Art DeMuro (image courtesy Venerable Properties)
BY FRED LEESON
Portland has been blessed with several architectural preservationists over the years.
Eric Ladd, who died in 2000, is often recognized as the first, with his efforts to help move the Kamm house and plans for his never-completed Ladd Colony in the 1960s. Then one can turn to architects George McMath, father of the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission and municipal landmark designations, and William J. Hawkins III, whose grasp of history and detail is well preserved in his architectural history books and restoration projects. Certainly one must include the late Bill Naito, who showed that old buildings could have creative new lives in Old Town and elsewhere, and the McMenamin brothers, who built a thriving, whimsical empire on beer, old buildings and history.
But none may have more lasting significance than Art DeMuro. In hardly more than 20 years in Portland, the Chicago-born preservationist/developer restored many significant landmarks for decades of continued productive use. And in the months and days before his untimely death at age 57 in September, DeMuro made financial commitments intended to bolster Oregon’s preservation community and to train generations of additional preservation experts.
His largest gift, $2.8 million, went to the University of Oregon Historic Preservation Program. It likely will go to an endowed chair in preservation. This past January, in announcing the gift, DeMuro said, “My hope is that the passion of us who engaged intimately in the field spreads to become a more common social ethic throughout our culture….Once a historic building is lost, all of that history is gone. If I can train and inspire other people to do the same thing when I am gone, there are 10 people in my place to carry on. I need to know that I did all I possibly could to support what I care about; my hope is that others will want to join in and make it a bigger effort.”
Art DeMuro (image courtesy Venerable Properties)
In the days before his death, DeMuro also committed to donating $750,000 to the Bosco-Milligan Foundation, to pay off outstanding debts on the foundation’s Architectural Heritage Center and to start a permanent endowment. He also committed to giving “a very sizable amount” to the Historic Preservation League of Oregon, according to its executive director, Peggy Moretti. The HPLO is a state-wide preservation advocacy organization that works in association with local preservation groups such as Portland’s Bosco-Milligan.
Cathy Galbraith, Bosco-Milligan’s executive director, said she hopes to build an endowment totaling $1 million during the next year. At a 5 percent return, that would generate $50,000 per year in operating revenue without shrinking the long-term next egg. Galbraith said the endowment would be a major step in achieving “financial sustainability” for the 25-year old Portland-based preservation foundation.
Craig Kelly, DeMuro’s long-time partner in the Venerable Group, announced the commitment to Bosco-Milligan at the organization’s annual fund-raising auction on Oct. 20. Kelly choked with emotion when he read DeMuro’s comments about expanding support for preservation. “It is still hard for me to say Art’s words,” he said later.
In some ways, DeMuro was an unlikely success in Portland. In a city often noted for its insular business networks, he was an “outsider” who arrived in 1991 after working in the family real estate business in Phoenix, Arizona. And in a city often noted for its casual behavior, DeMuro seldom appeared in public without a dark suit and tie, shined shoes and his jet-black hair, neatly styled.
After hardly more than 10 years in Portland, he was appointed to the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission in a seat designated for a “developer.” But as Galbraith noted, he was no pushover for developers. He proved to be a stickler for architectural details and preservation of as much historic fabric as possible when renovation plans came before the commission. In his final three years, serving as landmarks chair, he used gentle humor whenever possible to ease tension and make the review process more comprehensible to applicants.
Ladd Carriage House (image courtesy Wikipedia Commons)
DeMuro’s firm accomplished more than a dozen restoration/renovation projects in Portland and Astoria. The best known are the Ladd Carriage House, which had to be moved several blocks and then returned to its original location atop new underground parking, and four buildings linked together in Old Town’s White Stag block to become the Portland branch of the University of Oregon’s architecture school. At his death, the Venerable firm was working on plans to renovate the old Washington High School into housing and other uses – a project that DeMuro had called his most complicated ever. His business associates plan to carry on with it.
Historic preservationist Paul Falsetto, who worked on the Ladd restoration, recalls an episode in which a major structural flaw was uncovered. Work had to be stopped while engineering options were studied and costs evaluated. When the options were presented to DeMuro, Falsetto said DeMuro asked only one question: “What’s the right thing to do?”
If DeMuro’s legacy does motivate a new generation of preservationists, perhaps that’s the best question for them and all preservation activists to remember.
Fred Leeson is board president of the Bosco-Milligan Foundation and its Architectural Heritage Center.
Advertisements
Another aspect about Art and his temperament that might surprise some was that he was publicly modest, not prone to – or necessarily comfortable in – the public light. This makes his more public statements, roles, and contributions all the more remarkable, and further telling of his passion and commitment to best-serving Portland preservation.
The process of recruiting him to the Landmarks Commission occurred over several years. He continued to decline, and I continued to pursue. He entirely supported the Commission’s purpose and efforts, held himself to the highest standard, but could not picture himself imposing on others about how they should manage their professional activities.
We would have lunch twice a year to discuss the prospect and related matters. It would always be at Huber’s, his downtown favorite (and the only locally designated interior in the City). Ultimately he determined he might have something to contribute, acceded to apply and be recommended, and was appointed by Mayor Katz.
As a Commissioner, he was even-tempered, clear, and unassailable given his history of putting his own money where his mouth was. He gave perfect voice to the economics of preservation, which was invaluable in an environment where the market-challenged cost of such activities was often asserted as a basis for compromising preservation strategies. Not on Art’s watch. There was one project in particular where a four story addition was proposed to a four-story base historic resource, claiming the two-stories would not pencil, given the cost of the base building. Art simply declared that they then were considering paying too much for the building. The building eventually came back in with a two-story addition, and no such argument was ever made again for other such future projects.
This application of his developer voice was particularly true in discussions regarding the Skidmore Old Town district zoning regulations and design guidelines.
By this time Art had become Chair of the Commission (and our Huber’s lunches were more frequent, fortunately for me). As Chair, Art became much more assertive, fully demonstrating the same clarity he’d exhibited his years occupying other seats, but with more passion, dedication, and commitment. No Chair of either the Design or Landmarks Commission, demanded – and received – as much time with respective Mayors as Art.
This passion-driven effectiveness took full effect in the Skidmore discussion. Tremendous pressure was brought to bear on the process and the Commission by various property owners and developers to allow augmented heights for infill development in this fragmented but singularly significant district. They made an economic case, claiming that the burden of restorative costs for the landmark structures was constraining the district, and that only be allowing greater heights could the new development bear the additional carrying cost of preserving the contributing structure.
Contrary to his even-tempered nature, Art took aggressive exception to this argument, believing it to be fundamentally wrong on both economic and preservation basis’. More so, he maintained that allowing such heights would have a stultifying effect just as the district was gaining traction: the recalibration of land values following the increase in floor area limits would take years, bringing the district to a grinding halt. Even following, such land values – in Art’s view – would continue to further impede historic redevelopment.
There were concerns about the potential impacts of these heights strongly expressed by others (such as Bosco Milligan), but I believe it was Art’s intervention that brought that process to a halt. Preservation-minded folks can discuss all day whether height alone diminishes the integrity of a district. In my view, it was largely the simple, brilliant, assertive, preservation-based, but economics-driven argument of Art’s that brought the project to a standstill. It chilled the primary basis for the height argument, and coming forcefully from the single most credible and powerful source. It remains to be seen whether, and how, that effort will move forward. If so, I’ve no doubt Art’s presence will be formidable, even in his absence.
I’ll finish with a portion of my “testimony” at Art’s final Landmarks Commission hearing, where the Commission designated Art himself as a Historic Landmark.
"He redefined the role of Landmarks Chair, took it to new heights, and used it to great and hugely contributory effect for our landmarks, our historic districts, our City, and our State. All the while maintaining his uncompromised quality of wardrobe without a hair out of place. His contributions are immense and eternal. ”
Posted by: Jeff Joslin | November 03, 2012 at 08:52 AM
Art was a unique voice in the development world. He was a pleasure to work with and always inspired the best from people. He will be missed, but his legacy and inspiration will live on in those he touched.
Posted by: Stephenk40 | November 04, 2012 at 08:05 AM