Mt. Tabor Neighborhood Association

Mt. Tabor Park Historical Register nomination

Mar 03, 2004

By Paul Leistner

Mt. Tabor Park is headed to a place on the National Register of Historic Places. Our park?’s journey to historical recognition is thanks to generous donations from Mt. Tabor neighbors, advice from local historians, and the tremendous skill and effort of Cascade Anderson Geller, who prepared the complex and detailed required documentation.

The nomination will go before Oregon?’s State Historic Advisory Commission on February 20. After any revisions requested by the state, we expect the nomination to be forwarded to the National Parks Service, which administers the National Register. The Mt. Tabor reservoirs were listed on the National Register on January 15. Both nominations arose out of community concern about the city of Portland?’s inadequate consideration of the historical value of these resources in the proposed burial of the reservoirs.

The National Register of Historic Places is our country?’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Properties on the register receive special consideration during the planning of projects funded or undertaken by the federal government and qualify for historic preservation assistance, when funds are available. Portland, unlike other cities, does not have a city landmark designation that acknowledges significant resources. A historically significant property can be altered or demolished, but the city supposedly must follow its most stringent Type III land use review.

The Mt. Tabor neighborhood association and the Friends of the Reservoirs, along with other citywide groups, acknowledged that these properties warrant our highest regard and so shouldered the responsibility of completing the nom-inations. These nominations, and ultimately their listing on the National Register, recognize the major commitment that our forebears made to create the beautiful and functional water system and the parks in which they reside.

For more information on the Mt. Tabor Park nomination, call Cascade Anderson Geller at 503/232-0474, or cag@easystreet.com.