End of the Burnside Bridge?

 

When the inevitable Cascadian subduction zone earthquake -- the Big One -- hits Portland someday, engineers say 40 of the 44 bridge lanes that connect the east and west sides of the Willamette River will collapse or be unusable for the near future.

 And while two lanes of the Sellwood Bridge are expected to survive the quake, landslides on Highway 43 south of Portland may prevent vehicles from entering or leaving the West Side.  Tillikum Crossing’s two lanes were never intended for auto or truck traffic.

 Thus the Burnside Bridge has been designated to be the “east-west lifeline route,” and Multnomah County has been planning for a couple years on how to prepare that bridge for a major quake.  If you want to see a scary video simulating a collapse in a major quake, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn98JkN5HXc

 The tentative conclusion is to build a “long-span” replacement bridge that would extend from West 2nd Avenue across the river to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The estimated cost is $825 million for a project to be completed in the late 2020s.

 In short, the Burnside Bridge that has served since 1926 with its twin bascules would be toast.

 Or would it?  John Czarnecki, a preservation-oriented architect and former chair of the Portland Landmarks Commission, contends that another option, enhancing the current Burnside Bridge, was dismissed prematurely.

 During an informational meeting before the Portland Design Commission in December, Czarnecki called the bridge one of the city’s “best celebrated public works,” deserving of appreciation and preservation.  “There is a simplicity and modesty of this bridge that will be lost.”  He added, “Please, let’s take a careful look at what we’re losing…and what we have the opportunity to maintain.”

Designing a bridge to run through the heart of a major city is a complicated task.  Designers and engineers are concerned about obstruction of city views, accessibility under the west end of the bridge, maintaining a safe crossing above the I-5 freeway and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks on the east side.

 “There is a whole smattering of different options we are looking at,” said Steve Drahota, a consultant with the HDR engineering and planning firm that is part of the county’s planning team.    

The long-span proposal that is the leading option so far would move structural elements above the roadway, as opposed to the structure that now sits below the Burnside deck.  How bulky and how the structure is shaped will affect the views of the city by passengers travelling either direction.

 The two primary structural types are tied arches that look like small versions of the Fremont Bridge, and a cable-stayed structure that would be a larger version of Tillicum Crossing.  Advantages of these long-span options include reduced structural elements in Waterfront Park and completely spanning the squishy ground that historically was a marshland on the river’s east bank.  The long-span approach also would protect the Interstate-5 freeway and Union Pacific’s railroad tracks.

Possible tied-arch option (Multnomah County)

 Since the bridge must continue to accommodate river traffic, it needs to be provided with a center lift span or a version of the current bascules that lift the movable sections by use of counterweights below the bridge deck.  The center lift system would require two bulky towers near the river’s center, substantially adding to the visual clutter.

 Czarnecki believes not enough attention was given to enhancing the current bridge.  While such an enhancement is predicted to cost 8 to 10 percent than a new long-span bridge, he believes the potential long-term benefits, including the historic design of the current bridge, are worth it over the long run.

 Enhancing the current bridge presents its own problems, however.  Additional supports would be needed on both ends, presenting more obstacles in Waterfront Park on the west and eliminating the skateboard park on the east.  The squishy ground on the east bank, which amplifies ground movement in earthquakes, conceivably could leave even the enhanced bridge subject to serious damage.

 A potentially new option raised in the Design Commission hearing would be retrofitting and saving the existing bascules and historic appearance while adding long-span designs on the east and west ends.  If feasible, however, this option might preclude the possibility of widening the entire bridge by 20 feet, as currently envisioned in the long-span approach.

The Design Commission expects to hear an update on potential bridge designs in the next couple months.  More information on the project is available at:

 https://multco.us/earthquake-ready-burnside-bridge

What's next for Lloyd Center?

 

What traditionally is the busiest season of the year for retailers likely will be the death rattle for the Lloyd Center, the huge shopping mall in Northeast Portland with 1.3 million square feet of retail, office and restaurant space.

Macy’s, the primary retail “magnet” at the mall’s most desirous location, will close Jan. 1.  The few shoppers showing up this holiday season are greeted by glaring yellow signs offering the sale of store fixtures, along with all other retail inventory.  Likewise, the GAP is closing its Lloyd Center location.  Gossip from the mall suggests that several others are likely not going to renew their leases in January.

Many of the mall’s small retail shops are already vacant, while those that remain are struggling, at best. Blame it on COVID-19, or the changing habits of retail shoppers, or some combination.  But reality is reality.  At age 60, the mall’s life in retail seems finished.

 Macy’s departure follows a several other giants – J.C. Penney, Sears, Nordstrom, J.J. Newberry, F.W. Woolworth, Marshalls and a multi-screen cinema – who left Lloyd Center over many years as the center’s gradual decline became increasingly evident.

 Cypress Equities, a Dallas, Texas firm, bought Lloyd Center in 2013 for $148 million.  It then launched an “upgrade” project that included shrinking the ice rink, eliminating the attractive pedestrian bridge over the ice and adding an elegant spiral staircase that is seldom trod by human feet.

 The question now is what happens to an urban footprint that amounts to 18 square blocks of valuable city real estate.  Cypress Equities should be no stranger to the challenges, since it owns 16 major shopping and mixed-use malls around the country. 

 One option would be to tear everything down and start over with high-rise apartments or office buildings allowed by the zoning regulations.   A couple years ago, the Lloyd Center was mentioned as a potential site for a major league baseball stadium, although talk of landing a team has gone largely silent.

Pedestrian street for housing? 

 While the original mall was a had a creative Mid-Century Modern cachet, the inevitable tinkerings of the retail world managed to snuff out its original architectural charm.  However, since one of the goals of preservation is to save the environment from wasteful demolitions, one can think of other potential uses for much of the center as it stands. 

Perhaps the easiest option is to convert all the smaller shops to office space.  The third floor along the major concourses always held offices for doctors and dentists.  A compromise might be to consolidate retail on one level, leaving two other levels for offices. 

Housing also could be a realistic possibility along the long, three-story concourses that run east and west from the ice rink.  All those small shops already are equipped with plumbing, which would make the transition easier to apartments or condominiums.  Removing the roofs that were added about 1990 would open apartments or condominiums to fresh air.

Covered parking could be available to tenants.  Some of the existing shops could become offices for doctors and dentists, or barber shops, hair salons, small eateries and convenience stores with built-in constituencies.  Since these areas are served by escalators and elevators, they would provide accessibility for a senior housing community.

At two and three stories, the largest former retail outlets pose more of a challenge for repurposing, given their size and limited natural light.  One possibility as a major tenant might be a large home improvement center.  Home Depot snooped for a site in the Hollywood District almost 20 years ago before backing off in a recession. 

 Another possibility could be demolishing the large stores at the east and west ends of the mall to make way for multi-story buildings of offices, condos or apartments.   Similarly, the largely unused parking structure at the mall’s northwest corner could be removed for more productive use of that real estate.

Joe Brown's Carmel Corn -- a survivor from the earliest days

 The Lloyd Center opened to massive crowds in 1960.  Its proximity to downtown Portland – about two miles – made some experts ponder whether both retail cores could be successful located so close together.  Downtown retail has been severely hurt by the pandemic and by political protests, making it questionable to say whether it is really the survivor, but in the long run it is a better bet than the Lloyd Center.  

 Regardless, Lloyd Center holds vivid memories for many Portland shoppers and diners who remember the early years of the open-air mall with its many retail and eating options.   Today it feels almost like a modern-day ghost town. 

 Now we have to wait and see how executives in Dallas, Texas, figure out what happens next. Or whether they sell out to some other developer with something else in mind. 

 

 

Eaton Building: In Jeopardy, or Not?

 

To her credit, Vanessa Sturgeon, the president of TMT Development, wasn’t obligated to attend a meeting of the Downtown Neighborhood Association board to explain why she is seeking removal of the 115-year old Eaton Building from Portland’s historic inventory list.

Her reason was a good bit puzzling.  

The Eaton, at 622 SW 9th Ave., was built as a hotel to serve guests attending the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition.  The interesting brick structure contained 70 rooms, including 16 suits including bathrooms.  Many years later, the building was converted to the 22 apartments it contains today.

 In 1984, the City of Portland included the Eaton on the historic inventory, a list of scores of buildings throughout the city that were regarded for their historic value in Portland and their worthiness to be designated as city landmarks or placed on the National Register of Historic Places.  While the Eaton was deemed worthy for either designation, no such designation was ever sought.

 Now Sturgeon is using a city code provision that allows removal from the inventory after a notice period of 120 days.  Removal is automatic; there is no opportunity for objection or a public hearing.

(Oregon Journal, 1904) 

 So, DNA members were curious to ask why.  Sturgeon’s answers were puzzling, at best.  She called the inventory “a made-up list” that imposed restrictions without any benefits.  Asked what those restrictions were, she replied, “I don’t even know what the restrictions are.”  Moments later, she added, “It would be expensive for me to have a lawyer come and explain it all.”

 In fact, there are no restrictions on buildings included in the inventory. (We will get to the likely motive shortly.)

 In the meantime, Sturgeon assured the DNA that she has no intentions of selling or demolishing the Eaton.  She said the apartments are being upgraded one at a time as tenants move over.  “They are really nice apartments,” she said. Sturgeon said she has no interest in placing the building on the National Register, although such a listing could offer tax benefits. 

John Czarnecki, an architect and DNA member, said “This would be a real shame to remove this building.  The brickwork is fabulous.”  He said he liked the scale of the Eaton on the street.  “It is an exceptional building.” The image below shows the romanesque arches on the top floor, the brick quoins on the corner and the subtle but elegant window decorations on the lower floors.  

 Czarnecki said the Eaton was designed by Henry J. Hefty, an architect who practiced in Portland from 1884 to 1912.  Hefty’s most notable building was the First Congregational Church erected in 1890.  Its over-sized bell tower made it visible from almost anywhere west of the Willamette River for decades.

In 1890, Hefty won a design competition to design Portland's City Hall.  His plan was a large, heavy building that was eventually deemed to expensive to complete.  Whidden & Lewis designed a smaller building finished in 1895 that sits on foundations prepared for Hefty's work. 

 Sturgeon predicted that major property owners with buildings listed on the historic inventory will be asking to have those structures removed from the list.  In the Eaton case, “This has nothing to do with demolition,” she said.  “We have no intention of selling the building.”

 

The likely motive for delisting requests from Sturgeon and other owners likely lies in proposed city code changes pending before the Portland Planning and Sustainability Commission in advance of City Council consideration sometime next year.

 Under the proposed new rules, removal from the historic inventory could not happen unless it was accompanied by a demolition permit application.  The demolition application would require a 120-day period in which interested parties could try to buy the building to spare it from demolition or try to make plans for moving the historic building to a new site.

 By removing a building from the historic inventory now, a person planning to demolish a building ostensibly would eliminate the 120-delay.  Not being on the inventory presumably would make it easier to sell a building, especially if a developer is accumulating more than one contiguous property in hopes of building something much larger.

 Unlike many developers, Sturgeon’s firm has experience building skyscrapers (Fox Tower and Park Avenue West) as well as managing historic buildings.  TMT Development also owns the old Studio Building and Guild Theater, a couple blocks south of the Eaton Apartments.

 Though Sturgeon repeated that she has no plans to sell or demolish the Eaton, Story Swett, an architect and preservation advocate, called removal from the historic inventory “a first step down the road.”  He added, “It’s dismaying and disappointing to have this happen.”

 

Holiday Reading Suggestions

 Now that we are in the throes of the holiday shopping season, the chief executive here at Building on History figured it was a good time to recommend books that should interest anyone who cares about architecture and Portland history.

 You will note that one author is common to all of them, William J. Hawkins III.  A native of Portland who is now into his eighth decade, Hawkins is an architect and architectural historian who knows more Portland history in his pinky than most of us will ever attain.  For several decades, including this very day, he has been the conscience of efforts to preserve the best of Portland’s vintage buildings and city parks. 

The books:

Classic Houses of Portland, Oregon, 1850-1950.  William J. Hawkins III and William F. Willingham, 1999. 591 pages.

This large volume contains photographs and architectural details of some 200 houses in the Portland region, including some grand old mansions that fell to wreckers along the way.  Many interior photographs are included.

 This is far more than a picture book, however. People interested in learning about the many historical styles of residential architecture will find descriptions photographs and drawings of 22 different design categories, including lists of characteristics that lay people can use to evaluate houses that interest them.

 If nothing else, a reader must stand in awe of the incredible array of amazing houses that still grace out city. 

The Legacy of Olmsted Brothers in Portland Oregon.  William J. Hawkins, III.  2014.  198 pages.

  While this book is more about landscape design and parks, visits by the renowned Olmsted landscape architecture firm to Portland starting in 1903 had a lasting impact on Portland neighborhoods and the city park system.  Hawkins’ great uncle, Lester Leander Hawkins, helped escort John Olmstead about the city in 1903 in a horse-drawn wagon, and served as a prominent member of the Portland Park Board that implemented many of the suggestions outlined by the 1903 Olmsted report.

 The Olmsted firm laid out plans for the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition, as well as mapping out a whole series of proposed city parks and arterials that would connect them.  The scenic Terwilliger Parkway also was an element of the Olmsted plan, as well as another scenic route along Willamette Boulevard that never received much formal attention.

 On a later trip to Portland, the Olmsted firm laid out streets in the Laurelhurst neighborhood and initiated plans Laurelhurst Park, long considered one of the city’s most attractive public spaces.  Several other park locations identified by the Olmsteds were developed by the city in succeeding years.   The book also spells out direct and indirect influence of Olmstead street layouts in several other Portland neighborhoods.

The Grand Era of Cast-Iron Architecture in Portland.  William J. Hawkins III, 1976.  211 pages.

 This heavily-illustrated book is an exhaustive inventory of cast-iron buildings erected during a roughly 40-year span beginning slowly in the 1850s and accelerating rapidly in the 1880s.  For a time, Portland had the most outstanding collection of cast-iron buildings on the West Coast and the largest collection outside of New York City.

 Hawkins’ research explains in detail the rise and fall of the iron-fronted buildings, which can be considered in some ways as forerunners of prefabricated buildings.  The saddest part of the book is an extensive number of photographs showing these interesting buildings being demolished after World War II, mostly for the creation of parking lots for automobiles. 

 If Portland still had these rows of early buildings, they would be a foremost tourist attraction on the West Coast.  This book helped start Portland’s interest in architectural preservation that continues to this day.

Architects of Oregon.  Richard Ellison Ritz, 2002.  462 pages.

This book is an alphabetized, biographical listing of deceased architects who practiced in Oregon in the 19th and 20th Centuries.  Ritz died before this historical resource was finished, and William J. Hawkins III stepped in to complete this extensive project and shepherd it to publication..

It is an excellent reference that lists notable buildings whenever possible.  Listings may run from a mere few sentences to a few pages, depending on the importance of the architect and amount of historical references left behind. 

 For better or worse, the most viable way to find any of these books for purchase is through the Seattle-based internet seller that starts with the capital “A.”  You know, the company that makes billions but doesn't pay taxes. 

 

Oregonian Building Redux

 

                                                                (Postcard, 1948)        

Portland’s most internationally-famed architect, Pietro Belluschi, is widely remembered for the Equitable Savings building he completed in 1948.  Its innovative sleek glass and aluminum design is considered the world’s first curtain-wall building that ushered in the International Style of modern skyscrapers.

Less well-known is another Belluschi building also finished in 1948. The 6-story Oregonian Building at 1320 SW Broadway also was a relentlessly modern building designed to meet a new era of mid-century communications, with printing presses, radio studios and a television station.  The newspaper bragged about it being “the largest structure built in Oregon in the last 10 years.”

 The block-size building was interesting in other ways, too.  Its main Broadway façade had a second entrance for Hostess House, the Oregonian newspaper’s model kitchen and space for cooking instruction.  The corner at Broadway and Jefferson was designated as a small retail spot, to be filled for many years by a drug store and a restaurant.

 On the fourth floor, space was allocated for a cafeteria or restaurant including open-air seating on a plaza above the third floor.

 On the Sixth Avenue side, big two-story windows were intended to give pedestrians a view of the huge newspaper presses that could churn out 90,000 broadsheet issues per hour.  They were so heavy they had to have a separate foundation.  A tunnel through the middle of the building provided access for circulation trucks and newsprint deliveries.

(Contemporary view, same vantage)

  The radio studios for KGW on the fourth floor had sound-proofed walls and ceilings, and air-lock entrances designed to keep out extraneous noise.  When the building opened in June, 1948, the newspaper described the noise protections thusly:  “The rushing roar of the presses, the rhythmic clacking of the linotypes and frenzied whine of metal saws in the composing room, the shouts and clicking typewriters in the newsroom, KGW wanted none of them.”

 Ultimately, the building failed to meet its ambitious intentions.  As a result of a disagreement with the newspaper company, Pietro Belluschi took his name off the final drawings.  The huge picture windows on Sixth Avenue became so spattered with ink that it was largely impossible to see the presses at work.

 The fourth-floor restaurant never materialized. Its space became the newsroom for the companion Oregon Journal newspaper when it merged with the Oregonian in the early 1960s and the outdoor seating plaza went unused. 

 KGW Radio did use the studios for a few years, but the Oregonian sold its interest in KGW before any TV broadcasting occurred in the building. 

In the 1970s, the Oregonian switched to a new printing process with presses in a different building.  Combining newsroom staffs late in 1982 led to major internal remodels on three floors.  When growth of the internet led to implosion of the newspaper business, the Oregonian moved out of the building in 2014 for rental space elsewhere.

 Dan Haneckow, a Portland historian, toured the building shortly after the Oregonian newsroom closed.  “It was fascinating, ” he said.  “Time seemed to have stopped in the early 1990s.  There was a decrepit grandeur to the place.  You could see how important it was. At the same time the world had passed it by.  Lots of old technology, sometimes strewn about the floor.  Awful drop ceilings which I assume have been removed.”

 Indeed.  An extensive internal remodel was completed earlier this year.  The designers respected Belluschi’s building envelope with its limestone panels and base of polished gneiss.  New potential small retail spaces have been created on the north and side sides of the building, in addition to the original retail location at the corner of Broadway and Jefferson.

 A canopy sheltering the main entrance and a secondary retail entrance on Broadway is new, providing welcome rain protection.

(New canopy, Broadway entrance)

The new primary tenant is AWS Elemental, an Amazon subsidiary that provides internet services involving digital content production, storage, processing and distribution.  In other words, the building continues to be a communications hub of a different kind for the following era.  To the preservationist's eye, it is a successful adaptation of a worthy building for new uses. 

Ironically, the same month the Oregonian Building opened, June, 1948, Pietro Belluschi was honored as a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, one of the nation’s highest awards.  It was his 25th year in Portland.  His other notable works included the Portland Art Museum, the J.P. Finley & Sons Mortuary (sadly demolished) the Equitable building and renovation of the Union Station train depot.  

 Belluschi’s long career was far from over.  He left Portland in 1951 and returned in the 1980s, continuing to be a prolific architect and consultant until his death in 1994 at 94.  One of his many, many legacies remains at 1320 SW Broadway.

 

Albina's Historic Sentinel

 

Anyone looking at what’s left of the historic Albina neighborhood cannot miss what is likely its oldest and tallest surviving building: Immaculate Heart Catholic Church.

This interesting example of Gothic Revival architecture was erected in 1890 when the area it served was populated mostly by Irish and European immigrants.  The church, with its pointed-arch windows and  lofty spire, was constructed with wood, not stone or brick.  As a result, sometimes its style is called Carpenter Gothic. 

The church was built by skilled craftsmen, working without benefit of plans from an architect.  As such, it is known among architectural cognoscenti as an example of “vernacular architecture.”

The building has seen a number of changes itself, along with dramatic demographic shifts in its congregation and neighborhood.  Bill Curtin, who was Immaculate Heart’s priest during the challenging decade from 1971 to 1981, knows the changes well.

Curtin’s Irish father was baptized in Immaculate Heart in 1909.  Victor Curtin, a Portland police officer who lived close to Albina, started patrolling the neighborhood in the 1940s.  He liked the area and its many jazz clubs.  He came to know and appreciate many of the Black residents who had been funneled into Albina as a result of World War II shipbuilding, and the 1948 Vanport flood.  Albina's demographics were dictated largely by and Realtors and lenders who wanted to keep Blacks from buying houses in other Portland neighborhoods.

 Bill Curtin, then 30ish and inspired by the civil rights movement and Dr.  Martin Luther King Jr., requested a transfer from St. Charles Church in Northeast Portland to Immaculate Heart.   His arrival in 1971 coincided with one of the most painful chapters of Albina history, the total eradication of several blocks containing houses and businesses, ostensibly to make way for expansion of Emanuel Hospital.  But after the land was cleared, Congress eliminated the federal urban renewal funding for the project.

 “I was there for a lot of the rebuilding of the community,” Curtin said.  He enjoyed working with his parishioners and Black business owners who opened their wallets for church projects.  “My life at Immaculate Heart was filled with a lot of wonderful things,” he said. “There were a lot of good people.  We were known as the Black catholic church in town.”  Curtin’s faith in the neighborhood and the people was not oblivious to reality, however.  “There was a lot of business on the side.”

 The extensive demolition for the ill-fated Emanuel expansion wiped out the homes and businesses of many Immaculate Heart parishioners. Curtin said many owners were not fairly paid for their property by the City of Portland.  Many poorer residents wound up moving to inexpensive housing East Multnomah County.

In the past 20 years, changes in neighborhood demographics led Immaculate Heart to put more emphasis on serving immigrant communities, including residents from Asia, Africa and Europe.  The church desires to served a congregation including "the lonely, the poor and the uninvolved."

Immaculate Heart was the second Catholic church built on Portland’s east side.  It ranks as the oldest “surviving” church, however, since the old St. Francis of Assisi Church in Southeast Portland was demolished after suffering severe storm damage in the 1930s. 

  While the skilled builders did an excellent job recreating Gothic details and proportions, they made one mistake that has proved not to be serious:  The main tower and spire tilts slightly off 90 degrees, by a margin largely undetectable to the naked eye.  A study performed in 1989 detected no signs of movement and concluded there was no lasting danger.

 Much of the church’s exterior is covered with pressed tin, a galvanized product popular during the Victorian era for both interior and exterior applications.  The tin at Immaculate Heart was pressed to give the impression of bricks.  Some of the tin was damaged by aggressive cleaning in the 1990s, leading to the spread of rust.  Fortunately, the galvanized tin manufacturer was still in business and replacements were acquired.  Repairs also were made around the foundation to prevent water infiltration.

 Bill Curtin left Immaculate Heart and the priesthood in 1981 in order to marry a woman he loved.  He remains connected to his Albina heritage, however, as a member of the board of directors of the Miracles Club, a non-profit recovery center that works with Black citizens striving to achieve and maintain sobriety.

 No Portland neighborhood is immune to change, least of all Albina.  One hopes the Immaculate Heart spire will continue to stand tall as a sentinel of Albina's history, regardless of whatever inevitable changes arise.  

 

Rinehart Building: Goodness in Albina

 

Sometime in the next few months, well-intentioned citizens operating as Albina Vision hope to offer plans for revitalizing what for decades was the heart of Portland’s African-American population, culture, society, religion, business and recreation.

 Bear in mind, however, “Everything that used to be in the neighborhood has been demolished,” says Winta Yohannes, Albina Vision’s managing director.

 Yes and no.  That is true in the confines being examined by Albina Vision just north of the Moda Center and Memorial Coliseum, where the group dreams of creating new housing, parks and business opportunities.  There is more territory in “old” Albina, however, and select properties are being restored, preserved and recognized for their historical importance.

 One of Albina’s greatest recent achievements is restoration of the 110-year old Rinehart Building at 3041 N. Williams Ave.  It was built in 1910 when the Williams Avenue streetcar was a prime mover of people between downtown and North Portland.  Albina in that era was populated heavily by Scandinavian and other European immigrants, before giving way to a heavily African-American population attracted by World War II jobs.  In an era of de facto segregation in Portland, Black residents were heavily channeled into Albina by Realtors and home lenders.

 The new population infused the neighborhood with stores, restaurants, bars, barbershops and many other small businesses.  Albina’s successful jazz nightclubs became a key destination for many of the nation’s best jazz musicians.

 The two-story brick Rinehart Building opened with shops on the ground floor and apartments above.  Though not imposing by today’s standards, it exemplified Albina’s commercial transition from wood-frame to masonry buildings.  The Rinehart’s turret at the corner of Williams and Monroe Street was intended as a beacon for streetcar riders; apartments and shops tended to focus on streetcar stops where riders got on and off. The designer was William H. Downing, who had started designing houses in Portland in 1890.  

James H. Rinehart, a real estate investor who came to Portland in 1907 from Eastern Oregon, lived in his building until his death in 1919.

The building was known more recently as the Cleo-Lilliann Social Club, an entertainment venue offering food, drinks, music and cards to African-American members.  The club succeeded Cleo’s Taver, which opened in 1957.  The club also raised money for neighborhood charities, from 1968 to its final closure in 2001, when building conditions had substantially deteriorated.  Noise complaints from neighbors were a final blow.

Peeling away old layers (National Register of Historic Places)

By then, Albina had suffered host of serious debilitations, starting with the demise of the streetcar in 1930.  Later, Union Avenue (now Martin Luther King Jr. Jr. Boulevard) became the main north-south highway.  In the late 1950s, Portland wiped out part of the neighborhood to build Veterans Memorial Coliseum, followed soon thereafter by more demolition for the Interstate-5 freeway.

The nastiest cut may have come in the early 1970s, when several blocks in the heart of the Albina commercial district were cleared for a proposed expansion of Emmanuel Hospital.  However, after all the demolition was finished federal funding for the hospital project evaporated.   Fifty years later, some blocks still remain vacant.  Meanwhile, many Black residents were driven away by predatory lenders and landlords. 

 “The Rinehart Building is significant as one of the few remaining commercial buildings in Albina with a high level of integrity associated with the social and cultural fabric of the African American community,” states the building’s registration on the National Register of Historic Places.

The original metal cornice was removed sometime in the 1980s.  At some point, the storefront windows were hidden by sheets of plywood.  The building sat vacant from 2001 until 2011, when Damon Stoudamire, a prominent Portland Trail Blazer, bought the building and vowed to restore it.

 A Portland resident, Brandon Brown, saw an opportunity in restoring the Rinehart Building.  He partnered with his father Timothy P. Brown, to buy it from Stoudamire and undertake the elaborate task of restoring the Rinehart Building in accord with rigorous U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s preservation standards.  The restoration was completed in 2013.

Today the ground floor has been restored to two storefronts, and the upstairs has been renovated into five, one-bedroom apartments.  (One apartment includes the turret.)  Working from historic photographs, crafts people were able to recreate the metal cornice.  Damaged bricks were replaced.

No matter what success is achieved by Albina Vision, the Rinehart Building and a few other significant buildings will stand as a reminder of a vibrant community that used to be.  We will look an another important Albina landmark next week. 

 

New Life for the Anna Mann House

 

                                                                (Emerick Architects)

The historic Anna Mann Old Peoples’ Home on 3.1 acres in Northeast Portland appears headed for a major transformation into a low-income community with 128 apartments.  If successful, the plan would restore an excellent vintage building and provide an important societal housing benefit.  

The plans by Innovative Housing Inc., a non-profit housing developer and management firm, would create new apartments in the Anna Mann House, erected in 1910, and add two new buildings on the eastern and southern edges of the property, located at 1021 N.E. 33rd Ave.

 “It’s a high priority for us to save old buildings and keep their integrity,” said Julie Garver, housing development director for IHI.   The agency has renovated three historic buildings with apartments in Old Town, addition to the Clifford Apartments in Southeast Portland.

 The original Anna Mann building was designed by Whitehouse and Fouilhoux, one of Portland’s most prominent firms of the era.  Their other notable work of the period included the University Club and Lincoln High School, now Lincoln Hall at Portland State University, and Jefferson High School.

 The style of the Anna Mann house is considered Tudor Revival or English Elizabethan.  Notable elements include brick walls, steeply pitched roofs, prominent gables,and cast stone lintels and sills at the windows.  The public rooms were trimmed with dark-stained Douglas fir, a common treatment for Arts and Crafts interiors in the Portland area.  Pleasingly, those interior details have been well-preserved.  The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. 

 Wings were added the first building in 1953 and 1993.  Under plans by Emerick Architects, the original building and wings will be renovated into 39 apartments.  The original elderly residents were housing in single rooms with bathrooms down the halls.  Those single rooms will be reconfigured into apartments, Garver said. 

 A narrow new building abutting the eastern edge of the property would contain 49 units, and the new building on the south side would add 40 more.  The plans call for 71 parking spaces. 

 Despite the sizable building additions to the property, space is reserved for a gazebo/picnic area and two grassy play areas.  Trees and foliage would buffer the northern boundary along Sandy Boulevard.

 The project is aimed at the difficult challenge of providing housing for low-income families.  Of the 128 apartments, 42 would be targeted for residents earning less than 30 percent of the region’s median family income.  The remaining 86 units are intended for families earning less than 60 percent of the median income.  Sixty-six apartments will have one bedroom, followed by 48 with two, 13 with three and one with four bedrooms.

 Anna Mann was the wife of a successful Portland real estate entrepreneur Peter John Mann, who died in 1908.  The couple had purchased land to build a charitable home for the elderly just before his death.  Anna Mann pressed ahead with the project tin his memory.  It opening it to its first residents in January, 1911.

 

                                                                    (Emerick Architects)

The goal of the home was to provide single rooms for elderly residents, as well as attractive rooms for meetings and dining.  Garver said the intent of the renovation of the original building is to retain the stylish woodwork that adds a warm attractiveness to the Tudor interiors.

The home remained in operation until 1982, when financial issues led to its closure.  The building served later as an alcoholic rehabilitation center and later as the Movement Center, a home for yoga and meditation.  The Movement Center sold the building earlier this year to Innovative Housing.

 Garver said the Movement Center took good care of the building for more than 25 years and cooperated with Innovative Housing in arranging financing for the sale. Innovative Housing hopes to file building permits late this year and begin renovation and construction in mid- 2021.  She estimates the project will take 20 months to complete. 

 The Anna Mann property sits in the Kerns neighborhood, but abuts Laurelhurst.  Garver said both neighborhood associations favor the Innovative Housing plan.

 

 

New Landscape at Multnomah County Central Library

 

(Henneberry-Eddy Architecture)

It isn’t clear what A.E. Doyle had in mind, if anything, for landscaping the fringes of ground on three sides of the Multnomah County Central Library when it was completed 107 years ago. 

 Faced with the difficulty of a block that sloped in two directions, Doyle backed up the rear of the building flush to the S.W. 11th Avenue sidewalk, and then centered it between side yards approximately 25 feet wide on the north and south, and roughly the same width on either side of the grand staircase to the east in front.  

 On those three frontages, Doyle designed a balustrade at the public sidewalks interrupted occasionally by benches.  “Doyle’s magical touch is the way in which he steps his surrounding wall, alternating benches with sections of wall, effectively concealing the extreme slope of the site, and reducing the scale of what is actually a very large building,” wrote architectural historian Richard Ritz.

 But that left the earth between the edges of the building and the sidewalk balustrade.  The landscaping was primarily grass in the early years, and has undergone a number of changes through the decades.  Now, faced with drainage issues, a non-compliant wheelchair ramp installed in 1982 and a desire to make the “open space” more functional for public uses, the library is overseeing a new landscape design.

 Primary elements include a longer, less-steep wheelchair ramp, two paved terraces on either side of the main staircase, new outdoor lighting near the front of the building at a low retaining wall to break up the steeper slope on the north and northeastern yards.

The revisions also would solve the problem of an emergency exit on the north side “that basically goes nowhere,” said David Wark, a principal of Henneberry-Eddy Architects, the firm designing the changes.  At present, the door empties into the side yard, but there is no way out short of wandering through the foliage and climbing the balustrade.  Under the new design, a narrow walkway would connect the door with the new terrace abutting the main stairway at the front of the building.

In accord with changes approved by the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission, the wheelchair ramp that currently creates an entrance from the sidewalk through space formerly occupied by one of the benches will be moved one bench to the south, providing a gentler slope to the main entry.  The bench that was removed for the original accessibility ramp will be replaced to look like an original.

 

(Henneberry-Eddy Architecture) 

As illustrated above, the north terrace would have room for tables and chairs.  The library envisions the space being used for book sales or outdoor classes.  Since eating and drinking are not allowed in the building, the terraces could be pleasant places for coffee or snacks in nice weather.  The illustration also shows the low retaining wall that eventually will be covered from view by vegetation.

 The planting scheme calls for low-lying plants that should not provide hiding spaces for campers or for disposal of trash.  No current trees will be removed from the library grounds.

  

(Henneberry-Eddy Architecture)

 Seating will be less optimal in the south terrace, above, because it must allow room for the accessibility entrance. 

"It's a beautiful addition to a beautiful building," Landmarks Commissioner Maya Foty said the the plan.  

 “I’m really glad to see this package come through,” said Landmarks Chair Kristen Minor. "I think it will create options that weren’t there before.”  If so, that will be an additional plus for what clearly is one of the best public buildings in Portland.

 If the discussion here provokes a reader’s interest in A.E. Doyle and his abundant contributions to Portland’s architecture, “Beauty of the City” by Philip Niles is an excellent biography.  Multiple copies are available at the Multnomah County Library, of course.

 

An Architectural Love Story

 

 As a teenager in the 1960s, I rode the blue suburban buses to the Multnomah County Central Library a couple times per month, primarily to go to the basement newspaper room to read Jim Murray sports columns in the Los Angeles Times.

As a sophomore in high school, I went many times to look at catalogues of colleges to which I might apply. 

At the time, I could have told you about the grand staircase in the lobby and about the huge Audubon bird book encased in plastic nearby.  And I could tell you about the musty aroma of the newspaper room.

What did the library building look like?  Uh, maybe I knew it was built with bricks.  Other than that, I could tell you nothing.  Like most Americans, I didn’t have a clue about how to look at a building, or why I might even want to.

All that changed my sophomore year in college.  At an overseas campus program in Britain, I chanced to take some architectural history classes.  I learned about some of the architectural eras from the classical to Modern.   I visited several of the great cities of Europe and wandered through cathedral after cathedral.  While many of my fellow students were bored by cathedrals, I stood in wonder at their size, their artistry and their amazing engineering feats – long before the days of scientific engineering.

I learned to stop and look at buildings – just for the sake of looking.  And I never tired of it.  To this day, when I plan to venture into a new city, I do research to see what significant buildings there are to see.  No wonder, then, that upon my return to Portland one of my first missions was to see buildings in my own environment – really for the first time.

One of the first I looked at was the Multnomah County Central Library – in all of its early 20th Century Georgian Revival beauty.  Frankly, I stood still in awe while taking in the brick and limestone façade, its paired pilasters at the corners, its three elegant arched entrances and the symmetrically-spaced large windows at the second floor, the balustrade topping the eaves.  This was, to my mind, one of the greatest buildings anywhere in Portland.  After admiring it for several decades, I still feel the same way.

The origins of Georgian architecture relate to England in the 18th Century -- the reign of King George III -- when the manufacture of bricks made them a study and cost-effective construction choice.  The architecture quickly  migrated to the Colonies, despite contempt for King George.  Thus Americans often call the style "colonial" rather than Georgian.

The library was an early downtown achievement from the architectural office of A.E. Doyle, whose firms designed about 20 downtown buildings – still more than any other firm in Portland.  Besides his work downtown, Doyle designed the English Gothic buildings at the heart of the Reed College campus.  Doyle’s own story was equally interesting, as a largely self-taught architect whose career thrived in the Roaring 20s, but was cut short by his death from a kidney disease in 1928.

The library was built on a tight budget.  Doyle kept costs down by eliminating interior hallways and scrimping on additional exterior adornment he had in mind.  An interesting and inexpensive adornment was the inscription of the names of many of history’s greatest writers and thinkers on spandrels below the large windows. Regardless of its simplicity, the library’s beauty and excellent proportions shine through.

 

The library comes to mind these days because changes are afoot for the landscaping within balustrades that adjoin sidewalks on three sides of the building.   We shall explore these revisions in this space next week.

An elementary guide to looking at buildings

Meanwhile, if you are not accustomed to stopping and looking at buildings, here are some basic suggestions that might be helpful:

1) What holds the building up?  Wood?  Stone?  Brick?  Steel frame? Reinforced concrete?  The structure is a determining factor in what happens next.

2) What is the building’s function?  Does the design reflect one or more uses within its spaces? What effect do you think the architect was trying to achieve?

3) What is the overall nature of the façade?  Is it symmetrical, or non-symmetrical?

4) Look at the placement of the windows.  Do they follow a pattern?

5) Look for “decorations.”  Are there columns? Brackets at the eaves?  Casings atop or around the windows? Balustrades?

6) Is there a historical “style” present?  This is particularly useful in looking at “old” buildings.  Classical?  Georgian? Italianate? Romanesque?  Second French Empire?  Gothic?  Art Deco? This will require a little research on your part to learn about historical styles, but it is easy to find basic examples on the internet.

I hope these basic guidelines will give you a greater appreciation of the human-built environment, and add richness to your lives in the way it has in mine.  The next time you go near a building that is important in your life, stop for a moment and LOOK at it.  Take it all in.  Perhaps for the first time.  

Updates: Concordia Campus, Molalla Log House

 

The Sept. 27 article about the vacant Concordia University campus attracted one of the highest volumes of readers in the modest history of this blog.  Many people said they’d like to see the campus used for emergency housing, low-income housing or a combination of low-income and market-rate housing.

Given land-use zoning issues, the quickest path for the 24-acre campus would be to remain as an institutional campus.  Wayfinding Academy, alternative two-year college in North Portland, has expressed interest in acquiring some but not all of the Concordia buildings.  That option appears tenuous, at best, given the hardships of carving up the resource.

Nick Bertram, a friend of mine who graduated from Concordia High School before the institution advanced to the collegiate level, offered another interesting idea.  He believes Portland State University should acquire it to add housing and classroom space for PSU students.

Taking over the whole campus also would give PSU a genuine home field for its women’s soccer and softball programs and men’s and women’s tennis teams.  A PSU graduate, Bertram thinks the university could simply move an academic program of an appropriate size to the Concordia academic buildings. 

Public acquisition of a former private college is not unprecedented in Portland.  Cascade College closed its North Portland campus in 1969, unable to pay mortgages it owed on new buildings.  The campus, with the help of tax funding over many years, has morphed into the attractive Portland Community College Cascade campus.

Since this blog concentrates on the value of historic buildings, the comments of Paul Falsetto, an architect who frequently visited the Concordia campus, are relevant:

“Years ago I was researching university alumni centers, and one factoid stayed with me. After conducting scores of interviews with college graduates, it was determined that three elements have the most important influences on graduates’ memories: the people they met, the buildings they inhabited, and the open space that defined the campus.

“Seems to me that with the movement towards online education, both as a business model and as a pandemic response, today’s students will miss out on all three. I’m hoping that our region’s higher education institutions are able to tread wisely during this time of challenge, and retain what they do and where they do it. An active campus grows roots that run deep in the experiences and memories of alumni and neighbors alike.”

Those of us who attended attractive campuses where we lived and went to school would agree. 

 

                                                               (Pamela Hayden photo)

 Fortunately, recent major forest fires in Clackamas County did not threaten the Molalla Log House, the venerable building that may be among the oldest in Oregon, undergoing restoration in the Hopkins Experimental Forest north of Mulino.

The history of this interesting structure was related in an Aug. 12 article on this blog.  Hand-hewn timbers that were rescued years ago from another location are believe to be from 140 to more than 200 years old, depending on which analysis one chooses to accept.

While all the timbers fit together tightly without need for metal fasteners, modern building codes would not allow reconstruction of the roof without steel support.  Pamela Hayden, who has dedicated many years to saving and reconstructing the log building, said there was no choice other than adding steel supports so the building eventually can be used for tours and meetings.

“We will have a seismically safe building,” Hayden says.  “The irony is that in the recent fires the only thing that remains in severely burned wooden buildings are their steel components - sadly stark in the embers.”

Research suggests that the building has had several roofs during its lengthy life.  The exact nature of the original one is not known.  Gregg Olson, a craftsman and scholar of historic woodworking, is fabricating a roof that he believes to be close to what the original may have been.

“Preservationists must stay steadfast,” Hayden says.  “Our first priority was to do everything possible to keep the original integrity of the log building as close to the original builders’ intent as possible - trying to adhere closely to the Secretary of Interior Standards for Historic Rehabilitation.  This took a lot of study, research, time and last but not least - new Douglas fir wood and lots of money to hire the labor of qualified and knowledgeable craftsmen.

“We definitely had to be open to making some modifications since another priority was to make the building accessible to the pubic inside and out.   The good news is we will have a building that will last at least another 100 years (hopefully) with ongoing maintenance - that can be enjoyed by generations of new learners and architectural history buffs.”

                                                               (Pamela Hayden photo)