Astoria City Hall

Astoria City Hall is the current city hall for the town of Astoria, Oregon, United States. Built in 1923 to house a bank, the building became the city hall in 1939, and it has remained Astoria's seat of government for more than 75 years.

This article is about the current city hall. For the former city hall, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, see Astoria City Hall (old).
Astoria City Hall
Astoria City Hall in 2012
Former namesAstoria Savings Bank
General information
TypeCity hall
Architectural styleNeoclassical[1]
Location1095 Duane Street
Astoria, Oregon (in Clatsop County), United States
Completed1923[1]
OwnerCity of Astoria
Technical details
Floor area17,000 square feet (1,600 m2)[1][2]
Design and construction
ArchitectJohn Virginius Bennes;[3] John Hedstrom (builder)
Astoria Savings Bank
Coordinates46°11′17.3″N 123°49′55″W
Part ofAstoria Downtown Historic District (ID98000631)
Designated CPJune 22, 1998

History

The three-story building was constructed in 1923, as the Astoria Savings Bank,[1][4] to replace that bank's previous building on the same site, destroyed by fire.[5] The bank went out of business in 1929, as a result of the stock-market crash of that year.[1] Clatsop County acquired the building in 1936,[6] and in 1938 the city of Astoria used a Public Works Administration grant to fund the conversion of the building into a new city hall,[4][7] to replace the Old Astoria City Hall, built in 1904–05. The city offices, as well as those of the Astoria School District, moved into the new city hall at the end of March 1939.[8][9] The move put Astoria's city hall in downtown, an improvement in public access over the "isolated" previous location at the edge of downtown.[10]

A major modification made in the 1970s[11] was the addition of a second floor, through extension of a mezzanine level.[1] That addition was a new "middle floor",[11] between the original two floors. The city council chambers are located on that second floor, and what then became the third floor is occupied by most of the city staff's offices.[11]

In 1998, the building was designated a contributing property in the Astoria Downtown Historic District,[12] which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22 of that year.

2011 remodeling
The building's north end, above what is now the public entrance, in late 2011, during the temporary closure for remodeling

A $1.2 million[2] remodeling of the building began in late summer 2011 and was completed in April 2012.[11] During the work, the city offices were temporarily moved to space at the Astoria Yacht Club.[2][13]

Along with restoration of the building's entrance and open lobby, the work included the addition of fire sprinklers and other safety and lighting improvements.[1][2] Installation of a new, ADA-compliant elevator was also included in the project,[1] replacing a small, non-compliant elevator. The council chambers were changed from an L-shape, which had made it difficult for people in part of the room to see and hear the activities, to a square shape, expanding the room's capacity from around 60 people to around 80.[11] The chambers were also reoriented to face the Columbia River (north).[1] Windows along that portion of the building's east side, formerly used for a staff lounge, were made part of the council room.[11]

The old bank vaults are still in place, their locks disabled, and the 2011 remodeling included refitting one of them as an office and copy room.[1] Certain period features were restored. These included the return, from the Flavel House Museum, of a vintage chandelier in the lobby. It had adorned that space during the building's years as a bank[11] and remained until 1949, but had hung in the music room of the Flavel museum since then.[9]

See also

References
  1. Weinstein, Nathalie (January 21, 2011). "Astoria City Hall renovation will blend old, new". Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  2. Neal, LeeAnn (July 13, 2011). "City of Astoria staff to move to Yacht Club in early August". Coast River Business Journal. Astoria, Oregon. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  3. "Guide to the Cachot Terkelsen collection 1906–1952". Northwest Digital Archives/University of Oregon. 2006. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
  4. "Astoria Bid Low on Two City Jobs: Remodeling of Buildings to Cost $39,309" (December 18, 1938). The Sunday Oregonian, p. 18.
  5. Smith, Jeffrey H. (2011). Astoria. Charleston, SC (US): Arcadia Publishing. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7385-7527-8.
  6. "Plans Shaping Up Rapidly for Big Salt Lake City–Astoria Air Derby: Public to Share in Prize Awards" (July 19, 1936). The Sunday Oregonian, p. 8.
  7. "PWA Projects Finished at Astoria" (June 8, 1939). The Oregonian (Portland, Oregon), p. 21.
  8. "School Offices To Be Moved" (March 27, 1939). The Oregonian, p. 4.
  9. "Changes at the Flavel House Museum" (PDF). History Matters. Clatsop County Historical Society. Spring 2012. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 22, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2012.
  10. Tetlow, Rogert T. (March 1, 1984). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form: Astoria City Hall [old]" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved February 25, 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. Gorrow, Chelsea (April 13, 2012). "Astoria throws a party to show off new City Hall". The Daily Astorian. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  12. Goodenberger, John E. (August 19, 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Astoria Downtown Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service. Section 7, pp. 189–191 (pp. 276–278 of PDF). Retrieved February 25, 2016. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. Gorrow, Chelsea (August 9, 2011). "Astoria on the move: City moves offices to temporary location at the Astoria Yacht Club". The Daily Astorian. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2012.

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