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This month we look back at events of September 1989, when Southern Pacific Transportation Co. agreed to purchase 325 railroad gondola cars from Gunderson Inc., and the Fred Meyer Charitable Trust gave a $2 million grant to OMSI.

Sept. 6, 1989
Gunderson celebrates $15 million contract

Gunderson Inc. and Southern Pacific Transportation Co. representatives Tuesday celebrated a deal between Gunderson and the railroad that should pay dividends to the state鈥檚 steel industry.

Southern Pacific鈥檚 purchase of 325 railroad gondola cars from Gunderson will provide Oregon鈥檚 steel industry with a modern fleet of gondola cars that will make the mill鈥檚 transport of finished product and scrap metal more efficient, industry representatives said.

The contract with Southern Pacific is worth $15 million to Gunderson, said C. Bruce Ward, the president and chief executive officer of the Portland railcar manufacturer.

During the life of the four-month contract, Gunderson will employ 200 people on the job, Ward said. In order to meet the demand, the company is looking for employees, he added.

The gondola cars, which are loaded and unloaded from the top, are 65陆 feet long, Ward said. Older gondola cars measure only 52 feet long, he noted.

The extra length, Ward said, is important for companies, such as Cascade Steel Rolling Mills of McMinnville, that produce steel bars longer than 52 feet.

Brewery takes suds, jobs to North Portland

A little German-influenced design and brewery are being infused into the 100-year-old Smithson-McKay block on North Russell Street as construction begins on the new Widmer brewery.

Restoration work will convert the two historic brick warehouses, vacant for a decade in the heavily industrial neighborhood, into a $1.5 million, 30,000-square-foot brewery, pub, restaurant and outdoor beer garden.

An estimated 30 apartments are planned for the second and third floors, said Carter Case, architect for the project.

The new Russell Street brewery will be triple the size of the existing brewery at 1405 N.W. Lovejoy, which will be retained by the company.

Sept. 8, 1989
Portland-area residential real estate market stays hot

The news from the residential real estate front is unrelentingly upbeat.

After a July that statistically was down from previous months, a trio of Portland-area real estate firms reported record or near-record months in August.

According to information from the Oregon Multiple Listing Service, August was the second strongest month this year, with units sold second only to the traditionally strong month of June.

Though statistically not as strong as June, August was a record sales month for both Coldwell Banker and Professionals 100, and was the second best month ever for Barbara Sue Seal Properties.

For Barbara Sue Seal properties, July was its record month.

OMLS said 1,871 homes were sold in August throughout the Portland area, a 12.4 percent increase compared with July and 9.5 percent higher than August 1988 sales totals.
Sales for the first eight months of 1989 are up 11.2 percent compared with the same period last year.

Sept. 14, 1989
Security Pacific to locate Asian bank office here

Security Pacific National Bank Wednesday announced it is opening an office in Portland and two other Northwest cities that deal exclusively with U.S.-Asian trade.

Offices of Security Pacific Asia Banking Corp. also will be established in Seattle and Anchorage, Alaska 鈥� a move bank officials said recognizes the importance of Asian trade to the Northwest.

Jim Diamond, executive vice president of Security Pacific Bank Oregon, said the Asian banking corporation was formed two years ago and combined Security Pacific鈥檚 Asian offices, the former Rainier Bank鈥檚 Asian offices and Asian offices of two small California banks.

Sept. 21, 1989
OMSI project gets boost from Fred Meyer trust

Plans to build a new $31 million Oregon Museum of Science and Industry near downtown Portland got a boost Wednesday when the Fred Meyer Charitable Trust announced a $2 million grant to the project.
G. Gerald Pratt, trust chairman, said the organization would provide the grant once OMSI鈥檚 fund-raising project reached $23.5 million.

OMSI鈥檚 board of trustees has so far raised about $14 million toward construction of the new 235,000-square-foot exhibit hall on the east bank of the Willamette River near the Marquam Bridge.

Pratt said the Fred Meyer Trust鈥檚 grant was the largest single gift in its history.

Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership designed the new OMSI buildings for 18.5 acres of land donated to the museum by Portland General Electric Co. Plans for the former 鈥淪tation L鈥� site include 180,000 square feet of new construction and renovation of about 40,000 square feet of an existing building on the site.

Design plans are expected to be completed by April 1990. The building could be constructed by July 1992.

Sept. 28, 1989
Oregon lawyer salaries up 55 percent since 鈥�80

The incomes of Oregon lawyers have risen sharply from the beginning of the decade, even taking inflation into account, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Oregon State Bar.

鈥淭he Economics of Law Practice Survey,鈥� based on a sampling of more than 10 percent of the bar鈥檚 membership, concludes that the median net personal income for Oregon lawyers in 1988 was $47,499, up 55 percent from $30,603 in 1980. Half the state鈥檚 lawyers earn more than the median amount, half earn less.
If that income figure had merely kept pace with the Consumer Price Index, the 1988 figure would have been $40,254, the survey reports.

Despite the jump, however, Oregon salaries still trail those of much of the nation, said bar spokesman Rick Griebel.

For example, partners in Oregon law firms had a median net income, including benefits, of $84,827. The national figure is $134,350, according to a 1989 survey conducted by the Altman & Weil law management firm.

The survey also indicates that Oregon lawyers are providing almost $40 million in pro bono, or free, services annually.

Sept. 29, 1989
Downtown tower project in limbo

Leavitt, Shay and Co. has abandoned its plans 鈥� for now 鈥� of building an office tower in downtown Portland, one of the firm鈥檚 principals said Thursday.

Dennis Shay said the Seattle-based development company has decided at this time not to build a 23-story, 360,000-square-foot office building that had been proposed for a block bordered by Southwest Ninth and 10th avenues and Alder and Washington streets.

The company is working on several other projects 鈥� including an apartment development above Uptown Shopping Center in Northwest Portland and a half-dozen Seattle-area projects 鈥� and is simply too busy to pursue the office tower project, Shay said.

He denied that plans by other developers for downtown office projects played a role in the company鈥檚 decision.

Sources in the real estate community, however, were skeptical of the company鈥檚 plans when the project was announced last September.

Most real estate observers maintain that the downtown market has room for only three new office projects.

The Rouse Co.鈥檚 Pioneer Place is under construction, and three other developers 鈥� Hillman Properties Northwest, Transpacific Development Co. and Wright Runstad and Co. 鈥� also have projects in various stages of development.

鈥�91视频 Archives鈥� is a collection of excerpts from past issues of the 91视频 that runs the third Tuesday of each month. Article excerpts are reprinted exactly as they appeared at the time of publication. Share your own memories of Portland鈥檚 built history by contacting Theresa McKinlay at [email protected].