While many people were commemorating the anniversary of St Helen’s volcanic eruption thirty years ago, May 18, 2010 was also the big celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Portland Archives & Records Center (PARC) facility!

After 28 years in its North Portland location, PARC has exchanged the old City incinerator on N. Columbia Boulevard for a centrally located facility just a few blocks from City Hall. PARC is the official repository for city records and its mission is to preserve these records for future generations while providing access for today’s citizens and city employees. From the original city ordinances, to the plans and maps of your favorite park, to photos of the City establishing its infrastructure, these records provide insight into the City’s development from 1851 to the present.

Randy Leonard with Diana Banning

This has been a wonderful and unique project since 2006, when Oh was hired to provide an assessment of the old archives facility (the Stanley Parr Archives & Records Center at Chimney Park) and forecast their needs for the coming 20 years.  The conclusion was that the existing space did not meet those needs and Archives had to either move or expand.

Detail of artist Keiko Hara's installation. The light is wonderful!

Ultimately the decision was made to locate in the the PSU Student Recreation Center building on 5^th and Harrison. Oh was hired to plan Archive’s space and coordinate their program requirements with the design-build team.  Another contract award allowed our team to facilitate the move plan, which was complicated as every box and archived material has a specific address.  These records are in a specific environmental set at 63 degrees and 40% relative humidity to preserve the documents.

The staff area with the reading room beyond.

The City archives is an interesting resource with documents and historic records that you can access with the assistance of an archivist.  The City of Portland Auditor’s Office also has online resources that are fascinating. Anyone who loves history or their city should check out the resources available to their citizens.

Special thank yous to Diana Banning, Archivist and Jim Coker, City of Portland Project Manager. We are so fortunate to have delightful clients.

Archives!

(The glass art is the work of Northwest artist Keiko Hara.)

Congratulations to everyone involved in the project, including the city!

I just returned from Seattle where I attended the American Association of Community Colleges AACC national convention.  There I shared the honor of speaking alongside Mt Hood Community College President John “Ski” Sygielski and two MHCC Board members Dave Shields and Brian Freeman.  We shared our experience with the  MHCC master plan and valuable lessons with other colleges.

While at the convention, I learned more of the American Graduation Initiative http://www.ed.gov/blog/2009/07/american-graduation-initiative-strengthening-community-colleges/ . I listened to US Dept of Education Under Secretary Martha Kanter speak about the ambitious goal of providing access to education to the TOP 100% of Americans.  President Barack Obama has formed the American Graduation Initiative to increase the number of graduates by eight million  by 2020.  At the moment, we are tenth in the world in academic achievement and this will continue to decline if we do not take action.  Of the eight million goal, five million will come from community colleges.  The approximate 1,000 community colleges across this country have a challenge that they are accepting – the challenge of how to make this happen.  We all play a role in coming together and accepting this challenge.

I was impressed by Melinda French Gates speech regarding the Gates Foundation efforts to provide access to education and dedication to innovations that bring health and learning to a global economy.  They have personally toured colleges and see the strong need for innovative solutions to remedial education that reduces the discouragement in students who have a high school diploma yet are told they are not college ready.  All great accomplishments were met with challenges and we are ready to work together to achieve this goal.

A morning picture of the Portland waterfront.  Picture by Zach Pennell

As you may know, the Bike Commute Challenge held by the BTA every September has wrapped up this year and we here at Oh gave our best at commuting for the month. In the end, we commuted 698 miles in a total of 74 commutes and finished the competition with a solid 53% commute rate!! But the biggest victory was that of the new commuters who have saddled up and will continue to push through the year as full time commuters! A big round of applause for these guys!

If you weren’t here January 22nd you missed out.

We had a great crowd noshing and nosing about the office, fun conversations — not always about design & architecture — and lots of beverages.

We also unveiled the fabulous lobby wall art work by Chris Haberman. And a time-lapse video of it being created.

But no remorse or you, or not too much. You can see it here. (Or find out about Chris and see our artwork and more on his MySpace page.)

As to missing the party part: We’re usually ready at the drop of the hat to welcome visitors.  So stop by.  See the fantastic mural yoruself. Have some coffee. Or other beverage.

We’re having an open house January 22nd in our new home.

You can see the pristine ping pong room, spackled & painted fresh. (Thanks to the anon confessor.) Try out the paddles.

Stand around out “Sunset Lanes” bowling lane bar. (Really. We got a reclaimed lane from a bowling alley in Washington and use it as our break area table. We love it, love it we do. )

Study the flame of our fireplace, watch it flicker in the beverage of your choice.

I think you need to RSVP. It helps us get the right amount of food & drink on board. (Do we need an RSVP?)