"The landmark Montgomery Park building at 28th and Vaughn (a former Montgomery Ward distribution center and now an exhibit space and meeting hall) sits where [the Lewis and Clark Exposition's] sunken gardens used to be."

"This building is the former Montgomery Ward warehouse. It has nothing to do with 'Montgomery Burns'. It was purchased by Joe Naito of Portland circa 1986 and converted to its present use. I know, because I was the EVP of Montgomery Ward Properties, Inc, who sold the property."

National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form

Montgomery Ward & Company established its first warehouse on the west coast in July 1913 at N.W. 18th and Upshur in Portland. Prior to this, Montgomery Ward customers ordered from the Chicago store. The Portland warehouse serviced Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and California. The store featured only catalog sales; there were no retail sales and goods were shipped by rail to the town nearest the customer. In 1913 most of the customers were from rural areas. In fact, in 1913, the store manager stated, "We are not competitors of any firm now doing business in Portland. We do no retail business in Portland. Our patrons live outside the big cities."

After World War I, Montgomery Ward & Company announced (December 1919) plans to build a new warehouse to contain the merchandise for their ever-expanding business. The company issued one million shares of stock to raise the $1.5 million capital it estimated would be necessary for construction. Negotiating with the Ladd Estate and the Portland Railway Light and Power Company, the company purchased 8 acres formerly part of the Lewis & Clark Exposition grounds, between N.W. 27th and 29th and extending from Vaughn to Nicolai. At the time plans for the Montgomery Ward store were announced, only the Forestry Building remained on the Exposition site; the only other structures were tennis courts, a playground and part of an auto camp ground.

"The building, at 2701 Northwest Vaughn Street, is on the grounds of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition. Company engineer W.H. McCaully created the design for the building, which was used in six other company buildings around the nation."

National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form

The company, the nation's first mail-order merchandizer, established its first warehouse on the west coast in July, 1913, in Portland, to service customers in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and California. After World War I, the company chose the city as a base to expand their business to Alaska, Hawaii, and Pacific rim countries. Initially constructed in 1920 for 1.5 million, the building was expanded in 1936 by 230,000 square feet, and in its heyday, employed 1000 employees.

Another accommodation Montgomery Ward & Company made to the more mobile customer was construction in 1924 of N. W. Wardway Road, to the north of the building, so that customers from Linnton and beyond would have easier access to the store.

Wikipedia: Montgomery Park (Portland, Oregon)

...occupied by Montgomery Ward from 1920 until 1985, although the majority of the company's operations at this location ended in 1982.[5] The building is the second largest office building in Portland with 577,339 square feet (53,636.5 m2) ... At the time of its completion, in September 1920, the building was the largest in the city,[3] as measured by floor space, which was approximately 569,000 square feet (52,900 m2) originally.

...

When constructed, the massive building, a landmark juxtaposed against the west hills of Northwest Portland, contained the greatest floor space of any building in Portland, and was claimed at the time to be one of the largest reinforced concrete buildings west of The Rockies. The building is also notable for the extensive use of steel-framed industrial sash windows, classically-inspired disposition of compositional elements on its elevations, and for its massive steel-framed roof sign; the largest in Portland.

...

A 229,000-square-foot (21,300 m2) wing was added to the building's northwest corner in 1935–36, changing what had been an L-shaped building to a roughly U-shaped one.[3]

Wikipedia: Montgomery Park (Portland, Oregon)

The building has nine floors plus a basement. The 4th through 9th floors were used almost exclusively as warehouse space, while most portions of the 2nd and 3rd floors functioned as office and mail-order workspace. The first floor was used primarily for loading and unloading of freight arriving and leaving by truck or rail and temporary storage of such goods.

Three rail spurs served the facility, extending into the ground floor.[3]

Among other things, the building is known for its large steel-framed roof sign, the largest sign in Portland,[3] which was constructed in 1925.[4]

Retail service at this location was relatively limited in its first years. A 1936 expansion added retail space, covering a variety of goods, occupying a new mezzanine floor and parts of the 2nd and 3rd floors. A tire store was opened in an adjacent annex.[3]

In the post-World War II years, the Vaughn Street store's business declined steadily. An increasing proportion of the store's customers were attracted to new suburban shopping malls, and in the early 1970s Montgomery Ward began to follow the same path itself, opening stores at Mall 205 and Jantzen Beach Mall, along with a stand-alone store in Beaverton.[3]

The Northwest Portland store closed in July 1976, and the building remained in use only for warehouse and mail-order functions and as a "catalog overstock outlet".[3]

In 1978, the company built a new warehouse in Portland's Rivergate Industrial District, and in 1982 it closed the Northwest Portland warehouse, eliminating 500 jobs at the site. Only the small "clearance outlet" store continued to operate,[5] and following the 1984 sale of the building, that store closed finally in July 1985.[7]

...

In 1984, the building was acquired by the Norcrest China Company, a Portland property development company owned by Bill Naito and his brother Sam Naito.[5] In 1985, the Naitos initiated a rehabilitation and refitting of the building's interior for use for trade shows, banquets and offices.[8] As part of the renovations, the building was renamed "Montgomery Park".

The "notoriously frugal"[9] Bill Naito liked the new name, because it meant that only two letters of the building's huge 14-letter neon rooftop sign needed to be altered.[10]

The sign was changed in May 1986,[11] at which time most of the renovations also were completed and the building opened for regular use for trade shows, among other uses.

"Naito hired SERA Architects and spent $36 million to renovate the building for office use, adding a nine-story glass atrium inside the U."

Tucker

"If you look at the street leading to the building form the west side, you will see railroad tracks. These tracks used to supply the Montgomery Wards warehouse back when 'monkey wards' was a rival of Sears & Roebuck in the mail order business."

Links

Oregon Encyclopedia: Montgomery Ward/Park Building

http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/montgomery_ward_park_bldg_//#.ViIDO3pVhBc

NATIONAL REGISTER DIGITAL ASSETS: Montgomery Ward & Company

http://focus.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/85001184

National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form (Direct link to PDF):

http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=b425d2eb-97ac-442d-acbf-f9377e49339b

Photos (Direct link to PDF):

http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=3a1de567-32d2-4851-9262-5347a2eca97e

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