Weatherly Building Explained

Weatherly Building
Former Names:Crystal Ice & Storage Co. Office & Theatre building, The Weatherly
Map Type:USA Portland downtown
Building Type:Highrise
Architectural Style:Beaux-Arts, modern
Cost:1.5 million USD (including theatre)
Location:Portland, Oregon
Address:516 SE Morrison Street
Client:George Warren Weatherly
Owner:Mayfield Investment Company
Current Tenants: Bank of America, Lensbaby
Landlord:Mayfield Investment
Start Date:1927
Completion Date:1928[1]
Height:53.34m (175feet)[2]
Floor Count:12
Floor Area:82000square feet
Embed:yes
Weatherly Building
Nrhp Type:cp
Partof:East Portland Grand Avenue Historic District
Partof Refnum:91000126
Nocat:yes
Coordinates:45.517°N -122.6604°W
Built:1928
Architect:Sutton & Whitney.
Architecture:Modern Movement, Romanesque
Designated Nrhp Type:March 4, 1991
Main Contractor:Robertson Hay & Wallace

The Weatherly Building in Portland, Oregon, is a 12-story commercial office building. It was built in 1927–28 by ice cream businessman George Warren Weatherly.[3] [4]

According to a photograph dated December 21, 1927, held by the Library of Congress as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey collection (labeled "Stevens Commercial Photographers"), the building was designed by architects Sutton & Whitney and Lee Thomas, and was built by Robertson Hay & Wallace general contractors.[5] It is listed as a secondary contributing property in the East Portland Grand Avenue Historic District.[6]

Background

Weatherly's creamery business started with a second-hand freezer in a small candy shop in 1890 and grew to produce an estimated 90% of Oregon ice cream sales. He was "locally credited"[7] with inventing the ice cream cone[4] and to have been the "east side's leading citizen in the 1920 and 1930s". The building helped develop the so-called "uptown district"[8] and had an ice cream shop on its ground floor.[3] An employee of Weatherly's, F. A. Bruckman, invented and patented the first successful cone manufacturing machine.[4]

Architecture

The Weatherly building has Romanesque brick and terra cotta embellishments, including an arcade of arches near the roof.[8] It "was among the first high-rise buildings east of the river, with 12 stories towering over the Morrison Bridge."[3] There are 3 elevators and two rooftop penthouses.[8]

Movie theatre operator Walter Eugene Tebetts convinced Weatherly to construct the Oriental Theatre adjacent to the Weatherly building. It was designed by Lee Thomas and Albert Mercier, who also designed many other movie palaces in the Pacific Northwest. The large and ornate theatre was the area's second largest, behind the Portland Theatre. It was torn down in 1970 to make way for a parking lot. The building and theatre cost $1.5 million.[9]

Ownership and occupants

The Weatherly sold in 2002 to Mayfield Investment in Palo Alto, California for $7.4 million. It was previously owned by Landmark Investments, who owned it since 1984.

Tenants of the Weatherly have included Burns Bros. Inc., Kerr Violin Shop, Bank of America, Aqua Terra couples massage,[10] Grand Jete Café, the Portland Running Company, Lensbaby, Stand for Children,[11] Archscape Architecture.[12]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=14367 SkyscraperPage: Weatherly Building
  2. https://archive.today/20130220041334/http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&lng=3&id=weastreetrlybuilding-portland-or-usa Emporis: Weatherly Building
  3. News: Historic Weatherly Building sells quickly. Stout. Heidi J.. February 21, 2002. Portland Business Journal. May 23, 2016.
  4. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HacRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XOkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3874,438572&dq=weatherly+building&hl=en Cone Pioneer Dies in Portland
  5. See inset in the infobox image
  6. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=91000126}} National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: East Portland Grand Avenue Historic District ]. PDF. Portland Bureau of Planning . August 15, 1990. National Park Service. Section 7, p. 88. May 23, 2016.
  7. Book: Potter, Elisabeth Walton . Lucy Pope Wheeler . Denys Peter Myers . Historic American Buildings Survey: The Oriental Theatre, HABS No. Ore-55. 1979.
  8. Laura O. Foster Portland City Walks: Twenty Explorations in and Around Town
  9. Gary Lacher, Steve Stone Theatres of Portland, p. 58
  10. http://www.aquaterrapdx.com/location.htm Aqua Terra Massage, Location
  11. News: Real estate roundup. November 10, 2008. Portland Business Journal. May 23, 2016.
  12. News: Family building renovated for a Grand retail future. Stout. Heidi J.. March 21, 2003. Portland Business Journal. 2009-12-25.