Mike Francis had a nice piece in The Oregonian yesterday about the renovation of a historic YWCA building turned-Elks Lodge at North Williams Avenue and Tillamook Street in the Eliot neighborhood.
"A few years ago, it was a dilapidated building with holes in the roof and dry rot in the floors," Francis writes. "Yet it was one of the last reminders of a time when the close-in north and northeast Portland neighborhood was a lively cultural center for African-American Portlanders and immigrant communities. Now the building is a crisply refurbished meeting hall and event center, following a community-wide effort to save and restore it to its prewar elegance."
The YWCA was constructed in 1926, largely for African-American women, who were excluded from the downtown Portland YWCA. $12,000 in funding (no small amount at the time) came from Portlander named Mary Laffey Collins, who would go on to establish one of America's most prominent foundations, the Collins Foundation. There is a plaque at the lodge from 1939 honoring Collins on behalf of "the Negro citizens of Portland."
During World War II, the building became a USO for African American soldiers, and after the Vanport flood of 1948, it was used as a shelter for families who lost their homes. The Elks, a chapter of the national Elks organization for minorities, purchased the biulding in 1959, which it remained for decades. Below is a 'before' shot of the building prior to its renovation this year. (This and the photo at the top of the post were provided to The Oregonian by Faye Burch.)
The push to renovate the building came from a volunteer coalition let by people like Wanda Broadous-Mills, Faye Burch, and James Posey, the latter of whom is the outgoing president of the National Association of Minority Contractors of Oregon. Today the building is a meeting hall and events center available for rental.
Congratulations to everyone who helped save and refurbish this humble but beloved community building.
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