Xavier Stickler has vivid memories of downtown Portland when he was growing up.

“You knew you were at the Park Blocks when these beautiful brick buildings were all about. They just complemented the foliage in the park so well,” said Stickler, who currently studies urban planning and architecture at Portland State University.

For many locals, the architecture along the park, especially the buildings built in the early 20th century, is a hallmark of both the city and university.

“It takes you back to a different time and really helps you feel rooted in Portland’s history,” said Stickler, who also serves as the vice president of the Downtown Portland Neighborhood Association.

But if all goes according to plan, two of those buildings will no longer be standing a year from now. The structures, Montgomery Court and Blackstone Hall, have been used by PSU as residence halls for over 50 years. Now they’re slated for demolition to make way for modern student housing.

Stickler is part of a coalition of preservationists who are urging Portland State leaders to reconsider the destruction of the buildings. They cite a slate of concerns, from the erasure of historic and cultural touchstones in the city to the environmental impact of demolition.

University planners don’t deny the buildings’ place in local history, but they say fixing the aging structures doesn’t make sense financially and, even if they were renovated, the housing would not meet the needs of today’s students.

A ‘mistake’ that can’t be undone

Most of the buildings along South Park Blocks are owned and maintained by PSU. But Blackstone Hall and Montgomery Court have a long history of their own before the university acquired them in 1969.

Blackstone was originally built in 1931 as a residential apartment building. It’s famous among architecture buffs for its Egyptian revival motifs, which include replica King Tutankhamun busts on its facade.

“There is gorgeous tilework, hardwood floors, coved ceilings, leaded glass in the kitchens and fireplaces,” said Heather Flint Chatto, executive director of the Portland preservation nonprofit Architectural Heritage Center. “It’s a model of really high quality affordable housing.”

On the same block, Montgomery Court is a building that local historians say was extremely important in Oregon’s women’s rights movement. The four-story structure was built in 1917 and originally known as the Martha Washington Hotel for Self-Supporting Women.

For more than half a century the hotel provided a safe space for working, single women to live and educate themselves.

“It was built by the Portland Women’s Union by our most significant architect, Albert E. Doyle,” Chatto said.

Doyle designed prominent buildings in the region, like the Multnomah County Central Library, Multnomah Falls Lodge and The Benson Hotel.

Advocates like Chatto worry that Portland State’s trustees weren’t given the full picture of two buildings’ history and cultural impact before approving demolition plans.

“It’s like tearing down a Frank Lloyd Wright building. You would never do that today,” Chatto said. “We really want to support PSU to not make a mistake they will never be able to undo.”

Neither building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a designation that could offer additional protections from demolition. But both structures are on Portland’s Historic Resources Inventory, a sort of precursor to the federal listing.

PSU’s need for modern student housing

On Jan. 24, Portland State’s trustees unceremoniously approved a plan to build 550 new student housing units on the Park Blocks. State lawmakers signed off on an $85 million capital construction bond to fund the project a few months later.

To build the new dorm, both Blackstone Hall and Montgomery Court would need to be demolished.

“These are old buildings that were never built for students,” said Jason Franklin, PSU’s associate vice president of planning, construction and real estate. “They’re occupying what is a really great location for first-year housing, right on the Park Blocks.”

The decision to go forward with the housing project was made this year, but the plan has been years in the making.

In 2018, PSU hired independent consultants to create a housing master plan for the university. The report found that Portland State lacked what it called “traditional student housing” for first-year students. That’s lodging that includes lounges, study areas, communal kitchens and student support services.

The survey also showed that PSU had an overabundance of apartment-style dorms, many of which were century old buildings in need of rehabilitation to remain livable for students.

“It became clear that we needed a project that would cater to the first-year student experience,” Franklin said. “A place where students can feel comfortable, supported, and be successful at PSU.”

And as Portland State faces years of declining student enrollment, university leaders are betting that a new dorm will make PSU more attractive to prospective students. The university is traditionally a commuter campus, but housing solely dedicated to freshmen could make the school more competitive among peer institutions like Oregon State University and the University of Oregon.

As for Montgomery and Blackstone, PSU believes they’ve gone beyond their useful life.

“We’ve been limping them along for longer than we should have,” Franklin said.

The university estimated basic safety renovations, like seismic bracing and electrical and plumbing upgrades, would cost up to $23 million for each building if construction were to start immediately. The Legislature-approved construction bond cannot be used for rehabilitation costs, according to Franklin.

“The math either works or it doesn’t,” Franklin said. “As much as I would love to save these buildings and have them be part of campus for the next 50 years, PSU doesn’t have the money to do that.”

PSU has put in the work to preserve and rehabilitate other buildings on campus like the former Lincoln High School and the St. Helens Residence Hall. But the university also recently demolished several other older buildings in its student housing stock, like Stratford and King Albert Hall.

Exhausting all alternatives

Advocates of preserving Blackstone and Montgomery believe Portland State has alternative paths that could both save the structures and build new student housing.

One option is to renovate the buildings, which combined can house about 200 students, and then build a new, smaller dorm on a separate lot. PSU currently owns several other parcels of land near the Park Blocks. Stickler, the Portland State student, pointed to a nearly vacant lot at Southwest Market and 12th streets as a possible location.

“That’s a prime opportunity for a different space to build these new housing units that wouldn’t come at the expense of the existing historic assets,” Stickler said. “PSU currently plans to make it a dog park, as an interim use.”

Preservationists say they have a way to finance renovation costs too. An approach known as a lend-lease arrangement, in which PSU would sell the buildings to a developer and then lease them back over time, would open up access to federal grants and tax credits that could offset costs.

This option would require the structures to be successfully listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a process that can take up to a year.

“There is a method fit to do it,” Chatto with the Architectural Heritage Center said. “There could be other cost savings with a preservation mindset.”

In addition to the loss of cultural history, advocates say tearing down the buildings will have negative environmental impacts.

A carbon emissions analysis conducted by Chatto’s nonprofit found that retrofits of the buildings would result in at least 72% less emissions than demolition and new construction on the same lot. The analysis does not account for the carbon impact of a retrofit and new construction scenario.Those looking to save the two buildings want to make sure Portland State has exhausted all of its options before resorting to demolition.

“These are complicated issues, we don’t want to make light of that,” Chatto said. “But there are opportunities that would demonstrate how PSU can integrate old and new at the same time.”

Balancing preservation with student demands

Part of Portland State’s pre-pandemic housing report included a survey of students’ wants and needs.

The survey found that the university’s historic buildings were among PSU’s most popular housing units. But preservation was not among students’ top housing concerns. Respondents were more interested in affordability, flexible leasing options and privacy.

The university must reflect back the needs of its students, said PSU’s Franklin.

“Sometimes we’re able to renovate and restore old buildings. And other times it isn’t possible,” Franklin said. “It doesn’t make financial sense and it doesn’t meet our fiduciary responsibility to students and state taxpayers.”

For now, PSU is moving ahead with its plan. Demolition of Montgomery and Blackstone could occur as soon as August 2026.

Still, students continue to speak up about their wish to preserve what’s left of PSU’s historic buildings.

In letters to university leadership, current and former students say the structures are deeply intertwined with Portland’s history and culture. To these students, the buildings also make PSU’s downtown campus unique among other institutions.

“Tearing down old buildings that require some work is the easiest thing to do, but is that really the best thing for the community? Is that the best thing for preserving historic assets? Is that the best thing for the climate?” Stickler asked. “I’m not so sure.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/11/27/portland-state-historic-buildings-demolish-housing/