By Alison Ryan

A historic renovation effort in one of Portland's underused districts will mean growth for University of Oregon programs in architecture and allied arts as well as the neighborhood itself.

The university announced May 4 that it had signed an 18-year lease with White Stag Block LLC, which is managed by Venerable Group, Inc., to occupy space in three continguous historic buildings in Portland's Old Town district.

The agreement means more room for the university's journalism and law programs. But it also means expansion for the School of Architecture and Allied Arts' existing master's in architecture programs, as well as additional offerings in the allied arts.

The Portland architecture program has grown steadily over the past five years, increasing enrollment by roughly five students per year. But this fall, said Hajo Neis, director of the Portland architecture program and a UO associate professor, students couldn't be added because there was simply no space.

"We have reached the limits of our capacity to grow here," he said. "And also we are not very visible to the community. Just those two aspects will be very important to us."

Architecture and Allied Arts precsence in Portland has always been constrained by space issues, said Rob Thallon, associate dean for administration at the School of Architecture and Allied Arts and a UO associate professor in architecture. Now, he said, the school is hoping to create a solid presence in all eight of the disciplines--including landscape architecture, historic preservation, interior architecture and planning--that AA&A includes.

"We will have a home, an anchor, an opportunity for there to be professional and public connection with the school and with knowing more what we do," said Karen Johnson, the school's assistant dean for external relations. "People are familiar with architecture, but there's a lot more we have excitement about in addition to architecture."

An emphasis on historic accuracy

The project itself is an exercise in preservation. Focus is on the block's complete historic renovation, and the university will work with Venerable Properties and Fletcher Far Ayotte Architects to develop design/build plans. Major mechancial, electrical and seismic upgrades are needed. And, said Art DeMuro, president of Venerable Properties, transformation is ahead for the aesthetic elements as well.

"The outside is going to be substantially changed," he said, "but more in keeping with original design."

Much of the work will center on street-level facades. The ground floor of the White Stag Building is 1950s storefront glass, and a block wall on the Bickel Bock concels the facade, DeMuro said. Both facades will be redone and refurbished in keeping with the original style. Upper floors are expected to remain largely as is, but with extensive window replacement on the Skidmore Block and some window replacement on the White Stag Buiilding.

The interiors were very much a blank slate, said Hal Ayotte, principal and project architect Fletcher Farr Ayotte and a UO alum, but the plan is to work with what is left in keeping with historical accuracy. A light well remains at the block's center, and the team is considering additional installations to seize even more light. Even the basements, h e said, are fascination, with their old conveyer belt systems and potential as usuable space.

"Anytime you have a building as old as it is," he said, "you want to try and save what defined that building and made that last as long as it did."

By January, 2008, UO's Portland Center will be housed in a 66,000-square-foot space that includes the entire White Stag Building, the ground floor of the Skidmore Building and half of the ground floor of the Bickel Block. An event space with a capacity of 250, six classrooms, a journalism and architecture library, computer facilities, a bookstore and cafe and administrative offices for 75 to 100 university employees are among the planned elements.

Rejuvenating Old Town/Chinatown

Bringing the UO presence into Old Town is expected to revitalize the neighborhood as well as the block. The Old Town Chinatown Neighborhood Association penned a letter anticipating the project's "tremendous position impact" and DeMuro said he anticipates great change as well.

"Our experience, over and over and over again, is that in neighborhoods where vacancy dominates and street life is unfriendly, that gives way to redevelopment and new activity. And I expect this to be no different," he said. "It's easy for us to project that by January 2008, students, staff and patrons will establish a new tone for the neighborhood that will start to overtake current perception of that area."

The Portland Development Commission is expected to authorize the Portland Family of Funds to deploy up to $19 million in federal New Market Tax Credits to the project during a meeting today. The PDC approved reservation of the credit for the White Stag Block on Jan. 25.

University staff is excited, Thallon said, about possibilities for collaboration between the school and city agencies and organizations.

"Just with the news that this was a real project, that same day, the people in the art department came forward and said, 'Hey, well, maybe we can work with TriMet to upgrade the station that's near there,'" he said. "There's a lot of potential there."

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