For more than a year, the all-volunteer Buckman Historic Association has been working on the preliminary phase of a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the oldest portion of this southeast Portland neighborhood. During this time they’ve criss-crossed every street within the proposed historic district, probably more than twice, in an effort to effectively survey the existing buildings and to get a better sense of the area’s history and significance. Now that they have submitted their initial survey work to the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), it’s time for neighbors to learn more about what such a nomination would mean (or not mean) and to weigh in on the matter.
Next Thursday, March 10th, the Buckman Community Association (BCA) and the Bosco-Milligan
Foundation/Architectural Heritage Center are sponsoring a discussion on the proposed historic district, during the BCA’s March general meeting. At this meeting, area residents will learn more about the pros and cons of a historic district, from City of Portland and SHPO staff. Also speaking will be Art deMuro of Venerable Properties and Stephen Zylstra, a resident of Ladd’s Addition – also a historic district. Questions are encouraged.
The meeting is at Central Catholic High School, 2401 SE Stark St. at 7:30 pm on Thursday, March 10th. The presentation will be preceded by the regular BCA meeting at 7:00 pm.
After gauging support for the district from this initial outreach meeting, next steps will include intensive level surveys of specific buildings and more detailed physical descriptions of the proposed district. Once that work is drafted, the project will then be turned over to a consultant who will write the final nomination.
In the meantime, if you are interested in assisting with historical research, physical descriptions, outreach or fundraising, you can contact the Buckman Historic Association at Historic.Buckman@gmail.com.
