Street Roots • April 10-16, 2015
News
Page 7
The evolution
of Revolution
Defunct fo r decades, Washington High School reopens
this month as a performing arts venue — a ‘mini-Schnitz’
PHO TO BY SUE ZALO KAR
BY SUE ZALOKAR
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
àlking the halls of Washington High
School in Southeast Portland, la m
nostalgic about my old high school
days. Portland youth attended school here
from 1906, when the school was built, until
the school closed its doors to students in
1981 for lack of enrollm ent
One of the most notable WHS graduates,
Linus Pauling, is the only person to be
awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes. In
1954, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry. In 1962, he was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for his peace activism.
Although the property has stayed in the
hands of Portland Public Schools smce 1981,
it wasn’t until recently that Washington High
School’s destiny began to change. You might
say, it revolted.
The shift began in 2013 when Venerable
Properties purchased the school from
Portland Public Schools. The developer was
key in the renovation of the White Stag
Block in Old Town, and the Portland
Business Journal named the company a
recepient of its 2014 Innovation in
Sustainability Award in the Green Building
category.
The idea with the Washington High
School project was that the venue in the
middle, the old high school auditorium,
From the outside, Revolution Hall looks like Washington High, the Southeast Portland school that hasn’t held classes since 1981. B u t inside the
would remain a performance venue and the
old auditorium is a revamped concert hall with seating for about 830 people and a state-of-the-art sound system.
rest of the spaces in the building would be
■
for businesses.
I’m talking with Ned Failing, marketing
and public relations director for Revolution
Hall and a co-owner of the Pickathon music
festival in Happy Valley. He is explaining to
me the original vision of the project as we
sit on the stage of Revolution Hall,
surrounded by miscellaneous lighting arid
other production gear. I ask him about the
bittersweet circumstances involved with the
early days of the deal to purchase the
historic Portland property.
“His story is so attached to this building
and how it has come back to life,” Failing
tells me in reference to Art DeMuro, the
Venerable Properties founder who facilitated
the sale and redevelopment of the school
and was instrumental in the property being
sold by the school district. DeMuro died in
2012 before his dream was realized. .
“His spirit is inevitably present and
recognized when talking about the new life
in this building,” Failing said.
There arc-already many businesses
operating inside. In fact, Failing says, all of
the business spaces are rented. New
Seasons’ administrative offices claim the
entire fourth floor.
When I was there last week, there was
still some substantial renovation happening,
but many of the former classrooms, most of
them dormant for nearly 25 years, are once
again horiie to innovation, thought and, now,
a music hall and performance center.
“The room, while a perfect spot to host
and receive great live music,” Failing says,
"... is also a great place to host a variety of
performances.”
Performances like a recording of
Portland’s own Live Wire! Radio or Dan
Savage recording a “Savage Love” podcast or
Mount Hood Ted Talks or a Neko Case
co ncert Perusing the dates already set, I’m
looking forward to a lecture late this month
by the original Riot Grrrl, Kathleen Hanna.
Revolution Hall is a unique space. It’s a
seated space like the Aladdin, but it is a lot
bigger. (The Aladdin’s capacity is about 6.00,
and Revolution Hall is about 830).
“There has been an amazing attention to
detail for the sound in here,” Failing tells
me. “It will quickly be regarded as one of the
best-sounding rooms in Portland. RH has the
opportunity to feature other forms of art
than music alone.”
Kind of like a “mini-Schnitz,” I tease. He
chuckles, “A mini-Schnitz. Exactly.”
Construction timing is the largest
obstacle. Top on the list now is the
completion of two bars, Martha’s and Tthe
Assembly Lounge, in time for the official
grand opening with two sold-out Neko Case
shows April 17 and 18.
Failing has been pleased with the ...
progress. ,
“The track record has been really great
so far,” he says. “We are super happy.”
Of course, anytime you move into a new
neighborhood, you try to reach out and
connect with your neighbors. The case of
Revolution Hall was no different. In fact, at
first, some neighbors weren’t so keen on a
music hall next door.
“Anyone who had this coming into their
neighborhood, there might be some
trepidation or skepticism a b o u L w h^jijhll
be,” Failing says. “We’ve had a greaCdialogue
with the neighbors. We have an amazing
team. And we are so dedicated to being a
part of this comihunity.” <
I ask him about the success of the project
to date. I’m told there are so many victories
in this whole building - everything from
logistics and staffing and booking the room
to creating the room.
“Each one of those are monurriental
wins,” he says. “I’m excited about the
evolution of Revolution, you know?”
The vision for the near (and long) term is
to book 200 or more dates and events.
Next, we go to the much-referenced
rooftop event space. It is cloudy, but in many
ways, it is the perfect Portland day. And the
city is spread put across the landscape. IT1
have to return on a day that isn’t so cloudy,
Failing tells me and points to where Mount
St. Helens and Mount Hood would be visible
on a clearer day.
I stand there flanked on one side by the
city I love and oh the other by the
suggestion of the mountains to the north
and west and wonder at the beauty that is
Portland.
¡Vive la Revolution!