Gus J. Solomon United States Courthouse
The Gus J. Solomon United States Courthouse is a federal courthouse located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1933, it previously housed the United States District Court for the District of Oregon until the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse opened in 1997. The Renaissance Revival courthouse currently is used by commercial tenants and formerly housed a U.S. Postal Service branch. In 1979, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as U.S. Courthouse.
Location
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Construction[edit]
The federal courthouse was designed by Portland architect Morris H. Whitehouse between 1929 and 1931, and built by Murch Construction.[2] Construction on the seven-story structure began in 1932, with the laying of the cornerstone occurring in August.[2] The $1.5 million steel-framed with reinforced concrete structure was finished in just over one year.[2] Originally called the Federal Courthouse, it was completed in September 1933.[3] The Solomon Courthouse contains eight courtrooms in its 117,000 square feet (10,870 m2) of space.[4]
Architecturally, the Solomon Courthouse is Renaissance Revival on the exterior and Art Deco on the interior.[2] On the exterior are Doric pilasters that adorn the symmetrical façade, along with classical triglyphs and metopes that alternate in the sandstone frieze.[2] Cornices top the frieze with an egg-and-dart pattern, while a distinct Art Deco floral pattern surrounds the exterior.[2] With an open courtyard in the middle, only the first floor covers the entire block.[2] The building is topped with a flat roof that contains a parapet wall and with decorative gutters.[2]
Materials used on the courthouse include bronze as accents, a light colored gray sandstone on the exterior, marble on the interior along with plaster and oak.[2] Marbles include Pink Kasota Fleuri, Red Nebo Golden Travis, and Brown Nebo Golden Travis used in the entryway.[2] Other details include a bas-relief sculpture honoring Oregon casualties in World War I, a large marble eagle sculpture, and white-marble sculpture called Ventana al Pacifico (1989) created by Manuel Neri.[2]
Two courtrooms located on the sixth floor of the building demonstrate the architectural adornment of the courthouse's interior.[2] These spaces use marble for trim and on the faces of the courtroom clocks, contain leather covered doors, oak cornices, and coffered ceilings.[2] Additionally, these courtrooms contain almost full-length windows, oak shutters, Corinthian columns, and bronze lamps among other details.[2]
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Building history[edit]
The oldest sections of Portland are centered west of the Willamette, and the courthouse is located in this area.[2] Commonly referred to as the New Courthouse to distinguish it from nearby Pioneer County Courthouse (1869),[2] the courthouse has housed such government offices as the downtown post office, the U.S. District Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and offices for the U.S. Secret Service and branches of the military.
Whitehouse, a native Portland architect, developed the plans for the courthouse from directives formulated by federal agencies, with Jules Henri de Sibour of Washington, D.C., as the consulting architect and James A. Wetmore, the Supervising Architect of the Treasury.[2]
Ninety-two percent of all contract money available for labor and materials went to Portland and Seattle area firms, providing an economic boost to the region.[2] In August 1932, the cornerstone was laid. Included in a metal box within the stone were five Portland daily newspapers, historic documents relating to the building, and a photograph of Whitehouse and the partners of his architectural firm.[2] Construction proceeded smoothly, and a little more than a year later, in September 1933, the new federal courtrooms were officially opened.[2]
In 1989, the Courthouse was given its current name to honor Gus J. Solomon, a judge who served the U.S. District Court for 37 years — longer than any other judge in Oregon.[2]
This article incorporates from websites or documents of the General Services Administration.
public domain material
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