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AS I SEE IT POSTED: Thursday February 01, 2001 By Larry Landis Church's Building Well Worth Preserving A church is more than a building. Sometimes, the reverse is also true. That's the situation facing members of First Presbyterian Church, which is moving toward destruction of its 1909 Gothic Revival sanctuary. Although not a public building like the Benton County Courthouse or Benton Hall, it is a historical and cultural treasure in addition to its function as a house of worship. Its loss would diminish our sense of community and livability. It's part of what makes this town Corvallis. There is still time for the church to take a deep breath and reconsider options that could make the building safer and more accessible and perhaps better use the space. That won't happen unless church members fully understand the stakes and the viability of alternatives. First Presbyterian is the oldest sanctuary in continuous use in Corvallis. Its design was the pattern for Albany's Presbyterian Church, a National Register property, and other churches of that denomination. For someone like me, who grew up in sterile, suburban church buildings, it's a wonderful, spiritual place to worship and enjoy music in a special acoustical environment. The Corvallis church complex is on the city's inventory of historic properties and is worthy of a National Register listing. Two other good but less spectacular church buildings facing Central Park - now serving as the Art Center and a commercial building - are on the National Register. (The city listing for First Presbyterian is available at www.ci.corvallis.or.us/historic/pdf/8th_114.pdf. Be sure to scroll down to read the statement of significance.) First Presbyterian was designed by a prominent Portland architect, John V. Bennes, who designed more than 33 buildings on and around the OSU campus, making Corvallis one of the largest concentrations of his work. Bennes, a contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright and a product of the Chicago "school" of architecture, is the mind behind many of Oregon State University's architectural jewels: Weatherford Hall, the Women's Building, Bexell Hall, McAlexander Fieldhouse and Kidder Hall. In addition to the many Bennes buildings remaining on campus, two sorority houses, Delta Zeta and Alpha Gamma, are his designs. Bennes is listed as the architect for at least 17 buildings in Oregon and Washington on the National Register of Historic Places. These include the John Bexell House on 30th Street in Corvallis, the Hollywood Theater in Portland and the Administration Building at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. One of the building's more striking features are the dozens of stained glass windows on the curvilinear brick wall. Although the church plans to save "as much of the wood and stained glass as possible," it does not plan to put them in the new sanctuary, which would have "a more modern feel to it," according to the Mid-Valley Sunday story (Jan. 21). These windows are integral to the history of the church as well as that of Corvallis and Oregon State. John B. Horner, for example, is one of the prominent people for whom these windows are dedicated. It's not just wishful thinking to assert that there are alternatives to knocking down every building in Corvallis that doesn't meet current code. Most of us live in houses in that category! I asked architectural engineer Gary Feuerstein, principal of Endex Engineering, for examples of successful and cost-effective retrofits. His short, off-the-cuff list includes Corvallis' Julian Hotel, Portland City Hall, North Portland Precinct and the state Capitol. Feuerstein says there is no question about whether a retrofit can be done in cases like this one. If you really want to save a building, you figure out how to do it cost effectively. If you aren't committed to saving a building, you make it costly and then say it's not feasible. Although Feuerstein and structural engineers from other firms told the church their building was salvageable, church officials chose to hire an architect whose focus is not on saving buildings but building new ones, like the Fox Tower and the Nike World Campus. Thompson, Vaivoda & Associates Architects did good work here in Corvallis at the Aquatic Center/Otter Beach. But if you look at the firm's work profile ( www.tvapdx.com/profile.html), you could not mistake TVA for a preservation firm. Church members, who chose to stay at Eighth Street and Monroe Avenue, understood at a minimum that they want to preserve their historical connection to downtown and Central Park. The building itself, not just the land, is part of that historical connection. Let's hope they can begin to see their way to a better project that will save a significant historic and cultural resource and still give them a safer and more functional place to worship. Amen. Larry Landis is the university archivist at Oregon State University and a member of the Benton County Historic Resources Commission. This column represents his personal opinions. |