Portland Then/Now: Portland City Hall

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Thursday, March 26, 2015

Byron Beck, GoLocalPDX Features Editor

Portland Then/Now: Portland City Hall.

THEN: A four-story Italian Renaissance-style City Hall building houses the offices of the City Council, which consists of the mayor, four commissioners and several other offices.

Portland City Hall is also home to the City Council chambers, located in the rotunda on the east side of the structure. Completed in 1895, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 21, 1974.

The black and white photograph was taken on October 24, 1950 during a ceremony at City Hall celebrating United Nations Day. 

NOW: City Hall has gone through several renovations, with the most recent overhaul gutting the interior to upgrade it to modern seismic and safety standards.

The original was built for $600,000, while the 1996 to 1998 renovation cost $29 million. 

City Hall sits on an entire city block along Fourth and Fifth avenues at Madison and Jefferson Streets.

To the south is the Wells Fargo Center, and to the north is the Portland Building. Terry Schrunk Plaza (named for a former mayor ) is across Fourth Avenue to the east. In addition to more than 87,000 square feet of interior space, the exterior consists of landscaped grounds including a vegetable garden.

The main entrance is located on Fourth Avenue, though for a time it was located on the Fifth Avenue side.

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