The Gray-Belle Building in Salem (top) and the Rose Apartments in Portland both used national historic tax credits to preserve affordable and create new housing and both are recipients of the 2021 DeMuro Awards. The biggest positive change to historic preservation tax credits in a generation could be within reach! Restore Oregon is partnering with the […]
The Power of Preservation in a Post-Covid-19 Recovery
Congress will soon start deliberating the next economic stimulus package to combat the impacts of the pandemic. It’s important they remember the critical role that historic preservation can play in recovery efforts and job creation. Time and again, preservation has proven to bolster our civic, social, and economic systems. Our historic places aren’t just bricks […]
Proposed Changes to National Register Rules Would Give Feds Veto Power over Nomination of Government Properties, Stymie Protection of Key Resources.
Join Restore Oregon in opposing this harmful and unfair proposal. Submit comments to the Office of the Federal Register by April 30. Restore Oregon is joining Preservation Action, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and scores of state and local preservation partners in strongly opposing proposed revisions to the National Register of Historic Places. The […]
Legislative Watch: Restore Oregon Testimony re. HB 2007
Restore Oregon tirelessly advocates on behalf of our collective Oregon heritage and historical preservation. Part of our recent legislative policy action is to provide input on HB 2007, which aims to solve the affordable housing crisis impacting many communities throughout Oregon. Though HB 2007 started out with good intentions, Restore Oregon is very concerned that […]
We’re Headed to DC to Talk Preservation
As anyone who’s stopped by the office recently knows, the Restore Oregon staff are working long hours to advocate for the Revitalize Main Street Act. Passage of this bill would be transformative for hundreds of iconic buildings across the state. But, of course, there are many other legislative issues that affect historic places. So, we’ve […]
Can a New Vision Save Salem’s Historic School for the Blind?
Four years after purchasing the former site of the Oregon State School for the Blind, Salem Hospital has submitted an application to demolish the last remaining building standing on its campus: Howard Hall. Originally built as a boy’s dormitory, Howard Hall served as a central part of the school from the 1920s until the school’s […]
Next Stop LUBA: Lessons Learned from the Carman House
Since 2012, the Lake Oswego Preservation Society has spearheaded a community-wide effort to save the oldest and arguably most historically significant house in Lake Oswego, the 1855 territorial-era Carman House. Representing one of just a small handful of pre-statehood properties that still stand in the Willamette Valley, just a few weeks ago the local landmark […]
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 […]