Willamette Industrial History Museum: Historic Preservation - Adaptive Reuse Project for the Portland Gas & Coke Building
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Date
1997
Authors
Cole, Arthur J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
I had been living in Portland only a few weeks and was driving North on Highway 30
to look at the St. Johns Bridge; I was told it was the most beautiful of Portland's bridges.
I could see the bridge in the distance but it was something else that suddenly caught my
attention. Off to the right of the highway was what looked like an old schoolhouse. It
was a two-story concrete building with a clock tower. I quickly pulled off the highway
onto a driveway to take a closer look at the building. I wasn't able to get very close to it,
but I knew I had found something special.
The building, I later learned, was the old office and laboratory building of the Portland
Gas & Coke Company, what it now the Northwest Natural Gas Company. The company
still owns the building but has not occupied it for many years. The fifteen-acre plot of
land around it is still used by the company and has several large natural gas storage tanks
as well as one very large tank which holds liquefied natural gas. Portions of the land are
currently leased to other companies. After learning more about the building, I decided to
use the building as the topic for a research and design project to satisfy the Option II
research requirement in the University of Oregon, Portland Urban Architecture Program.
During Fall Quarter I obtained many of the original architectural drawings from the
gas company and researched precedent studies using the highway, river, and industrial
history of the Portland Gas & Coke Building as similarities. Many possible programs
have been identified for the building and I have also tried to imagine other programs that
may be viable alternatives for the building's re-use; unusual, unexpected, or
unconventional uses that may successfully occur there in the future.
During Winter Quarter I finalized the choice of program; I chose to combine two of
the stated possible programs to proceed with for the remainder of the project. I believe
the Portland Gas & Coke Building would have the best chance for a useful and successful
future in the role as the Willamette Industrial History Museum. The museum would
house exhibits of historical photographs, documents, and artifacts of the area's industrial
past. The present river-side industrial fabric of Portland would be included as an exhibit
and accessible via tour boats on the Willamette River.
This document is the summary of research, programming, and design completed over
the course of the three quarters of the 1996-97 school year.
Description
116 pages