91视频

After five years of work, Portland Parks and Recreation and a citizen’s advisory committee are closing in on a plan to locate a community center within or next to 86-year-old Washington High School on Portland’s east side. But preservationists are not happy with the two options that the groups have come up with, saying one will destroy the building’s historic integrity, and the other will put the building at risk of demolition.

In 2004, the city of Portland purchased 4.5 acres of property on the Washington High School site at Southeast Stark Street and 12th Avenue with the intention of developing a community center, something the neighborhood has lacked for years.

Now, plans for the building have been narrowed to two options designed by SERA Architects. The first plan, Option A, proposes construction of a new four-story structure next to the high school. The second, Option C, proposes gutting and stripping the building, leaving a shell in which to locate the community center.

But Cathy Galbraith, executive director of the Bosco-Milligan Foundation, says Option C is unacceptable. She feels Portland Parks and Recreation is rushing toward a decision in order to have the project included in a 2010 parks bond measure.

鈥淩etaining a shell is not a way to preserve a building,鈥� she said. 鈥�(Portland Parks and Recreation) seems to favor Option C. That is not historic preservation. Rushing is never the best way to make the right decision.鈥�
Preservationist Peter Meijer, whose firm was hired to perform a condition assessment of the school, says Option A could be detrimental to the building as well.

鈥淭here are concerns that doing nothing with the high school will allow it to continue to decay and not be occupied,鈥� Meijer said. 鈥淲e would never really bring the building back to life. If it’s just sitting there, there is always a potential for demolition. Its exterior and interior are in good condition.鈥�

Galbraith was in support of a third possibility, Option B, presented by the committee. Option B would have located the community center in the lower floors of the building and located some facilities, such as a pool, in a new, separate building. That option was no longer on the table at a final open house for the project on Thursday.

鈥�(Portland Parks and Recreation) would have needed a partner to go in with them on the community center for Option B to happen,鈥� said Susan Lindsay, chairwoman of both the Washington High Advisory Committee and the Buckman Neighborhood Association. 鈥淥ption B was our original dream. We have been working on this in order to get on the bond measure. We’re supposed to be done today with our planning and would have had to have that partner today.鈥�

That’s not enough for Tracy Simpson, who sits on the board of directors for the Bosco-Milligan Foundation. Though she understands the advisory committee needs to get a community center planned and built, she is disappointed that the city hasn’t stepped in to help preserve an important structure.

鈥淚 think this could happen like Riverdale,鈥� Simpson said, in reference to the historic grade school torn down earlier this year. 鈥淧eople thought they were voting to save the school and that didn’t happen. This building has so many potential uses and the city isn’t stepping up. It’s very frustrating that these buildings have to get in danger.鈥�

Simpson said she’d prefer Option A to Option C, since it would leave the building untouched and available for another possible use. But as of now, Portland Public Schools has made no agreement to sell the building to Portland Parks and Recreation, or anyone else. In 2006, the building was appraised at $4.65 million. Today, that price could be lower, but no new cost assessment has been performed.

鈥淭he school board has fiduciary responsibility to sell the building at cost,鈥� said C.J. Sylvester, executive director of operations for Portland Public Schools. 鈥淧PS has no financial resources to partner on the project.鈥�

According to Kurt Schulz of SERA Architects, the building would be eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. If the building were nominated, no one would be able to touch it until a verdict was made on its historic status. Advocates for preserving Memorial Coliseum earlier this year thwarted the city’s plan to potentially tear down the structure by applying for a listing on the register; the building is now listed.

Simpson and preservation advocate Paul Falsetto, also in attendance at the meeting, said they did not have plans to nominate Washington High for the national register, at least not yet.

The advisory committee will meet again soon to consider the remaining two options, taking into account written comments from the open house. The committee will then make a final recommendation to Zari Santer, the director of Portland Parks and Recreation, and Nick Fish, city commissioner of parks.