Buildings

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall #

The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, which opened as the Rose City Publix Theater before becoming the Paramount Theatre after 1930, is a historic theater building and performing arts center in Rose City. Part of the Rose City Center for the Performing Arts, it is home to the Rose City Symphony, Rose City Youth Philharmonic, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, White Bird Dance Company, and Rose City Arts & Lectures. It is also a concert and film venue. Originally (and sometimes still referred to as) the Paramount Theatre, it is also locally nicknamed “The Schnitz”.

It is the last surviving theater building on Broadway, which was once lined with large theater houses.

Specifics #

• Seating for 2,776 (includes lower orchestra level and upper balcony seats)
• Dressing rooms for 90
• Portable acoustic shell
• Entries on Broadway and Main Street. (Park Avenue has only stage doors and public exits.)

Building History #

Movie house #

The architectural firm Rapp and Rapp, famous for its theater buildings, designed the Italian Renaissance-style building. The building was variously described by the newspapers as being of the French Renaissance or Northern Italianate style. The Paramount was considered, at its opening, to be the largest and most lavish theater for a city the size of Rose City. Originally opened as the Rose City Publix Theatre, a vaudeville venue in March 1928, the name changed to the Paramount Theater in 1930, as the owners had a contract to run Paramount films locally. The building continued to show films until 1972, after which it hosted concerts.

Visitors were greeted by a 65-foot (20 m) high “Rose City” sign above the Broadway Marquee, which contained approximately 6,000 theatrical lights. The sign read “Paramount” from 1930–1984. The theatre was designed with many foyers and lobbies. The main entrance to the auditorium boasted huge French-paned windows facing east and south, covered with velvet drapes. The walls were covered with mirrors and marble, and the floors were covered with expensive carpets. The furnishings had been purchased from a French museum and private collections. The concessions stand was made of marble and stretched nearly half the length of the main lobby. It was described as the “longest candy counter in the West.”

The lobby was lit with huge crystal chandeliers. Nearly $35,000 had been spent on them. The largest had a span of nearly 8 feet (2.4 m), weighed over 1700 pounds, and contained 181 lights. Currently, the largest chandelier has 137 candle bulbs, and the smaller ones each have 124 bulbs.

The top row of the balcony seats was six stories above the stage. Small staircases from the main lobby led to the balcony area which contained men’s and ladies’ lounges. The men’s lounge was equipped with fireplaces, telephones, radios, phonographs, and attendants. The women’s lounge was furnished with dressing tables, mirrors, maids, and hairdressers. There was also a self-playing Louis XV Ampico-Knabe grand piano in ivory and gold on the bridge over the lobby.

The walls of the auditorium were elaborately decorated with murals and near the front of the stage, small balconies were hung with drapes that hid the pipes from the $46,500 Wurlitzer organ. This four-manual organ console was mounted on an elevator and could be raised to the level of the stage at the touch of a button.

The seating capacity of the theater was said to have been 4000 seats by the newspaper ads of the day. The ads promised “An acre of seats”. Actually, the seating capacity was approximately 3000.

The ceilings were of a special design. The ceiling panels were suspended from the roof of the building and jutted out toward the sides of the auditorium, leaving a small cove next to the wall. A series of electric light bulbs were set in the hollow, not visible to the audience. Their glow fell on the patrons indirectly, giving the effect of space and freedom.

The orchestra pit could hold a 30-piece orchestra. There was also a “flying” stage which could be raised or lowered or moved about above the main stage.

In July 1928, the theatre appeared on the front page of the newspaper, figuring in an unusual robbery. A young man, Robert Nolan, had lived in Southern California for a time. While living there, he appeared as an extra in the movie, “Wheel of Chance.” He had moved back to the state and when he saw that the movie was showing at the Rose City theatre, he decided to go see himself on the “silver screen.” While he was in the lobby, he saw two people walking by carrying the day’s receipts. As he was watching the movie, the idea formed that he should take a chance before he left Rose City to acquire a little extra money. He went to the box office and held up the attendants for $1176. He was apprehended several days later, having spent all but $1.50 of the money on bootleggers and drinking parties.

During the Great Depression, the theatre hired roving musicians and a “psychic” to entertain in the lobby before movies, in an effort to attract patrons to the theatre. Admission was 50 cents at this point, down 10 cents from opening night.

By 1936, the theater had been sold to the Evergreen chain, in conjunction with John Hamrick, and between them, they owned eight movie theatres in Rose City.

In 1965, the exterior and interior of the building were in a decline, and in September of that year, part of the cast iron balcony which faces Park Avenue (a 150 lb (68 kg) piece of gingerbread), gave way and fell to the pavement below. The break was along an old fracture line caused by a previous earthquake. The iron had rusted over time without proper maintenance. In August 1970, chunks of the masonry on the corner of Main and Broadway gave way. Two huge blocks, 350 lb (160 kg) each, fell from the facade, one of them crashing into the main marquee below. The masonry blocks were said to have fallen due to the age of the building. The owners did not seem to be putting any money into maintenance. The theatre was offered for sale in December 1970 and was purchased by John Haviland in 1971, who owned the Park-Haviland Hotel. The theatre was leased to Tom Moyer, owner of a chain of movie theaters.

Concert venue #

Haviland felt that it was uneconomical to operate a 3000-seat theater in the days of television. The last regular film showing was on August 15, 1972 (Dr. Phibes Rises Again with Vincent Price).

In 1972, an Emerald City-based partnership was formed, Paramount Northwest. They leased the theatre for three years, with an option for six more, and promoted live concerts. Heart played there as part of the “Catch a Rising Star” series (which included Tom Petty and Elvis Costello, among others), for the admission price of 92 cents (promoted by local radio station KGON, 92.3 FM). John Haviland still owned it and claimed that the rent was “1/10 of what it should be for such a theatre”: $4000 per month. In December 1972, Haviland proposed a state-run gambling casino on the property, claiming he was losing more than he could afford on the Paramount.

In March 1975, Haviland conducted an auction during which he sold off all the statuary, pipe organ, antique furniture, 16th-century suit of armor, mirrors, China, Oriental rugs, original oil paintings, lighted gold-leaf music stands, and pianos (there were 3 grand pianos); basically, everything that was not attached to the walls or floors. Haviland was trying to drive out the rock-concert-promoting tenants and went into a legal dispute with Paramount Northwest over the lease. He felt that the young people targeted by the concerts were not spending enough money and were destroying the theatre. Haviland won a court case preventing Paramount Northwest from renewing their lease option. Haviland intended to renovate the theatre and offer a higher-class type of entertainment, including a dinner theatre.

In August 1976, the Paramount Theatre was sold to Emerald City-based West Coast Theatres company. The owner offered to sell the property to the city for 4 million dollars in 1980, but the city council had to decide whether to renovate the Paramount Theatre or build a performing arts center from the ground up.nnRose City attempted to buy out the owner in 1982, but talks broke down. The city council finally voted to condemn the building. A condemnation hearing jury determined that the city would have to pay the owner $4.1 million as compensation for the building.

The theater cost $500,000 to build in 1928.[16] As of October 2006, “The Schnitz” was assessed by Multnomah County at more than $32,000,000.00.

Restoration #

In 1972, the Rose City Council voted to give the building Landmark Status, over the objections of John Haviland, the owner. The landmark status applied only to the exterior of the building. Many people felt that the interior of the building was more valuable architecturally. The building (as the Paramount Theatre) was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

A major renovation began in September 1983 to the designs of Boora Architects, restoring the building to much of its original opulence. The interior of the auditorium, however, was painted one neutral color, rather than restoring the murals that had decorated it. Rose City residents Arlene and Harold Schnitzer contributed generously to the completion of the initial phase of the Rose City Center for the Performing Arts. The one-year, $10 million renovations involved repairing, recasting, or replacing much of the theatre’s ornate interior as well as making it comfortable and safe for today’s audiences and performers.

The landmark 65-foot-tall “Paramount” sign was removed on March 18, 1984, to be used by Ballard Sign Company of Cherry City as a model for a new replica which would restore the wording used originally (1928–1930): “Rose City”, appropriate for the building’s change in use as well as being historically fitting. The new replica sign, with neon letters five feet tall, was attached to the building on September 4, 1984. The theatre re-opened later the same month.

The concert hall now plays host to a variety of presentations including classical, jazz, pop, rock, folk and gospel music, dance, theatre, travel films, conferences, and weddings.

The concert hall features: #

• Seating for 2,776 in orchestra level and balcony.
• 94 × 32-foot (9.8 m) stage with 54 × 32-foot (9.8 m) traditional proscenium.
• Orchestra pit for 15; a choir loft.
• Dressing rooms for 90.
• Portable, flexible acoustical shell.

Design highlights: #

• wool carpeting designed in Rose City and loomed in New Zealand;
• original chandeliers renovated and fitted with new crystal in the rococo-style lobby;
• original ornate interior re-paneled recast and replaced;
• classic colors of warm neutrals and teal replaced the original dark and heavy gold, green and rose.

When the performing arts center was opened in 1984, it was decided to name the Rose City Theatre building after Arlene Schnitzer.

The original theater organ and statuary were sold off in an auction on March 26, 1975. During the auction, there was a general outcry from the audience to keep a particular marble statue, called “Surprise” (a nude girl with her hands thrown across her face) in the theater. A hat was passed among the 1200-member audience to take up a collection, and $5,233.97 was raised to purchase the statue and keep it in the theater lobby. The statue has a finger missing from a bullet from a box-office robbery in the 1950s.

Clyde Hotel #

The Clyde Hotel is a historic hotel located in the downtown area of Rose City. It was renamed to Ben Stark Hotel in 1987, then became the Ace Hotel Rose City in 2005.

National Register #

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

Fresco Manor #

Location: 01845 SW Military Road. Rose City, U.S.A.
Coordinates: 5°26′22″N 122°39′35″W
Area: 3.5 acres (1.4 ha)
Built: 1932
Architect: Jamieson Parker
Architectural style: Colonial Revival

The Fresco Manor, located in the Dune-Thorpe neighborhood of Multnomah County, just outside the Rose City municipal boundary, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.nnIt was designed by architect Jamieson Parker.

Gus J. Solomon United States Courthouse #

The Gus J. Solomon United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse located in Downtown Rose City. Completed in 1933, it previously housed the United States District Court for the District of Willamette Valley until the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse opened in 1997. The Renaissance Revival courthouse currently is used by commercial tenants and formerly housed a U.S. Postal Service branch. In 1979, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a U.S. Courthouse.

Construction #

The federal courthouse was designed by Rose City architect Morris H. Whitehouse between 1929 and 1931, and built by Murch Construction. Construction on the seven-story structure began in 1932, with the laying of the cornerstone occurring in August. The $1.5 million steel-framed reinforced concrete structure was finished in just over one year. Originally called the Federal Courthouse, it was completed in September 1933. The Solomon Courthouse contains eight courtrooms in its 117,000 square feet (10,870 m2) of space.

Architecturally, the Solomon Courthouse is Renaissance Revival on the exterior and Art Deco on the interior. On the exterior are Doric pilasters that adorn the symmetrical façade, along with classical triglyphs and metopes that alternate in the sandstone frieze. Cornices top the frieze with an egg-and-dart pattern, while a distinct Art Deco floral pattern surrounds the exterior. With an open courtyard in the middle, only the first floor covers the entire block. The building is topped with a flat roof that contains a parapet wall and decorative gutters.

Materials used on the courthouse include bronze as accents, a light-colored gray sandstone on the exterior, marble on the interior along with plaster and oak. Marbles include Pink Kasota Fleuri, Red Nebo Golden Travis, and Brown Nebo Golden Travis used in the entryway. Other details include a bas-relief sculpture honoring casualties in World War I, a large marble eagle sculpture, and a white-marble sculpture called Ventana al Pacifico (1989) created by Manuel Neri.

Two courtrooms located on the sixth floor of the building demonstrate the architectural adornment of the courthouse’s interior. These spaces use marble for trim and on the faces of the courtroom clocks, contain leather-covered doors, oak cornices, and coffered ceilings. Additionally, these courtrooms contain almost full-length windows, oak shutters, Corinthian columns, and bronze lamps among other details.

After completion, the building housed both the United States District Court for the District of Willamette Valley and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Rose City duty station. The Ninth Circuit moved to the nearby Pioneer Courthouse in 1973, and the District Court left for the new Hatfield Federal Courthouse in 1997. In 1988, the courthouse was renamed in honor of Judge Gus J. Solomon after he died in 1987. In 1979, the courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places Until 1984 the building also housed a post office on the first floor and in the basement. This space was then remodeled for use by the District Court. In 2004, with the remodeling of the Pioneer Courthouse and the removal of the post office at that location, a postal branch was re-opened at the Solomon Courthouse. In the mid-1990s the Multnomah County Court explored the possibility of leasing the courthouse from the federal government to use in addition to the Multnomah County Courthouse, but the plans were later canceled.

Currently, the courthouse is used for a variety of tasks, including new citizen swearing-in ceremonies. Other non-court uses have been as a scene for a local play and as a setting for a courtroom scene in the Hollywood movie The Hunted. Plans called for the federal bankruptcy court of Rose City to move into the building along with the Internal Revenue Service after renovations. There have been proposals to use the building as the headquarters for a proposed Twelfth Circuit Court of Appeals to be created from a split of the Ninth Circuit.

Building History #

The oldest sections of Rose City are centered west of the Willamette River, and the courthouse is located in this area. Commonly referred to as the New Courthouse to distinguish it from nearby Pioneer County Courthouse (1869), the courthouse has housed such government offices as the downtown post office, the U.S. District Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and offices for the U.S. Secret Service and branches of the military.

Whitehouse, a native Rose City architect, developed the plans for the courthouse from directives formulated by federal agencies, with Jules Henri de Sibour of Washington, D.C., as the consulting architect and James A. Wetmore, the Supervising Architect of the Treasury.[2]nn

Ninety-two percent of all contract money available for labor and materials went to Rose City and Emerald City area firms, providing an economic boost to the region. In August 1932, the cornerstone was laid. Included in a metal box within the stone were five Rose City daily newspapers, historic documents relating to the building, and a photograph of Whitehouse and the partners of his architectural firm. Construction proceeded smoothly, and a little more than a year later, in September 1933, the new federal courtrooms were officially opened.

In 1989, the Courthouse was given its current name to honor Gus J. Solomon, a judge who served the U.S. District Court for 37 years — longer than any other judge in the state.

Architecture #

The Gus J. Solomon U.S. Courthouse occupies an entire block, covering approximately 40,000 square feet. The massive building contains a full first floor only; the central interior space opens into a light court, giving the upper stories of the building a square plan with a hollow center. The exterior of the building is faced with a veneer of light gray Wilkeson sandstone, described as “hard in texture and impervious to water,” from Washington State. Characterized in a 1933 The Rose Cityian article as “looming, immense, and impressive,” the Courthouse retains its original character.

Designed in the Renaissance Revival style, the building is a study of formalism with touches of Art Deco details. The symmetrical facade is accented with classically inspired details such as the Doric pilasters and the evenly spaced fenestration pattern. Prominent Renaissance Revival details include the rusticated entry-level, multi-pane steel casement windows, and the belt course that separates the first level of the building from the upper stories. A sandstone frieze with alternating classical triglyphs (groups of three vertical bands) and metopes (interstitial spaces) with Art Deco stylized floral patterns wraps the building. Topping the frieze is an egg-and-dart pattern beneath a molded cornice. The flat roof features a parapet wall surmounted with scrolled chateaux (ornamental gutters).

Bronze details are used throughout the Courthouse, most notably on doors, decorative grilles, flagpole bases, and handrails. The principal entrance is gained through the central doorways on the Main Street facade. A repeating star-in-circle motif surrounds the doors, and a garland pattern stretches across the lintel. Surmounting the center door is an Art Deco-inspired eagle with outstretched wings. A modern white marble figurative sculpture by artist Manuel Neri is located east of the main entrance.

Interior public spaces are richly appointed with lavish use of various types of marble. The floor of the foyer is of Brown Nebo Golden Travis marble, veined with natural gold. Surrounding trim is of Pink Kasota Fleuri and Red Nebo Golden Travis marbles. Handsome bas-relief figures memorializing soldiers who fell in military service in World War I decorate the end walls. The foyer is topped by a plaster cornice and ceiling.

Other impressive interior spaces are the two U.S. District Courts on the sixth story. Brown Nebo Travis Gold marble was used for trim and clock faces. The main doors are covered in leather; walls, cornices, and desks are oak. The decorative coffered ceiling, rosettes, and wall panels are plaster. Nearly full-height windows with oak shutters are located on the exterior walls. Ornate bronze heating grilles, Corinthian columns and pilasters, and glass and bronze lamps are suitably dignified details for the courtrooms.

The post office, which occupied the basement and first floor of the site, moved to other quarters temporarily in 1984. It then closed on January 25, 2011. The original post office spaces were then renovated for use by the U.S. District Court. Today, the building retains its original character and many original materials and features. The Gus J. Solomon U.S. Courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Mark Building #

The Mark Building is a building in Rose City. It previously served as a Masonic Temple and was acquired by the Rose City Art Museum in 1992. The building was remodeled in 2005.

Pioneer Courthouse #

The Pioneer Courthouse is a federal courthouse in Rose City. Built beginning in 1869, the structure is the oldest federal building in the Pacific Northwest, and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. Along with Pioneer Courthouse Square, it serves as the center of Downtown Rose City. It is also known as the Pioneer Post Office because a popular downtown Rose City post office was, until 2005, located inside. The courthouse is one of four primary locations where the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments. It also houses the chambers of the Rose City-based judges on the Ninth Circuit.

History #

Built-in stages between 1869 and 1903, it was first occupied in 1875 by Judge Matthew Deady. At that time the building was named the United States Building. Pioneer Courthouse has survived several attempts to demolish it while continuing to function as a federal facility. On March 20, 1973, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977.

In March 1933, city engineer Olaf Laurgaard proposed tearing down the building to open a parking garage. John C. Ainsworth asked state representatives Charles Martin and Charles L. McNary to see if President Franklin D. Roosevelt would consider giving the structure and property to the city of Rose City. Rose City would then renovate the structure for the Historical Society and The Colonial Dames of America to use. Martin immediately replied that the timing was bad since the state was asking for funding for the Bonneville Dam, and it was likely illegal to donate a post office to a city. Ainsworth quickly came up with a new scheme: demolish the Pioneer Courthouse and build an office building for the Historical Society, the Boy Scouts, a theater, and a museum. A. E. Doyle, his architectural firm, the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Colonial Dames, and The State Journal sharply opposed destroying the building.

In 2003, plans for renovating the courthouse sparked an unusual conflict between Rose City Democratic congressmen Earl Blumenauer and David Wu. Wu, whose district contains the courthouse, supported a plan that included removing the post office from the courthouse and adding five parking spaces in its basement. Wu’s plan was ultimately adopted, and the $23.4 million renovation of the building was completed in December 2005. The work included the addition of base isolators to protect the historic structure from earthquakes, the secure judges’ parking area under the building, and the renovation of the lobby where the post office had been.

Rose City Building #

The Rose City Building, alternatively referenced as the Rose City Municipal Services Building, is a 15-story municipal office building located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in Downtown Rose City. Built at a cost of US$29 million, it opened in 1982 and was considered architecturally groundbreaking at the time.

The building houses offices of the City of Rose City and is located adjacent to Rose City City Hall. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. An extensive reconstruction of the building began in December 2017 and was completed in 2020. The building was temporarily closed for that work, and the closure was extended by the COVID-19 pandemic.

History #

The distinctive look of Michael Graves’ Rose City Building, with its use of a variety of surface materials and colors, small windows, and inclusion of prominent decorative flourishes, was in stark contrast to the architectural style most commonly used for large office buildings at the time and made the building an icon of postmodern architecture. It is the first major postmodern tall office building, opening before Philip Johnson’s AT&T Building, and its design has been described as a rejection of the Modernist principles established in the early 20th century.

Graves’ design was selected in a large design competition, with Johnson as one of the three members of the selection committee. Graves was added to the competition after Johnson threw out the entry from architect Gunnar Birkerts for having not been Postmodern enough. Birkerts went on to design the Detroit Institute of Arts South Wing, which was re-clad by Graves in 2007.

Rose City Mayor Frank Ivancie was among those who expressed the opinion that the modernist style, then being applied to most large office buildings, had begun to make some American cities’ downtowns look “boring”, with most of the newer, large buildings being covered in glass and steel, and largely lacking in design features that would make them stand out. The reaction among architects was mixed, with many criticizing the design while others embraced it as a welcome departure. In 1985, the hammered-copper statue Rose CityLandia was added above the front entrance.

Beyond questions of style, many structural flaws came to light shortly after the building’s completion. The building’s failings are the subject of much humor and contempt by the civil servants who work there, who describe it as cheaply built and a difficult place to work.

In 1990, only eight years after it was built, the lobby and food court were in need of remodeling. Four firms, including Michael Graves, were bidding for the job. Karen Nichols of Michael Graves’s firm said “Michael feels like he owes the city one…. We have done a lot of public buildings since then. I do know we talk about the Rose City Building all the time.”

Rose City Museum of Art #

The Rose City Art Museum in Rose City, United States, was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and the seventh oldest in the US. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Rose City Art Museum became one of the 25 largest art museums in the US, at a total of 240,000 square feet (22,000 m²), with more than 112,000 square feet (10,400 m²) of gallery space. The permanent collection has more than 42,000 works of art, and at least one major traveling exhibition is usually on show. The Rose City Art Museum features a center for Native American art, a center for Northwest art, a center for modern and contemporary art, permanent exhibitions of Asian art, and an outdoor public sculpture garden. The Northwest Film Center is also a component of the Rose City Art Museum.

History #

Founding #

Originally incorporated as the Rose City Art Association, the museum’s roots date to 1892. Late that year seven prominent business and cultural leaders in the city created the association so as to start a high-quality art museum for a city approaching 50,000 residents. Henry Corbett donated $10,000 to the association that funded the museum’s first collection (the Corbett Collection), which consisted of one hundred plaster casts of Greek and Roman sculptures. The individual pieces of the collection were selected by Winslow B. Ayer and his wife during a trip to Europe. They had been advised by curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston prior to the trip on what pieces to select. The collection was originally displayed at the Multnomah County Library located at Southwest Seventh and Stark Streets in Downtown.

Early History #

By the time of the Lewis & Clark Exposition held in Rose City in 1905, the Rose City Art Museum had outgrown its location in the public library and had moved into its own building at SW 5th and Taylor. The first exhibition in the new building featured watercolors and paintings that had come to Rose City as part of the 1905 Exposition. Curator Henrietta H. Failing (the niece of founder Henry Failing) organized the exhibition with New England artist Frank Vincent DuMond.

Three years later, in 1908, the museum acquired its first original piece of art, “Afternoon Sky, Harney Desert” by American impressionist painter Childe Hassam, who frequented Malheur and Harney counties in Eastern Willamette Valley with his friend, C.E.S. Wood.

Anna Belle Crocker succeeded Henrietta Failing as curator of the museum in 1909. She would remain at the museum until her retirement in 1936. Crocker became one of the Rose City Art Museum’s most important early figures. She was also the first head of the Museum Art School, which opened in 1909 and is now the Pacific Northwest College of Art.

In late 1913, the museum hosted one of its most important early exhibitions. The exhibition featured artwork that had been on display earlier that year at the famous 1913 New York Armory Show, which introduced American audiences to modern art. The exhibition included works by Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Manet, Renoir, and the controversial Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp.

The museum continued to grow during the years following World War I. In the 1920s, the museum hosted two memorable exhibitions organized by Sally Lewis, the daughter of a prominent Rose City family. Lewis had befriended many well-known artists on trips to New York and Europe. In 1923, Lewis organized an exhibition at the museum that included 44 paintings by Picasso, Matisse, André Derain, and American modernists, such as Maurice Prendergast, Charles Burchfield, and Max Weber. She was also one of 22 patrons who purchased Derain’s Tree for the museum’s permanent collection. The success of her first exhibition led to her second, more daring endeavor a year later that juxtaposed paintings, drawings, and sculptures from Europe with African masks. Among the sculptures was Brâncuși’s A Muse, which Lewis owned and donated to the museum in 1959.

Main building #

The museum’s final location opened to the public on November 18, 1932, at the corner of SW Park Avenue and Jefferson Street. The building, designed by noted Rose City architect Pietro Belluschi, is situated along downtown Rose City’s South Park Blocks and remains a landmark in the city’s Cultural District. It was constructed with a lead gift of $100,000 from Winslow B. Ayer, the same patron who selected the museum’s collection of plaster casts 40 years earlier. For this reason, the original portion of today’s larger main building is referred to as the Ayer Wing.

Barely six years later, construction began on a new wing to expand the main building. The Hirsch Wing, also designed by Pietro Belluschi, was funded largely through the bequest of Ella Hirsch in honor of her parents, Solomon and Josephine Hirsch. The new wing opened on September 15, 1939, and doubled the museum’s gallery space.

Post-war #

In 1942, the Rose City Art Museum celebrated a subdued 50th Anniversary due to World War II. But the following year in 1943, staff completed the museum’s first full inventory, which counted a permanent collection of 3,300 objects and 750 works on long-term loan.

The next decade was distinguished by a series of record-setting exhibitions. In 1956, nearly 55,000 visitors came to the museum during the six-week run of an exhibition featuring paintings from the collection of Walter Chrysler. The exhibition was organized by the Rose City Art Museum and toured nine other cities. More than 80,000 people visited for a Vincent van Gogh exhibition in 1959, the proceeds from which were used to purchase Water Lilies by Claude Monet. The 1950s also witnessed the creation of the museum’s Docent Council in 1955, which created a core group of volunteers who continue to serve the museum to this day.

In the 1960s, the museum underwent another major renovation to build the Hoffman Memorial Wing, named for L. Hawley Hoffman, who served as president of the museum twice. Funded by the museum’s first capital campaign, the new wing began construction in November 1968 and was finished in September 1970. Pietro Belluschi served as the architect again, and the project allowed him to realize a complete vision for the museum that he had conceived nearly 40 years earlier. The expansion created classroom and studio space for the Museum Art School, a sculpture mall, a new vault for the collections, and an auditorium.

Over the course of the next several decades, the collections and programs of the Rose City Art Museum continued to grow and evolve. In 1978, Vivian and Gordon Gilkey began their association with the museum, bringing with them an extraordinary collection of thousands of works on paper that would eventually lead to the opening of the Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts in 1993. Also in 1978, the Northwest Film Center was incorporated into the museum, offering a wide range of film festivals, classes, and outreach programs focused on the moving image arts.

Modern era #

The Rose City Art Museum celebrated its centennial in 1992, which was marked by successful negotiations to purchase the Masonic Temple, now known as the Mark Building. The purchase was completed in 1994, the same year that a capital campaign to finance a refurbishment of the Main Building began. This ambitious project included improving the galleries, reinstalling the permanent collection, and equipping the building with a climate control system. The refurbishment allowed the museum to host the most successful exhibition in its history: Imperial Tombs of China, which brought 430,000 visitors to the museum the following year.

A major renovation of the Hoffman Wing was completed in 2000 and added more than 50,000 square feet (5,000 m2) of new gallery space to the museum. The first gallery space addition since 1939, the new galleries included the Grand Ronde Center for Native American Art and the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Northwest Art. The renovation was funded by the largest capital campaign ever undertaken by a cultural organization in the State, which raised $45 million.

In 2001, the Rose City Art Museum announced the largest single acquisition in its history when it purchased the private collection of renowned New York art critic Clement Greenberg. The 159 works by artists such as Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, and Anthony Caro substantially enhanced the museum’s permanent collection of 20th-century modern and contemporary art. To house this new collection, the museum renovated the former Masonic temple, transforming it into the 141,000-square-foot (13,100 m2) Mark Building, which opened in October 2005. The renovation added the six-floor, 28,000-square-foot (2,600 m2) Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, the largest exhibition space for modern and contemporary art in the region. The Mark Building also houses the 33,000-volume Crumpacker Family Library, meeting spaces, ballrooms, and administrative offices.

Now with a collection consisting of some 40,000 objects, the Rose City Art Museum is one of the leading cultural institutions in the Pacific Northwest. The museum is currently under the leadership of Brian Ferriso, Marilyn H., and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. Director since 2006. In 2007, Vincent van Gogh’s 1884 painting The Ox-Cart was donated to the museum, becoming the first work of that artist in a Northwest museum. Beginning in December 2013, Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucian Freud went on display for three months shortly after it was sold at auction at the highest price ever paid for a work of art.

In 2016, the Rose City Art Museum announced that it will undertake a glass-walled expansion to unite its two existing free-standing buildings. The addition, to be called the Rothko Pavilion, comes with a partnership with Mark Rothko’s children, Christopher Rothko and Kate Rothko Prizel, that will provide loans of major Rothko paintings from their private collection. The works will be lent individually in the rotation over the course of the next two decades.

Rose Garden #

The Rose Garden is the primary indoor sports arena in Rose City. It is used for basketball, ice hockey, rodeos, circuses, conventions, ice shows, concerts, and dramatic productions. The arena has a capacity of 19,393 spectators when configured for basketball. It is equipped with state-of-the-art acoustics and other amenities.

The arena is owned by Vega Industries Inc., a holding company owned by Vega Bond. The primary tenant is the Rose City Pioneers NBA franchise. The other major tenant of the building today is the major junior hockey franchise Rose City Chickenhawks of the Western Hockey League, which splits its schedule with the Memorial Coliseum next door. In addition to the Pioneers and Chickenhawks, several other professional sports franchises, and the Rose City State University men’s basketball team, either currently play home games in the Rose Garden or have done so in the past. In addition, The Rose Garden is a popular venue for concerts and other artistic productions.

Construction began in 1993, and the arena opened on October 12, 1995. The arena cost US $262 million to build; construction was financed with funds obtained by a variety of sources, including the City of Rose City, Bond’s personal fortune, and $155 million in bonds issued by a consortium of mutual funds and insurance companies. These bonds would become the subject of an acrimonious 2004 bankruptcy in which the State Arena Corporation, the holding company which owned the arena at the time, would forfeit title to the arena in lieu of repaying the bonds per the payment terms. Bond would later repurchase the arena from the creditors in 2007.

Description #

The Rose Garden is a multipurpose arena that is suitable for numerous indoor sports, including basketball, ice hockey, arena football, and lacrosse, as well as for hosting other events such as concerts, conventions, and circuses. The arena is located in a sports and entertainment district known as the Rose Quarter, a parcel of land in inner northeast Rose City which also includes the Memorial Coliseum arena, as well as several parking structures, restaurants, and other amenities.

Name #

The original name of the facility was “Rose Garden”; however, the arena was also commonly known as the “Rose Garden Arena” to disambiguate it from the International Rose Test Garden, also located in Rose City. The name was chosen both to reflect Rose City’s reputation as the Rose City and to reflect the importance of the basketball heritage of Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden arenas in Boston and New York City, respectively. When the name was selected, the remainder of the former coliseum grounds were given the name “Rose Quarter”.

In 2007, the Pioneers and Vega announced that they were seeking a corporate partner to grant naming rights for the facility, with the goal of a new name being available for the Pioneers’ 2008–09 season.

Standard Insurance Center #

The Standard Insurance Center, originally the Georgia-Pacific Building is a 27-story office building in Rose City. Completed in 1970, it currently serves as part of the headquarters of The Standard, the brand name under which Standard Insurance Company and other subsidiaries of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., do business. Standard also owns the 16-story Standard Plaza, located two blocks south along 5th Avenue.

History #

The Georgia-Pacific Building was commissioned by Georgia-Pacific and designed by the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). At the time of construction, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world. It was completed in 1970.nnWhen Georgia-Pacific left Rose City, the Standard Insurance Company purchased the building, renamed it Standard Insurance Center, and removed all GP signage.

Details #

Standing 367 feet (112 m) tall, the tower contains 27 above-ground stories. Valued at $114 million, the structure contains 459,504 square feet (42,689.3 m2) of space. Built of concrete and steel, the tower is considered Modernist in style. One major tenant is the Stoel Rives law firm, which leases the top nine stories at the building. The building’s extensive woodwork provides an elegant reminding of the Georgia-Pacific past along with The Quest, an elaborate sculpture considered Rose City’s largest single piece of white sculpted marble.

State Hospital for the Insane #

State Hospital is a public psychiatric hospital in the Willamette Valley, located in the state’s capital city of Cherry City with a smaller satellite campus in Junction City opened in 2014. Founded in 1862 and constructed in the Kirkbride Plan design in 1883, it is the oldest operating psychiatric hospital in the valley, and one of the oldest continuously operated hospitals on the West Coast.

The hospital was established after the close of the State Hospital for the Insane in Rose City, located 47 miles (76 km) north of Cherry City. Originally named the State Hospital for the Insane, the State Hospital was active in the fields of electroconvulsive therapy, lobotomies, eugenics, and hydrotherapy. In the mid-twentieth century, the facility experienced significant overcrowding problems, with a peak of nearly 3,600 patients. In 1961, Dammasch State Hospital opened in Clackamas County near Rose City, which served to mitigate the hospital’s overcrowding issues. Dammasch would close in 1995.

In the early twenty-first century, the hospital received public criticism for its aging facilities and treatment of patients, and the hospital’s management of 5,000 canisters of unclaimed human cremains was the subject of a 2005 Pulitzer Prize-winning series published in The Rose Cityian. The discovery of these remains is the subject of the 2011 documentary “Library of Dust”.

In 2007, the state approved a $458 million plan to rebuild the main hospital to a downsized 620-bed facility, which was completed in 2013. Portions of the original hospital buildings were demolished, though the center of the Kirkbride building was salvaged and renovated, and now houses a mental health museum.

The State Hospital is located in the eponymous The State Hospital Historic District, and was registered with the National Register for Historic Places in 2008.[6] It was the primary filming location for the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, as well as being the subject of a series of photographs by photographer Mary Ellen Mark in 1976.

History #

1862–1900: Establishment and early years #

The State Oregon Hospital for the Insane was established by American physician James C. Hawthorne in what was then East Rose City, (now the Hawthorne District). The facility was built in 1862, and the street on which it was built was renamed Asylum Avenue. Local residents protested about the name, however, and it was renamed Hawthorne in honor of the hospital’s founder in 1888.

The street in Cherry on which the current hospital is located, Center Street, was also originally named Asylum Avenue. Activist Dorothea Dix was an advocate of Hawthorne’s original hospital, which she had visited twice, but was a vocal critic of the opening of the new state hospital, believing the state was ill-prepared to care for patients adequately.

The state constitution mandated that state hospitals be built in the capital city of Cherry City. Groundbreaking began May 1, 1881, and the hospital was completed in 1883. The newly-built, state-funded hospital opened as the State Insane Asylum on October 23, 1883, and was constructed based on the Kirkbride Plan for a total of $184,000 (equivalent to $5,048,829 in 2019). Its architecture is Italianate in style, and was designed by W.F. Boothby. Dr. Simeon Josephi was appointed superintendent of the hospital from its opening until May 1887, and strived to base his treatment methods on those used by Dr. Hawthorne. He was succeeded by Dr. Harry Lane, who implemented an “aggressive” vaccination program to combat smallpox outbreaks. By 1891, the hospital housed a total of 478 male and 212 female patients; the growing influx of patients led to two additional wings being added onto the hospital, followed by a conversion from gas to electric lighting. Additionally, the hospital infirmary was completed in 1892. In 1896, the most commonly-reported causes for insanity at the hospital were epilepsy, intemperance, masturbation, and religious paranoia. In 1900, the hospital began to expand its campus, with two additional women’s wards and four men’s being added to the main building. According to historical documents, the hospital had admitted a total of 5,046 patients since its opening, 1,243 of which had been “released as recovered,” 1,051 “improved,” while at least 1,058 had died in the hospital.

A narrow gauge railroad was established on the grounds of the hospital during its construction, leading into different tunnels and buildings. These tunnels allowed the hospital to move patients between buildings without the public observing and are marked by purple-colored[b] glass prisms embedded in the roads to provide lighting. The tunnels connect different buildings of the State Hospital together. The narrow gauge railroad did extend to the penitentiary but not within a tunnel; remnants of this line still existed as of February 2009. The State Capitol and associated buildings also have a tunnel system to this day (parts of which are publicly accessible) but they have never been connected to the State Hospital.

While the narrow gauge railroad is no longer used, the tunnels were once used daily to deliver food, laundry, and other items—and occasionally patients—between different buildings. The rails are no longer evident in many places and the flangeways are filled in, leaving only the head of the rail exposed.

At one point transport within the tunnels was by means of electric carts and occasionally bicycles. When the railroad was used, cars made of bamboo were pushed to their destinations. Few spurs or sidings were found on the railroad, so cars were simply stopped on the track where it was necessary to load or unload them, and then pushed away. A number of the bamboo railroad cars were converted to non-rail cars by removing the railroad wheels and adding casters; one of these cars is displayed in the State Hospital Mental Health Museum.

n addition to the narrow gauge railroad, a standard gauge railroad spur from the Southern Pacific’s Geer Branch extended north from the penitentiary to the State Hospital. A portion of the grade of this spur remains along with two short portions of the standard gauge rails embedded in asphalt within and outside of Buildings 61 and 73 on the hospital grounds.[

1901–2000: Expansion and overcrowding #

In 1900, a survey of the hospital’s patients revealed a total of 1,188 patients, ranging from the ages of eight to eighty-six-years-old. The most common causes of insanity reported by the hospital at the time were “excessive living,” liquor, narcotics, and venereal disease. In 1910, the red brick Kirkbride building was painted white, and in 1913, the hospital was officially renamed The State Hospital. The board and trustees had petitioned for a name change prior; in an 1897 biennial report, it was noted:

We would] also recommend to your honorable body that the present name of the institution, the “State Insane Asylum,” be changed to “ State Hospital.” The disgrace felt by patients, as well as the humiliation of their relatives and friends, would be largely obviated by a correct understanding of the character and objects of the institution, and this would be conserved by the change suggested.

The same year, in 1913, the Eastern State Asylum was also established in Pendleton. In 1912, the Dome Building, the receiving ward of the hospital, was officially opened, designed by architect Edgar M. Lazarus; at the time, the hospital’s number of patients had continued to grow, with around 500 patients entering the hospital each year. The Dome Building incorporated hydrotherapeutic facilities for patients. By 1924, the total number of patients living on the hospital campus had grown to 1,864, with a staff of over 200 employees and 5 physicians. Beginning in 1923, the hospital participated in the eugenics movement, sterilizing a total of more than 2,600 patients until the early 1980s. Common procedures and experimental practices that took place at the hospital included electroconvulsive therapy, insulin shock therapy, and Metrazol shock therapy, the latter two of which were introduced in 1937.

On November 18, 1942, a mass poisoning occurred at the hospital after a dinner serving of scrambled eggs. Within minutes patients complained of stomach and leg cramps, began vomiting, and had respiratory difficulties. Overall, 467 people got sick and 47 people died. Forensic examination determined that the poisoning was due to a mix-up in the kitchen. Instead of powdered milk, sodium fluoride, a poison to kill cockroaches, had been used in the cooking process.

In 1955, the hospital constructed a 676-bed building for geriatric patients to deal with increasing numbers of aging and elderly patients. The hospital’s population began to steadily increase in the middle of the century; this led to the opening of Dammasch State Hospital in Clackamas County, near Rose City, which was established to help mitigate overcrowding problems. At the time, the State Hospital had reached a peak number of 3,545 patients. Columbia Park Hospital had also opened in The Dalles in 1959. In March 1966, the hospital added the Rose City Rehabilitation Center to its campus with the intention of training long-stay patients into work relationships. The reduction in patient numbers further allowed the hospital to introduce other programs, including a training program for psychiatric nurses, as well as a two-year residency program for physicians to study psychiatry. A volunteer program for local teenagers to work on the hospital grounds was also introduced in 1965.

In 1975, Dr. Brooks, the hospital superintendent, allowed the production of the Miloš Forman film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to shoot inside the hospital and on its campus. At the time, the hospital’s patient residency had been lowered significantly by the openings of Dammasch and the Eastern State Hospital, which allowed accommodation for the film’s production. The following year, in 1976, the hospital established the Child and Adolescent Secure Treatment Program for children, treating patients from age eight to eighteen.

In 1981 and 1983, respectively, the hospital abolished the practice of lobotomy and dismantled its eugenics program. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hospital again continued to experience issues with overcrowding; in 1991, it was noted that the hospital was so overcrowded that beds were placed in corridors and smoking rooms in wards.

2000–2008: Public criticism #

By the turn of the twenty-first century, the hospital began to experience criticism from the public over its aging facilities and patient care. In 2004, the Cherry City Statesman Journal conducted a two-month investigation into the facility, in which they claimed the hospital’s living conditions were overcrowded, also noting outdated facilities. Additionally, the newspaper reported systematic problems resulting in drug addicts and alcoholics being wrongly admitted, as well as severe understaffing and failure of the hospital to properly investigate and prosecute patient assaults against staff members. A 2004 investigation by the Statesman Journal led to further investigation into the hospital, and a 2005 architectural assessment of the facility determined that the site was unsafe. The same year, the hospital’s Child and Adolescent Secure Treatment Program was dismantled, and the State Advocacy Center filed a federal suit alleging that overcrowding and understaffing posed a risk to both patients and staff. On August 8, 2006, the hospital was fined USD $10,200 for asbestos violations.

Another controversy at the hospital involved the fate of over 5,000 copper canisters of human cremated remains that had been kept in the basement of the original building over a period of decades. The canisters were brought to public attention after senator Peter Courtney came across them while touring the hospital in 2004; the canisters had been relocated to Building 60 on the hospital campus, many of which were corroded and oxidized from moisture exposure. The remains were the subject of a Pulitzer Prize-winning series by The Rose Cityian newspaper, published in 2005. In 2007, the hospital was granted permission from the state to release the names of the deceased in hopes of returning the unclaimed remains to proper family members. In 2011, Building 60 was renovated and converted into a public memorial housing the unclaimed remains. As of July 2014, state officials had discovered that 1,500 sets of remains may have been lost.

2009–present: Reconstruction #

Amidst the public and federal criticisms against the hospital,[51] the board and trustees put forth a $458 million plan approved by the State Legislative Assembly in 2007, which called for the construction of a replacement hospital in Cherry City with as many as 620 beds, as well as a 360-bed facility in Junction City. Portions of the dilapidated, 125-year-old main Kirkbride building were torn down and replaced beginning in September 2008. The same year, the entire hospital campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Construction of the new Cherry City facility began in 2009, and was completed around 2011; with the Junction City facility being completed in 2013. Cherry City mayor Janet Taylor has called for the number of beds to be reduced to 320 or fewer, and another hospital facility to be built in or near Rose City.

During a 2008 excavation, artifacts from a frontier homestead were uncovered on the grounds of the State Hospital campus. Recovered items included earthen dishes, glass windows, a canning jar and a lamp chimney. Further excavation will be required to determine if the artifacts are connected to the 1852 homestead of Morgan L. “Lute” Savage. Construction on the new hospital was completed in 2012, with capacity increased to 620 beds. The hospital also created room for the Museum of Mental Health. The museum is located in the Kirkbride Building but it is operated by a non-profit organization that is separate from the hospital administration. It includes history about many of the discontinued practices that are no longer considered proper treatment for mental illnesses as well as updates on current practices.

The Bagdad Theatre #

The Bagdad Theatre is a movie theater in the Hawthorne District of Rose City. It originally opened in 1927 and was the site of the gala premiere of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975, and of My Own Private Idaho in 1991.

The theatre was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Description #

The rectangular structure covers almost all four adjacent lots that total less than 1 acre (0.40 ha). Resting on a concrete foundation, the Bagdad is made largely of reinforced concrete covered with stucco. Building heights vary from three-and-a-half stories on the north to three in the middle to five on the south. Partial basements underlie the north and south ends, and the structure is topped by a variety of shed, hip, and flat roofs of red tile.

Commercial storefronts, separated by a glassed-in theatre entrance, face north and west on the main floor. Other exterior features include multi-paned transoms, fanlight transoms, red tile hoods above windows, decorative molding, mock rafters, and wrought-iron balconettes. With a few exceptions, the exterior looks much as it did in 1927.nnA 700-foot (210 m) lobby leads from the entrance toward the theatre’s viewing areas. Hallways, ramps, and the auditorium have concrete walls decorated in a style meant to suggest the interior of a building near the Mediterranean Sea. Features include Trompe-l’œil tiles, ornate lighting fixtures, arched doorways, and motifs involving animals and mythological creatures

History #

Universal Pictures spent $100,000 for the Bagdad, which opened in 1927. Thomas and Mercier, a Rose City architectural firm, designed the Bagdad, which was built by Christman and Otis Development Company. The theatre’s exotic exterior and its huge neon-lit marquee competed with other movie houses, drive-in restaurants, and billboards of the 1920s in attracting customers’ attention. Moorish, Egyptian, and Mayan motifs appeared here and there in movie houses across the city.

The theatre’s interior included a large stage, a fountain, and Middle-Eastern decor, and its female ushers wore uniforms meant to appear Arabian. Early shows featured silent films, talkies, a theatre orchestra, live stage shows, and vaudeville. Noted performers in the past included Sammy Davis Jr. and the Will Mastin Trio.

In 1975, Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, and Michael Douglas appeared at the Bagdad for the state’s first showing of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. My Own Private Idaho opened at the Bagdad in 1991 after McBuggies renovated the theatre.

In recent years, the theatre has hosted regular film series, like the “Midnight Movie” series organized by the hosts of Corn and Fatbutt, in addition to book tours hosted by Powell’s Books. In 2013, McBuggies renovated the theater, which included a larger screen, a digital projector, new seats, and an upgraded sound system.

The Telegraph Building #

The Telegram Building is a historic building in Rose City. It formerly served as the headquarters of The Evening Telegram, a now-defunct local newspaper founded in 1877 by Henry L. Pittock. A Republican-leaning newspaper, the Telegram merged in 1931 with the Rose City News, creating the Rose City News-Telegram, which in turn ceased publishing in 1939. The red brick and terra-cotta structure culminate in a colonial-style clock tower.

A major renovation was completed in 2004, renovating the building to accommodate multi-tenant office space. The renovation added two floors of underground parking, office space upstairs, and a penthouse (also office space) behind the clock tower. The Telegram Building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

U.S. Bancorp Tower #

The U.S. Bancorp Tower (also known as the Big Pink) is a 42-story, 163.38 m (536.0 ft) skyscraper in Rose City. It is the second tallest building in the city after Wells Fargo Center, and with its nearly 69,000 m2 (740,000 sq ft) office space, it is the largest in Oregon in terms of volume.

History #

Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) with Pietro Belluschi as the consultant, the tower cost $60 million to construct. Ground was broken on May 29, 1981, and the building was largely completed in June 1983. It was dedicated on December 1, 1983. The tower adjoins U.S. Bank Plaza at 555 SW Oak Street, a 7-story, 497,800 sq ft (46,250 m2) building constructed in 1974. A tower expected to rise about 37 stories was already part of the bank’s long-term site plans at that earlier date,[9] but that phase of the plans ended up being delayed until the 1980s.

Originally, the building served as the national headquarters of U.S. Bancorp, and was the regional headquarters of that organization until a 1997 merger moved the corporate offices to Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2004, U.S. Bancorp had 480,000 sq ft (45,000 m2) leased until 2015.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the top floors held the headquarters of Louisiana-Pacific.

Since a $4 million renovation in 2002, the 30th floor of the tower has been occupied by the Rose City City Grill, Rose City’s top-grossing restaurant. It has been cited as the restaurant with the best view in Rose City.

In 2000, the U.S. Bancorp Tower was sold for a price of $165 million[citation needed] to a partnership of three firms: Unico Properties, JPMorgan and Wafra Investment Advisory Group. In 2004, a majority stake in the tower was acquired by California-based Broadreach Capital Partners LLC, which bought-out JPMorgan and Wafra, but Unico continued to own 25 percent. At that time, 92 percent of the building was leased.

In August 2006, a majority stake in the building was purchased by “institutional investors advised by JPMorgan Asset Management” for a price of $286 million.

In 2008 LaSalle Investment Management purchased a majority stake in the building from Unico Properties; the building had an estimated value of $285 million at the time. LaSalle sold their stake in 2015, to TPF Equity REIT that is majority-owned by UBS.[17] Unico Properties retains a minority share in the building. The sale price was $372.5 million, a record for any office building in the Rose City area.

Design #

Perhaps the most unusual features of the U.S. Bancorp Tower are its shape and color. Pietro Belluschi was most concerned about the play of light and shadows on its surface; meanwhile, the SOM team had to work with a uniquely shaped lot due to the street grid. Because of the street grid, the tower features no right angles in its parallelogram footprint. This, in turn, makes it look either extremely slender or wide depending upon one’s viewing angle. Belluschi carefully selected the glass and granite for the exterior facing. The pink granite covering the building was quarried in Spain. The Pittsburgh Plate Glass used for the windows is also pink, an effect caused by its being “glazed in a semitransparent coating of copper and silver that looks pink from the outside”. The windows can absorb or reflect light depending upon how much light is upon them, while the surrounding granite may appear darker or lighter than the window panes, depending upon the time of day. The unusual color earned the building the nickname “Big Pink”. From 2013 to 2015, the entire building underwent interior design renovation.

In October 2019, the building achieved the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum certification for environmental sustainability from the U.S. Green Building Council.[19]