National Register of Historic Places

Auditorium and Music Hall

Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon
Listed
February 22, 1980
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
80003357

About this property

The Auditorium and Music Hall is a historic building in Portland, Oregon, in the United States, designed by English architect Frederick Manson White. It was built by Emil C. Jorgensen and was completed in 1895. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The Auditorium and Music Hall building has served several purposes throughout its lifetime since it was built for Emil C. Jorgenson in 1895. Originally, the first floor was occupied by a liquor wholesale business, the second floor was used for a dance hall, and the third floor was a mini concert hall. The next owner renovated the third-floor space into apartments, and the dance hall became a boxing gymnasium. It remained this way until 1960. Around the 1980s, the architectural firm Boutwell, Gordon, Beard, Grimes, invested $2 million to update and renovate the building. They renovated the first floor to resemble the building's original design, created offices on the second and third floors for their own personal use, and leased the top floor to other professionals. Located in downtown Portland, near the waterfront area on lot 6, block 23, the Auditorium and Music Hall building is on the east side of SW Third Avenue, in the middle of the block between Salmon and Taylor Streets. The foundation of the four-story building is composed of pilings, concrete footings, and brick piers. Walls and arches support the first floor of timber, while iron columns support the second floor of concrete and wood. The roofing is reinforced with timber trusses that cover the width of the building, creating space for the concert room's high ceilings, which feature a cove ceiling over a "space 27ft high, 42ft wide, and 72ft long." The building incorporates the Romanesque Revival style, evidenced in the design of its façade, influenced by works produced by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Henry Hobson Richardson. The terra cotta detailing on the façade is notable on the side arch capitals on the third floor. The plant motifs, seen directly on the stone capitals at the first level, are "organized in geometric patterns [and] display the strong influence of Louis Sullivan; a significant aspect of these decorative elements is their variety." This influenced White's design of the Auditorium building, which has elements of the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival style. Described as "interspersed with other coloured stones to accentuate doorways and windows. Rectangular blocks with little ornaments other than the play of voids and solids across the surface project enormous power and a sense of timelessness." This is seen in the design of the auditorium building's façade.

Location

920, 924, 926, 928 SW 3rd Ave.
Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon
45.51662, -122.67569

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Questions about this property

When was Auditorium and Music Hall listed on the National Register?

Auditorium and Music Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 22, 1980.

What type of historic resource is Auditorium and Music Hall?

Auditorium and Music Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Auditorium and Music Hall?

The period of significance for Auditorium and Music Hall is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Auditorium and Music Hall?

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