This week, the Salem Statesman-Journal published an in-depth profile on Roger Roper, a longtime friend and Advisor to Restore Oregon. Since 2003, Roger has served as the Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer in Salem, overseeing a staff of 16 archaeologists, survey coordinators, preservationists, and heritage professionals. Roger’s agency, the State Historic Preservation Office, or SHPO […]
DeMuro Award Honors Restoration and Expansion of Belluschi Home
It’s been aptly said that “Modern is Historic” and one of the best examples of modern residential architecture was among the projects honored at the first annual DeMuro Awards in November. As Janet Eastman’s column in the Oregonian describes, the Burkes-Belluschi House, designed by the acclaimed architect Pietro Belluschi and where he lived out his […]
Oregon’s Icon of Postmodernism Faces an Uncertain Future
Over the past week, a flurry of local and national media stories have descended on Oregon’s icon of the national postmodern architecture movement: the Portland Building. Designed by architect Michael Graves, the 15-story building has received mixed reviews by architects and occupants since its opening in 1982. According to initial reports in the Oregonian, the […]
Demise of Depoe Bay’s Historic Boat Tradewinds Kingfisher Offers Valuable Lessons
On December 5, 2013, it took just minutes for a “long reach excavator,” a jawed demolition machine, to destroy the Tradewinds Kingfisher, a National Register of Historic Places listed charter fishing vessel. In its heyday the Kingfisher may have been the most famous boat in Oregon. A case study of the Tradewinds Kingfisher preservation efforts […]
A Preservation Perspective on Portland’s Gas & Coke Building
In late October, Northwest Natural announced plans to demolish the venerable Gas & Coke Building, a century-old poured-in-place concrete building located just upriver from the St. Johns Bridge at 7900 NW St Helens Road. The 1913 building—a former gas manufacturing plant—has been the subject of ghost stories, speculative histories, and general intrigue since it was […]
Masonry Conservation Handbook Offers Tips for Downtown Building Owners
Historic masonry matters. In Oregon, it speaks of solid buildings constructed with local materials and labor; it expresses a community’s values, joie de vivre and aspirations. The investment in fine masonry made by owners and other business people in many of Oregon’s cities and towns stand today as reminders of how important buildings were—and still […]
Corvallis’ Whiteside Theatre Shines Again
In 2006, an impassioned group of preservationists and theatre enthusiasts refused to sit idly by when developers proposed to gut the Whiteside Theatre—one of Oregon’s grand movie palaces—for a mini-mall and restaurant. Armed with the knowledge that the 800-seat Whiteside would contribute more to the cultural vitality and economic diversity of downtown Corvallis as a […]
Rediscovering Settlement-Era Homesteads in the Willamette Valley
Since the 1960s, Oregon’s state and local governments have conducted architectural field surveys of groupings of older buildings, each with varying levels of significance and importance, in order to document and understand Oregon’s historic places. One that was completed over the last year holds special significance to the history, people, and development of Oregon as […]
Portland’s Historic “511 Building” Awarded Loan For Adaptive Reuse
On November 13, the Portland Development Commission (PDC) approved a $20.3 million loan package for the adaptive reuse of the National Register-listed 511 Building as the new home of the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Built in 1918 as a replacement post office for the too-small 1875 Pioneer Courthouse, the 511 Building’s “size and decorative […]
Scholarships Available for Preservation Training
Dale Mammen from Eastern Oregon attended the League of Historic American Theatres Conference to learn about how to preserve the history Liberty Theatre in La Grande. Kimberly Fitzgerald from the Willamette Valley attended the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions Forum to gain insights for working with her local landmarks commission. Gina Drew from Portland attended […]