Heart of Hillsboro Neighborhood

Lowe's and the Old Hospital (Oregonian 7/13/2001)

Commission Asks Company to Save Branch Building

Hillsboro planning panel balks at Lowe's request

The commission asks the company to try to find a way to save the historic Branch Building "The argument that the previous owner did everything they could to preserve this building doesn't hold water. JIM FITZGERALD RESIDENT, REFERRING TO WASHINGTON ...

Friday, July 13, 2001



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By David R. Anderson of The Oregonian staff






HILLSBORO -- Members of the city's planning commission said they are dubious of claims that everything has been done to save the historic Washington County Hospital from demolition.

And until their minds are eased, they don't plan to issue a decision on an application filed by Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse to tear down the 78-year-old building for parking for a new store.

The commission sent Lowe's back to do more homework to see whether the building could be placed on the National Register of Historic Places and refurbished. At the same time Wednesday night, the commission asked city staff members to research whether it has the power to deny the retailer's demolition application.

The county on Feb. 6 sold Lowe's the building on Southeast Tualatin Valley Highway across from the Sunset Esplanade to avoid a possible listing on the national register. The former hospital, also known as the Branch Building, can't be placed on the list over the objection of a private owner.

Hillsboro placed the building on its cultural resources inventory in 1993. After the state Land Use Board of Appeals blocked Lowe's attempts to remove the building from the list, the company applied to demolish the building.

82 Parking Spaces

Preserving the hospital would mean losing 82 of the 567 parking spaces planned for the 137,000-square-foot building, said Jerry Baysinger, an architect for Lowe's.

Commissioner Brian Roberts grilled Lowe's representatives, asking whether they had considered buying the county's animal shelter or buying property in front of its Tualatin Valley Highway neighbor, Home Depot, for replacement parking.

"This building means something to people in this community, and before it comes down, I need to make sure we have done everything humanly possible," Roberts said.

Before Washington County sold the building to Lowe's, it spent six years trying to find a way to preserve the former hospital, said Michael Robinson, a Portland lawyer representing Lowe's.

"The county has done that and more," Robinson said. "If there was some way to save this building, given the obvious desire to do so, it would have been saved."

Only one person testified in opposition to the demolition. Jim Fitzgerald asserted that the county allowed the building to deteriorate.

"The argument that the previous owner did everything they could to preserve this building doesn't hold water," he said.

Lowe's has to prove that tearing down the building is an economic necessity. Fitzgerald argued that Lowe's shouldn't have bought the building if the retailer couldn't afford to restore it.

But Robinson said it was not Lowe's who would be hurt if the building could not be demolished, but county taxpayers. The county has estimated it would cost $2.5 million to make the building useable.

Retail competition

Fitzgerald also wondered what would happen if either of the neighboring retail behemoths puts the other out of business, and Hillsboro is left with an empty warehouse store.

At the hearing, Lowe's presented three options for creating a memorial to the county hospital and preserving a grove of towering trees. The designs include a walkway with granite or steel plaques. The site would resemble a memorial Lowe's created at a store in Riverside, Calif., which also memorialized a county hospital.

Lowe's representatives said the company would want to create a committee in Hillsboro with representatives of the city, community members and historic experts.

Lowe's will report back to the commission Aug. 8.

"I think it's a reasonable request to delay it," said Stephen Gale, director of real estate acquisition for Lowe's Western division.

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