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Parks board backs staff recommendation to demolish McKinney Building, add interpretive marker
Summary
The Parkland Recreation Board voted to recommend demolition of the McKinney Building on Pacific Avenue and installation of a historic interpretive marker, citing structural instability, escalating maintenance costs and environmental constraints that limit rehabilitation options.
The Parkland Recreation Board voted to approve staff's recommendation to demolish the McKinney Building on Pacific Avenue and install an interpretive marker honoring the site's resort history.
Senior Park Planner Jenny Wilson told the board the preservation consultant found the structure lacked the "structural integrity and historic authenticity" required for local, state or national register eligibility, and that environmental protections around Woodland Creek and Lake Lewis constrain potential rehabilitation. "Rehabilitation even through a private partnership would conflict with environmental preservation goals because it's in habitat reserve," Wilson said.
The staff report highlighted several constraints: the building is adjacent to Woodland Creek and within a 200-foot buffer, there is a 100-foot buffer around Lake Lewis, and several Oregon white oaks on the site are on the city's priority-habitat list. Those conditions, the report said, make parking, utility work and site modifications difficult or infeasible.
Board members asked whether the historic commission had been involved; Wilson said the historic commission would receive the same staff report at its next meeting and could choose an alternate recommendation. Commissioners also discussed public notification and whether a public-private partnership might preserve the building at low cost to the city. "There was interest in preserving the building," Wilson said, but the consultants' findings and environmental restrictions reduced likely private-sector feasibility.
A motion to approve the staff recommendation to demolish the building and erect an interpretive marker was made and seconded. The board approved the motion by voice vote; the chair announced, "Motion carries." The recommendation will be forwarded to city council and to the historic commission for their consideration.
The city will document the building and archive photos with the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation before taking demolition steps, per the staff report.
Ending: The board's recommendation does not itself demolish the building; the historic commission and city council will receive staff reports and may accept or reject the recommendation when the matter reaches their agendas.
