On a bright June Saturday, neighbors and nostalgia-seekers gathered in the Mt. Tabor neighborhood to take home a piece of Portland history.
As part of the deconstruction of the Mills Open Air School, the City of Portland invited community members to pick up free bricks salvaged from the nearly century-old school building.
At the June 7 event, twenty-eight Portlanders arrived to load up their cars with more than 1,200 salvaged bricks. One dedicated Portlander returned the following week to collect over 1,000 bricks to build her backyard patio. In the weeks following the event, 1,720 more bricks were collected by salvage enthusiasts for backyard patio projects.
The most popular plans for the bricks were garden paths, flower bed borders, and mementos.
In all, 2,920 bricks found new homes, saving Portlanders an estimated $1,700 to $2,200 in building materials.
Holding onto local history, one brick at a time
One man, who attended preschool in the Mills School building, picked up bricks to build a path at his mother’s house. Another woman brought bricks home for her grandmother, who attended elementary school there decades ago. Neighbors stopped by to take bricks as keepsakes.
For many Portlanders, there’s something deeply satisfying about giving new life to old materials, especially when those materials come with a story. A simple garden path becomes something more when the bricks beneath your feet once held up a neighborhood schoolhouse.
Attendees thanked city staff for organizing the event, saying how much it meant to see materials thoughtfully reused instead of sent to the landfill.
Preserving the past and modeling the future
The Mills Open Air School was a public school built in 1919 for children vulnerable to tuberculosis. In 1948, the building was annexed to Mt. Tabor Elementary School. Despite the building’s character and historical roots, renovating it for housing wasn’t feasible. It contained hazardous materials like asbestos and lead, would require costly seismic upgrades, and couldn’t provide as much housing as a new structure.
Instead of demolition, the City of Portland chose deconstruction, a more sustainable, careful approach that salvages reusable materials rather than sending them to the landfill. This method reduces greenhouse gas emissions and limits the spread of hazardous dust.
The Mills project is also a pilot for commercial property deconstruction, building on the City’s Deconstruction Ordinance, which applies to homes and duplexes built in 1940 or earlier.
Brick giveaway impacts at a glance
By the numbers:
- 2,920 bricks reused (about six pallets worth)
- $1,700 to $2,200 estimated savings to Portlanders building with bricks
- 1,567 kg CO₂ saved by reusing bricks (like driving 3,991 miles in a gas vehicle)
Overall, the Mills School deconstruction project is expected to save at least eight tons of materials, including old-growth lumber and reusable fixtures.
Learn more
Looking for salvaged material for your own home or business projects? Head to one (or more!) salvaged building material stores in the Portland area.
Do you own a commercial property that needs to be taken down? Contact us about participating in our commercial deconstruction pilot.
Are you interested in deconstructing a home? Learn how to get a permit and where to find a contractor.
Curious about deconstruction in general? Read about the benefits of deconstruction over demolition.