PRIORITIZE REUSE OF ARTIFACTS FROM THE ERIC LADD AND OTHER CAST-IRON ARTIFACT COLLECTIONS IN THE SKIDMORE/OLD TOWN HISTORIC DISTRICT
Binding City Policy
BCP-ART-3.02
PURPOSE
WHEREAS, City Council, through the Comprehensive Plan, enumerates goals and policies that seek to establish and enhance liveable neighborhoods, a strong economy, historic resource protection, citizen involvement, and quality urban design; and
WHEREAS, the Comprehensive Plan guides the future development and redevelopment of the City; and
WHEREAS, Comprehensive Plan objective 12.3 F seeks to preserve artifacts from structures and sites that are historically, architecturally, and/or culturally significant and seeks to reintroduce these artifacts into the City’s streetscape and building interiors; and
WHEREAS, the Central City Plan guides the future development and redevelopment of the Central City; and
WHEREAS, Central City Plan policy 11, action item HP1 calls for salvage, storage and reuse of historical artifacts; and
WHEREAS, the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District was created by City Council Ordinance No. 140311 on September 11, 1975; and
WHEREAS, the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on December 6, 1975; and
WHEREAS, the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District was designated as a National Historic Landmark by the United States Secretary of the Interior on May 5, 1977; and
WHEREAS, the updated Skidmore/Old Town Historic District National Historic Landmark Nomination Form, prepared by the Portland Bureau of Planning, documents the local and national significance of the district and was approved by the United States Secretary of the Interior on October 6, 2008; and
WHEREAS, the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District National Historic Landmark Nomination Form describes the exceptional architectural values of its mid- and late-nineteenth-century cast-iron commercial buildings as one of the finest collections in the nation and perhaps the most outstanding in the Far West; and
WHEREAS, many building demolitions prior to the establishment of the historic district resulted in significant loss of fabric within the district and many surface parking lots that are a detriment to the historic character of the district; and
WHEREAS, the Portland Development Commission and various other foundations and collectors together own over 110 cast-iron artifacts from Portland’s demolished Victorian-era buildings, many of which were salvaged from Skidmore/Old Town; and
WHEREAS, the Portland Development Commission has acquired the Eric Ladd Collection; applied for and received a federal matching grant to evaluate, clean and repair the artifacts in the collection; and is currently exploring reuse of collection artifacts in area development projects; and
WHEREAS, many of the above artifacts, collectively known as the Eric Ladd and Bosco-Milligan Collections, have been documented and could potentially be reused in Victorian-era historic districts, including Skidmore/Old Town; and
WHEREAS, the City Council is committed to continuing efforts to reaffirm the value of Portland’s historic resources and promote the preservation and revitalization of historic districts in general and the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District in particular; and
WHEREAS, the City can support the long-standing goals of district revitalization and preservation by using all available tools to encourage reuse of cast-iron artifacts within the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District.
POLICY
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that all City bureaus and offices will pursue efforts to reuse cast iron artifacts in development projects within the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District in a historically and architecturally sensitive manner:
(a) City bureaus and offices shall make all reasonable efforts and are strongly encouraged to integrate historic cast-iron style facades and artifacts from the Eric Ladd or other cast-iron artifact collections in projects involving development or renovation of City-owned or controlled buildings, structures and sites located within the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District. It should be noted that some interpretation and reproduction will be required as rarely are whole facades intact in existing collections.
(b) In the event City-owned or controlled buildings, structures and sites located within the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District are sold or otherwise transferred to different ownership, the disposition and development agreement for the sale or transfer shall ensure that the property owner and any developers shall comply with the policy described in subsection (a).
(c) Financial participation by City bureaus and offices in private development projects located within the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District shall be contingent on the developer agreeing to comply with the policy described in subsection (a).
(d) Projects that involve renovation of contributing historic buildings within the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District that did not originally incorporate cast iron elements in their design are exempted from the policies described in (a), (b) and (c), above.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution is binding city policy and shall be attached as an appendix to the Skidmore/Old Town Historic District Design Guidelines.
HISTORY
Resolution No. 37207, adopted by City Council May 4, 2016.