Sellwood Community House finally reopens after storm repairs

Published 12:00 am Sunday, September 29, 2024

One week in January hammered the Portland area as it had not been hammered before. Portland’s forecasters were hard-pressed to remember another weather incident here in which such low temperatures were accompanied by such gusty east winds – a dangerous combination that brought down swathes of trees and limbs all over the area. At its peak, some 160,000 people in Portland were without power.

But the last two days of low temperatures and ice in Portland did enormous damage to two Inner Southeast institutions – in both cases, due to burst water pipes. SMILE Station in Sellwood had just completed a complete renovation and update in its basement to create new meeting and office spaces, and was in the midst of renovating the upstairs main meeting room, when a pipe in the north wall broke late on Thursday, January 18th. Everything in the basement was destroyed by the flood there, and the space there had to be completely cleared and rebuilt from scratch, while the damage upstairs was more easily repaired. The building was fully restored by spring and reopened by March 20th.

But Sellwood Community House suffered a much greater catastrophe in the late morning of Friday, January 20th, and had much more repair work to do. The fire suppression sprinkler system main supply pipe burst in the attic, releasing a torrent of water down the stairs into every room on each floor in the building. The structure was occupied at the time, and the response was immediate; experts said if the water flow had not been suppressed within 20 minutes by the firefighters at Westmoreland’s Station 20, the building would have been a total loss and would have had to be torn down. As it was, restoration of the historic building – it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places – took nine months, and an enormous amount of money.

The staff at the Community House quickly found locations at which to continue its classes – among them, the Trackers Earth facility on S.E. Milwaukie Avenue near Holgate, the Moreland Presbyterian Church on Bybee Boulevard, and – after its own repairs were completed – SMILE Station. And they immediately began an historic fundraising effort to pay for the extensive repairs. But the funds were raised, and the work was done by the end of summer.

Celebrating the completion of eight months of extensive repairs, staff and supporters held a “Grand Reopening and Fifth Birthday Bash” on Saturday, September 14.

“Yes, we are indeed celebrating that our building has been made whole again, after 82% of the interior had to be stripped down to the studs after being flooded,” said the organization’s Executive Director Ashley Murray. “Also, we’re celebrating that we are coming up on five years of being a community-run nonprofit 501c3 organization, too.

“It’s important to have a place like this – a meaningful ‘third space’ for the community to build connections,” remarked Murray. “All ages and generations are able to come together here, and spend time with one another – which really fosters a deep connection among everyone.

“And, the Sellwood Community House helps our neighborhood to be more resilient and vibrant, with everyone working together and supporting our space.”

After the snipping of the ceremonial ribbon outside the front door, signaling the official reopening, the organization’s Board Secretary – Julie Currin – pointed out an otherwise unheralded feature of the building’s restoration: “One of my favorite things here is the sign above the main entrance doorway. When we took over the building and changed the name, we replaced the existing sign with the vinyl banner – it felt temporary.

“Just in the last month, workers took down the original sign, flipped it over, and with the exact same style and colors, engraved on it ‘Sellwood Community House – Built 1910 • Established 2019’ – it looks perfect!” enthused Currin.

Throughout that afternoon, many of those who attended the festivities enjoyed a free slice of birthday cake; others purchased food, beverages, and ice cream sundaes from vendors. Inside the building, staffers were on hand – providing crafts, games, and activities for people of all ages. And, many visitors took the opportunity to tour the renewed facility, admiring the craftsmanship of the restoration work.

As for the history of the place, which led some time ago to its national historic listing – the building started out in 1910 as a YMCA; but after a few years it became the property of Portland Parks and Recreation, which operated it until five years ago as the Sellwood Community Center.

It was PP&R’s announced plan to close it down permanently to save money that led the community to form a committee to find a way to lease it from PP&R and to run it for the benefit of the Inner Southeast Community, just as it had always been – and the result was the Sellwood Community House. It is located on the southwest corner of Spokane Street and S.E. 15th Avenue in Sellwood.

Keep in touch with the Sellwood Community House by visiting their website – http://www.sellwoodcomm unityhouse.org