Award-winning preservation educator and architect, Donald Peting has influenced the breadth and scope of the University of Oregon’s Historic Preservation Program and is the founding director of the Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School. He is being honored with the 2014 George McMath Historic Preservation Award, the sixth annual award, at a luncheon in Portland on May […]
Storied Stumptown Saloon to Be Reimagined as Housing
Portland has a lot of storied buildings, but few are as legendary as Erickson’s Saloon. Built in 1912, the current brick building is the last incarnation of an evolution of properties that saloon proprietor August Erickson turned into a “den of vice” during the early 1900s. Located in the heart of the Skidmore/Old Town Historic […]
New Study Sheds Light on Portland’s Masonry Buildings
In the beginning of the twentieth century, as Portland grew and expanded to the east and north, residential and commercial buildings were constructed along the streetcar and automobile travel corridors and at neighborhood centers. Many of these utilized unreinforced masonry (URM) for its improved fire resistance, durability, and lower maintenance over wood framing. The City […]
Restoring Diamonds in the Rough
Portland’s Rinehart Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December of 2013. Until a few years ago, the building suffered extreme neglect, but its history is incredibly significant. The Rinehart Building was constructed in 1910 along an important streetcar line in Portland’s historic Albina neighborhood. It is notable as one of the few […]
Pilot Program Aims to Retrofit Portland’s Older Homes
Seismically retrofitting your home can be expensive. Fortunately, a new pilot program in Portland aims to ease a majority of the costs for homeowners. Most people think the buildings in Portland vulnerable to earthquakes are larger, unreinforced masonry buildings (URM) built between the 1840s and 1930s; yet, in all reality houses built before 1974 are […]
Persevering Year After Year
Located along Highway 62 in Southern Oregon, travelers will find a beautiful and arresting sight that has attracted photographers and artists for generations – the rustic Old Wood House, which has survived being moved, abandonment, and continual vandalism. With the help of some dedicated Eagle Point community members, this 19th century house has also endured […]
What’s Next for Salem’s Dome Building?
One of Salem’s most prominent public buildings will be sold to a private developer if all goes according to a State-sponsored plan to divest the property later this year. Listed as a 2013 Most Endangered Place, the 1912 Dome Building was once part of the sprawling Oregon State Hospital campus in Salem, an institution made […]
Is Demolition the Only Option for Pendleton’s St. Anthony’s Hospital?
Pendleton is one of those storied communities that conjures up vivid images for most Oregonians. Roundup. Woolen Mill. Old West Main Street. Cowboys and girls. But few people think of St. Anthony’s Hospital as a distinguishing feature of Pendleton. As first reported by the East Oregonian, the 290,000 square foot hospital complex will be demolished […]
Midlife Crisis: Will Eugene City Hall Survive Beyond 50?
Eugene City Hall, a full-block building at the heart of the city’s downtown, has become the most-recent epicenter of debate about the preservation of Oregon’s Mid-Century Modern architecture. Built in 1964 by the firm Stafford, Morin and Longwood, local leaders for the past several years have discussed options for rehabilitating or replacing the aging building. […]
Saving the Windows in the Historic Oregon Governor's Mansion to Create Energy Efficiency
Mahonia Hall, the Oregon governor’s mansion, was nicknamed Pneumonia Hall by past gubernatorial residents because of the building’s energy inefficiency. Built in 1924 for hop farmer Thomas Livesley by Ellis Lawrence, founder of the University of Oregon School of Architecture, it’s beautiful and grand. But also drafty and cold. Last year, First Lady Cylvia Hayes […]