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A Southeast Portland auto dealership that touts itself as the oldest in Oregon is bringing its facility up to speed.

The old Wentworth Chevrolet building on Grand Avenue is actually three buildings in one. That happened not by design, but over time as quarter-lot additions were constructed. Shoring up those three buildings – 60,000 square feet in total – while tenants operated inside required a year of preplanning and coordination, said Andy Hernandez, superintendent for R&H Construction.

The first building, a two-level structure that houses the parts and body shop departments, needed two walls replaced. Built in the 1920s as a showroom and body shop, the building was made with hollow clay tile that had become brittle and a potential hazard in an earthquake, Hernandez said.

R&H moved the 200-foot-wide, 25-foot-tall sections in four phases, holding up the building with wood and steel framing. The building was occupied throughout the process, Hernandez said.

“We had to shore up the building so we could replace the existing footings and build a new shear wall,” he said. “There were a lot of moving parts.”

The team had to balance the city’s requirements for protecting a building in the Central Eastside‘s historic overlay district with GM’s corporate branding requirements for a dealer upgrade, said Tim Brunner, principal architect at Axis Design Group, which designed the renovation.

“How do those mesh?” he said. “Often they don’t. What we’re going to end up with is a building that enhances the brand, but also adheres to the history of the district.”

Axis met the requirements by using materials prominent in the district early and in the middle of the 20th century, including stucco for most of the building facade’s eastern portion and a new north entry. That contrasts with metal paneling specified by GM, Brunner said.

“You’re going to know it’s a Chevrolet dealership, but it will complement the area and the nature of the district,” he said.

The building’s landmark neon sign, which had been deteriorating and conflicting with overhead wires from an adjacent Portland Streetcar line, had to be taken down.

Instead of adding a freestanding metal sign that would normally be used on an upgraded dealership, existing hand-painted signage will be touched up and adhere to historic standards, Brunner said.

The other two buildings – a brick service bay built in the 1940s and a concrete body shop built in the 1950s – also needed interior upgrades.

In the brick building, new lounges were added for customers and employees. Also, much of the electrical system had to be replaced with more energy-efficient fixtures. R&H had to relocate fiber-optic cables from a portion of the building under renovation so that the dealer could maintain communications throughout the project, Hernandez said.

The building’s exterior is being cleaned and repainted. Also, it’s gaining a backlit sign – rather than a typical, internally illuminated, plastic one.

The dealership, by the time the renovation finishes in late July, will look dramatically different than it did a year ago, said Bob Wentworth, co-owner of Wentworth Chevrolet. He and his four siblings, Carol Riede, Ann Wentworth, Greg Wentworth and Scott Wentworth, own the building.

“It’s going to make the building so much more customer-friendly with a larger showroom and better customer facilities,” Bob Wentworth said. “It’s just going to be updated to the standards people expect.”

Wentworth Chevrolet renovation

Location: 107 S.E. Grand Ave., Portland

Construction start date: August 2013

Anticipated construction completion date: July 2014

Owner: Wentworth Chevrolet

Architect: Axis Design Group

Engineers: Harper Houf Peterson Righellis, VLMK Consulting Engineers, Bradford Consulting Engineers

General contractor: R&H Construction

Other associates: Academy Specialties LLC