Cleveland High School Deemed Eligible for National Register of Historic Places Nomination

Today, I received word from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office that Cleveland High School has been deemed eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, a first step towards full recognition of the architectural and cultural value of this historic school, which is scheduled to be demolished by Portland Public Schools (PPS) in July of this year.

This affirms to the public and PPS, that Cleveland is a worthy of preservation, having been identified by PPS’ own Historic Resources Inventory as being in the highest value category of intact significant historic architecture, and instructing PPS to preserve, restore and if desired, expand Cleveland High School with a historically-compatible addition. That information was never shared with members of the public who were tasked with deciding the fate of the school, and unfortunately, that same group made an uninformed decision to demolish Cleveland.

PPS continues to remain silent about this process, declining to comment publicly, or address any of the evidence submitted to them months ago that this process went off the rails early, and was fraught with bias and lacking in transparency.

With many historic schools in the district in need of preservation, renovation and modernization, it’s critical that PPS hear from you now! They need to know that the community demands accountability, honesty and transparency, and that our architectural and cultural resources are not disposable and should not be demolished and tossed in a landfill, only to be replaced by an anonymous set of shoeboxes, that looks more like an office building or a self-storage facility than a school we all can be proud of. Portland and its students deserve better.

Please continue to sign the petition here https://c.org/RQn42NJLQF urging PPS to revisit the decision to demolish Cleveland. And reach out to Superintendent Kimberlee Armstrong at karmstrong@pps.net and the Board of Education at schoolboard@pps.net

PPS is experiencing an existential crisis, cutting instructional days, laying off staff and seemingly ignoring public outcry about one questionable ethical decision after another. The optics of destroying a historic school, well-suited for preservation and renovation at the same time they are about to close 10-12 other schools-including schools that may feed Cleveland is pure public policy malpractice, and will further erode public confidence when PPS will need the support of the community more than ever to face the challenges ahead.

It’s never too late to admit your errors, mitigate them and avoid what may be, at 500 million dollars, the biggest public policy failure in the history of Portland.

Thank you all for your continued support!