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Two old buildings in downtown Portland have sat mostly vacant for decades, but a proposal to replace them with new structures is getting plenty of pushback.

The design for redevelopment of 7/8 of the block between Southwest Second and Third avenues, and Taylor and Salmon streets originally called for preservation of the 123-year-old Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple and the 109-year-old Hotel Albion. But at a recent design advice hearing before the Portland Design Commission, representatives of Ankrom Moisan Architects presented a new proposal wherein the two buildings would be demolished and replaced with a 20-story hotel and a 10-story office building.

Restore Oregon, a nonprofit, recently filed with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals an appeal of the city’s decision to allow removal of the two existing buildings from its Historic Resource Inventory. That action was performed by the Bureau of Development Services, at the owner’s request, according to Restore Oregon Executive Director Peggy Moretti.

鈥淲e would love to see those buildings not come down,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we would like to understand why in the world they can’t be integrated.鈥�

Restore Oregon also sent a letter to Portland City Council urging it to close a 鈥渓oophole鈥� in city code that allows owners to circumvent a 120-day delay for demolitions of historic buildings.

鈥淭he intent is to allow time for public input and exploration of alternatives to demolition,鈥� Moretti said. 鈥淭he fact that someone could just go and the same day they apply get a property removed is a direct contradiction (to city code) and is also counter to state code.鈥�

The Portland Historic Landmarks Commission also sent a letter to the Design Commission, calling the Temple building 鈥渙ne of the most architecturally-significant downtown buildings鈥� remaining from the 1890s.

鈥淔rankly, we have not seen the demolition of a historic resource of this caliber in our near-decade of tenure on the Landmarks Commission,鈥� the letter states. 鈥淚t is unprecedented and unthinkable that this would be allowed.鈥�

Murray Jenkins, a principal with Ankrom Moisan, told the Design Commission that as the firm evaluated possible preservation of the buildings, 鈥渃hallenges were great.鈥� He recounted some of the buildings’ problems.

鈥淭he Temple building is one of the tallest unreinforced masonry buildings in the city, and while it was under separate ownership, it had not been maintained or upgraded over the years and is in a bad state of repair,鈥� he said. 鈥淔loors three through six are still being used for storage, since the 1920s, and it’s also currently on the city’s dangerous building list.鈥�

Jenkins said that 3-D scans of buildings were performed and found that the Temple building was 鈥渂earing point loads versus spread footings.鈥� The Hotel Albion, referred to throughout the meeting as the Lotus building because the Lotus Cardroom and Caf茅 operates on the first floor, also showed structural limitations, he said.

鈥淚n the Lotus building we learned that there were load-bearing masonry walls internal to the building footprint,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o not only external walls were load-bearing, but we also had internal load-bearing masonry walls. This unfortunately led us to the conclusion that reusing the existing Lotus (building) was not feasible.鈥�

But Jenkins made clear that he and others from his firm were looking for direction as to how to proceed because of both buildings’ structural problems.

鈥淭he challenges we face with these buildings are as tough as it gets,鈥� he said.

Michael Great, also a principal with Ankrom Moisan, told the commissioners that his firm’s preference would be to save the two buildings. However, he added that the new design, although 鈥渘ot fully vetted,鈥� would provide much more flexibility.

鈥淲hat we’re asking you today is for your feedback on design direction,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want to listen to what you have to say and further evaluate our choices. We understand there is great value in trying to retain the Temple (building).鈥�

Commissioner Jeff Simpson said he would support any attempt to save the two buildings, but understood their lack of structural integrity. He asked if some of the Temple building’s original features 鈥� such as skin and materials 鈥� could be retained.

Great replied that would be difficult because of the six-story, unreinforced masonry structure’s substantial height.

鈥淚t would be a very complicated solution to maintain the facades,鈥� he said.

Commissioner Tad Savinar asked if the Hotel Albion had any current uses.

鈥淣o, everything is empty above the first floor,鈥� Great said. 鈥淚t is an unserviceable and unusable building from an occupant comfort standpoint. The current owner has not found a use for it that’s appropriate, and the upper floors have not been used for at least 50 years.鈥�

Commissioner Don Vallaster said he would rather see the Hotel Albion saved because it is only three stories and would be simpler to work with.

鈥淚 don’t think the Temple building is going to be a big loss,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s kind of like Centennial Mills. It’s old (and) it’s there, but what are you going to do with it? Maybe it’s time to move on.鈥�

Commission Chairman David Wark and Savinar both favored saving the buildings. Wark said he would 鈥渁bsolutely 100 percent prefer restoration over demolition.鈥�

Savinar criticized the lack of detail in the proposal for the new buildings and said that he would have high expectations for any design calling for replacement.

鈥淚f you’re going to tear down a historic building, you’d better come back with something great,鈥� he said.

The project is still in the design advice stage and no date has been set for its next appearance before the Design Commission, city planner Hillary Adam said.