Washington High School was a high school in Portland, Oregon, United States, described in 1950 as "Portland's finest high school."[1] It was part of the Portland school district. Opened in September 1906, the school was originally named the East Side High School, but changed its name to Washington in 1909.[1] The school is located at SE 14th and Stark.[1] The original building was destroyed by fire on October 25, 1922 and rebuilt as a brick building, which opened by September 1924.[1]
Due to the baby boom and passing of a $25 million building levy by the school district in 1947, a new gymnasium was slated to be built.[1]
In 1977, Monroe High School, once the all-girls polytechnic sister school to Benson Polytechnic High School, merged with Washington High School. The school then became Washington-Monroe High School.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, PPS was faced with declining enrollment, and targeted Cleveland High School (originally Clinton Kelly High School of Commerce) for closure. The Cleveland High School property was divided in two parcels: The site of the school building and the site of the athletic field, originally the site of the Clinton Kelly mansion. Clinton Kelly, an early Portland settler and minister, specified that the property was to be used solely for a public school. If the property was used for any other purpose, or put up for sale, the property would revert to the Kelly estate, and to the living heirs of Clinton Kelly. PPS ultimately decided to close Washington H.S. ("Washington-Monroe" by then), and keep Cleveland H.S. open.
Washington-Monroe closed in May 1981,[2] and the building was used for administrative purposes until several years ago. It remained vacant since then, although it was prepared to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Fall 2005.
In the 2002-2003 school year, Portland Public Schools identified a number of properties that it considered "surplus" based on the recommendation of Innovation Partnerships and the Real Estate Investment Trust.[3]
In 2005, the City of Portland purchased 5.4 acres (22,000 m2) of the school property for $4.5 million.[4] That parcel included the gym, a three-story addition, a one-story outbuilding and the track and field. The city intends to use the land for a community center and athletic fields when funding becomes available.[4] The remaining 2.6 acres (11,000 m2) comprises two parcels in the northeast and southeast corners of the site, one largely vacant, and the other housing the multi-story brick high school building.[5] Beam Development was planning on developing the space into condos and commercial buildings.[4]
In 2009, Portland Parks & Recreation received funds as a result of the support of Senators Ron Wyden and Gordon H. Smith. This money was received as a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development grant for $665,000. In April 2009, an advisory committee was appointed by Government of Portland, Oregon Commissioner Nick Fish to develop the scope and program for the facility.
The Washington High School site was used Sept. 3 to Oct 23, 2009 by the Time-Based Art Festival. Dubbed "The Works," the site displayed many of the visual arts pieces.[6] The site also hosted the City Repair Project's Earth Day 2011 event, Earth Day Incorporated.[7]
Though it was opened and cleaned out, in part, due to the TBA Festival, the site is still slated to be turned into a community center. Preservation talks about the planned center are still under way.[8] SERA Architects of Portland is working with Parks and the citizens committee on tentative plans.
Concurrently, PPS has commissioned an update of an appraisal on the building, which is supposed to be finished by mid-January 2010. The district also plans to issue a “request for information” to see if any other developers are interested in buying the long-vacant high school. Doug Capps, a PPS facilities manager, told an advisory committee on Dec. 1, 2009 that an offer on the building could be submitted to the school board as soon as March or April 2010.[8]
In April 2011, local volunteers began the process of creating the Buckman Historic District. If approved, Washington High School would be included.[9]
|
|||||