.”  Since 1917, Berman has converted eight former office towers into some 5,000 apartments.  The tallest is 30 stories. 

 Berman targets his developments for young tenants who likely are renting for the first time, and who likely will stay no more than a few years.  The apartments are small, eccentrically shaped, and offer minimal kitchens, based on the premise that most young tenants won’t be doing extensive cooking.

 But Berman also knows his tenants want some shared spaces in the building – places where they can meet with others for exercising or socializing.  He also doesn’t scrimp on lobbies, recognizing that tenants and their guest will appreciate an attractive, welcoming space.

 Of course, Portland isn’t New York.  Is downtown Portland a place where young tenants hope to begin and advance their careers?  One also wonders: Would the same formula – small apartments, minimal kitchens, elevator access and social spaces – be an attractive environment for seniors?

The Loyalty Building seems to offer an attraction lacking in newer office towers.  It has operable windows on both frontages, which should be a bonus for residents liking fresh air that isn’t blown in by machinery.

 Coming months should tell us what the new owner (if there is one) of these two buildings has in mind for their future.  From the preservation perspective, three buildings on the western side of Third Avenue – the Loyalty, Hamilton and Dekum – offer one of downtown’s best examples of an interesting urban streetscape dating to the late stagecoach and early automobile era.

 One can hope that these charming structures can find useful new lives.

 ---Fred Leeson

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Celebrating the South Park Blocks

 

Robert Wright, Wendy Rahm and Brooke Best celebrate a rare achievement

Several of Portland’s most dedicated preservation enthusiasts met in the South Park Blocks for the celebratory unveiling of a plaque recognizing the park’s addition to the National Register of Historic Places.

 It was the happy culmination of a three-year effort led primarily by volunteers to provide documentary evidence of the park’s 153-history as a centerpiece of graceful natural beauty and respite in the heart of downtown Portland. 

 In a city as big and convoluted as Portland, citizen-based initiatives always face a huge challenge.  The Downtown Neighborhood Association took on the task of earning national recognition for the park, and stayed the course right down to buying two new bronze plaques, located at each end of the 12-block park.

 Not surprisingly, perhaps, no one from the municipal government or Portland Bureau of Parks bothered to attend the ceremony.  Just as well.  It would have been a long stretch to find anything positive to say about their role in the detailed designation process.

 As Brooke Best, one of the key authors of the National Registration nomination noted, the city government had talked on a few occasions dating back to 1985 about seeking national recognition for the long, narrow urban park.  But never bothered to follow through.

Under direction of downtown residents Wendy Rahm and Walter Weyler, the Downtown Neighborhood Association took on the task in 2021, summoning volunteers to take on the necessary detailed research.  Ultimately, preservation consultants Best and Kirk Ranzetta steered the nomination through the state and national channels.

 As the process unfolded, the Parks Bureau tried to derail it in public meetings.  The bureau had begun its own 50-year masterplan that would change the historic planting scheme and allow some of the historic elm trees to die out without replacement. 

The 50-year plan also would remove on-street parking in front of four churches that face the South Park Blocks.  The planning committee that approved that recommendation did not include any representatives of the churches – certainly some sort of breech of reasonable planning policy. 

What happens to the 50-year plan is not known.  The city lacks funding to start carrying it out at present.  The National Register listing would prevent use of any federal funds for making changes without a formal historic review.  And one wonders if a new 12-member City Council that comes to power in 2025 might decide not to carry out a flawed plan approved by its predecessor.

 In the meantime, the five axial rows of elegant elm trees as laid out by pioneering horticulturalist Louis  Pfunder will continue to rule the blocks with their welcome canopy of spring, summer and fall foliage. 

 While no one from the Parks Bureau attended the celebratory event, the bureau did issue a press release in advance.  “The park remains one of the city's most distinctive, valued, and significant historic open spaces – a place for respite and enjoyment of all,” it said.

 On that point -- if the Parks Bureau truly believes it -- the preservation community can joyfully agree. 

 ---Fred Leeson

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