Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2012)
L OST N EIGHBORHOODS FROM THE ARCHIVES Jumptown continued from page 5 race mixing. Whites were always welcome in the clubs on Williams Avenue, both as players and patrons. But the openness was- n’t reciprocated in the Downtown clubs, at least for Black patrons. Why the Dude Ranch was singled out for allowing race mixing could be due to any number of reasons, but Dietsche said he thinks it also had to do with the gambling. “Portland was a pretty wide open town except for mixed races,” Dietsche said. Vice was everywhere – prostitutes made their contacts at places such as the Dude Ranch, and gambling occurred in-house, he changing music styles, urban renewal, unre- stricted housing, civil rights battles and eventually gangs, brought about the end of Williams Avenue’s jazz joints. 240 N. Broadway became the headquar- ters of Mutual Wholesale Drugs during the 1950s. And in the 70s — after urban renew- al, Interstate 5 and the Rose Quarter had changed the neighborhood beyond recogni- tion – Multicraft Plastics turned it into a factory. Developer Daniel Deutsch, a board mem- ber of the arts group Disjecta, bought it in February 2007. The building had been sit- ting vacant for several years and other developers bidding on the project wanted to tear it down. But Deutsch under- stood its historic value and longed to restore it – even if it cost more. Deutsch hired designer Andy Powell to help him turn the 66,000 square foot struc- ture into a gathering place for artists. Dubbed the “Leftbank Project” the building will house studios for up-and-com- ing artists, as well as larger spaces for established firms. There will be enough room for gallery shows and possibly a music venue. The main ballroom will prob- ably return to its original use as an eatery. “In a big sense, it’s a great big experi- ment,” says Powell, who also helped design the interior of the Someday Lounge down- town. “It can be a hub for creative, progressive projects.” Powell said Deutsch isn’t trying to maxi- mize profits from the building. The plan is Powell says they don’t want 240 N. Broadway to become just another step toward gentrification said. Where there was jazz, he said, vice was sure to be there too. A New Era When it was built in 1923 as the Hazel- wood candy complex, 240 N. Broadway featured an ice cream parlor and eatery on the ground floor, with candy, donut and con- fectionary rooms upstairs. As the Dude Ranch, bands were featured on the ground floor and at least one of the upper floors in the original corner building was dedicated to gambling. All good things eventually come to an end. For jazz, both Dietsche and Bogle say Black History v Picket Line Protesters bitterly picketed against the bulldozing of homes and buildings to make way for the Emanuel Hospital expansion during the early 1970s; Emanuel this month opened the Randall Children’s Hospital regional medical facility on the land. to create a sustainable model that balances artists/firms who can afford to pay market rate against those who need more affordable space. In other words, Powell says, they don’t want 240 N. Broadway to become just another step toward gentrification. In order to keep rents down, the building won’t be retrofitted with a seismic upgrade, which means the city will allow fewer ten- ants. The renovation will include repairing or replacing warped, waterlogged floors, bro- ken windows and a leaky roof. Yet, despite years of neglect, the main ballroom has sur- vived. Its original woodwork is intact, along with a dumbwaiter, an antique walk-in safe and a an enormous defunct boiler system. Powell is shooting for high environmental standards. Construction crews will use sus- tainable building products; dozens of the original windows are being restored; and the heating unit is one of the more efficient on the market. “We believe the single greatest act of sus- tainability is saving the building,” Powell said. “Reusing is probably the least impact- ful thing we can do.” By next summer, when tenants should begin moving into 240 N. Broadway, each of the three buildings that make up the site will be decorated to reflect the era and pur- pose for which they were built. Plans aren’t yet firm, but Powell wants to decorate the outside walls with photographs that illus- trate its journey from a confectionery and industrial workplace to the hottest jazz palace in town. Visible to everyone who passes by, its contribution to Portland’s his- tory will never be forgotten. Map continued from page 3 you made from Multnomah Avenue up to Killingsworth, there’s over 100 locations. But we want to choose — with the help of local people that lived there – which are the 20 heirlooms, the pearls, the diamonds, which ones have the most interesting stories that could go along with a photograph. It doesn’t have to be the most well-known places, but the places that are more person- al, a memory that somebody had that was more sensual – a flavor of something they ate there. I work with a lot of nontradition- al learners, so the sensory details could be used for classroom assignments. I once made a smell map, where each place on the map was a smell memory, ‘this was the place where I smelled cinnamon rolls.’ A lot of people do sound maps – it’s the same idea. Just a map of your sense. I think that could be a really valuable tool because for me it always comes back to the point – the educational point that I want it to be ulti- mately used as a curriculum. The other ‘ask’ is for geographically rele- vant civil rights information. Participate with Colburn’s map projects by calling her at the McCoy Academy, 503- 281-9597 Page 14 The Portland and Seattle Skanner v BLACK HISTORY EDITION v February 22, 2012
