Meier & Frank Building
Encyclopedia
The Meier & Frank Building is a fifteen story, glazed terra cotta
building located in downtown
Portland, Oregon
, across from the northeast corner of Pioneer Courthouse Square
. The building is the former flagship store and headquarters building for the Meier & Frank
department store
chain and has now seen its lower floors be remodeled into an updated Macy's
department store
. Upper floors of the building have been renovated into a luxury hotel known as The Nines
.
The building site is a full block bounded by SW Fifth and Sixth Avenues and Morrison and Alder Streets. The present building was constructed in stages, starting in 1909 with major expansions occurring in 1915 and 1932. It replaces an earlier Meier and Frank store built in 1898.
. Although the original commission was an annex to the original building, Doyle took a trip to Chicago with the company's co-founder Sigmund Frank to survey department stores. Frank was very impressed with what he saw, and plans for the building changed into a full-block fully modern department store. Frank's death in 1910 ended those plans and resulted in the building's construction in piecemeal segments over several decades, which led to anomalous differences in which elevators and which stairways reached which floors. However, A.E. Doyle first used glazed terra-cotta in this building, resulting in later use of it in many other Portland structures by his and other firms.
The building hosted the corporate headquarters of the Meier & Frank chain. After the acquisition of Meier and Frank by May Department Stores
in 1966, the chain became a division which was based out of the former corporate offices.
The interior of the building has been modernized over the years with few interior historic elements remaining. However, several notable exceptions to this were the Georgian Room restaurant and seasonal Santaland, both on the 10th floor (highest retail floor in the building). The historic Georgian Room had remained virtually unchanged for at least the last 50 years. Santaland, which closed after the 2005 Christmas
season, was an annual holiday
favorite for generations of Portland families. Santaland operated a "kiddie"-sized overhead monorail
around the ceiling of Santaland; first installed in 1959, it last operated during the 2005 holiday season. There was also a holiday model railroad layout and Santa Clauses.http://www.mfsantaland.com/. Pneumatic tubes were used throughout the store to convey messages and money from upper to lower floors and back again. The remnants of this system could still be found in some stairwells and back areas.
The Meier & Frank Building featured the first escalator
installation in Portland, and housed the company's own radio station. KFEC signed on the air October 19, 1922. The studio was on the 5th floor and was also used as the library and reading room for employees. The transmitter towers were atop the building. KFEC operated until March 22, 1929 when it was sold and moved to Yakima, Washington which still operates today as KIT
. The building has two primary lower levels and a third service level beneath these. The first lower level was used for retail space until the mid 1980s. The levels beneath that were used for storage and various seasonal needs. The bank of hand-controlled elevators originally operated by store associates were closed off with the construction of new automatic elevators, but continued to function as stock elevators into the 1990s outside of public view.
At its peak, the store housed everything from a pharmacy to a pet store. Actor Clark Gable
worked in the store's tie department in 1922. Several delis and food vendors operated out of various levels. As demand for these services declined, the store changed focus. During the 1980s the store began to concentrate more on soft lines such as clothing, as well as small goods such as housewares. Several floors were modified to serve as corporate offices. Other floors were simply shut down and turned over to cold storage. The store was able to operate in this configuration until finally doomed by the development of the nearby Pioneer Place
mall and increased competition from its stores and anchors, Saks Fifth Avenue
and Nordstrom
.
The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1982.
In 2005, the May Company was acquired by Federated Department Stores
, corporate parent of Macy's and other chains. The Meier & Frank stores were renamed Macy's in September 2006. That same year, construction began on a project to turn the top nine floors of the building into a 330-room luxury hotel
called The Nines
, a Starwood
Luxury Collection Hotel. The former Meier & Frank store in the lower floors of the building was set to be turned into a Macy's and remained open until December 30, 2006, before being closed for the remodel. The new Macy's at Meier and Frank Square reopened on October 26, 2007. The hotel opened in late summer, 2008.
On August 18, 2010, Vestas Wind Systems
, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer, announced that it will lease the historic Meier & Frank Delivery Depot in the Pearl District. After renovations conclude in 2012, the 172000 square feet (15,979.3 m²) space will house the company's U.S. headquarters.
Glazed architectural terra-cotta
Glazed architectural terra-cotta is a ceramic masonry building material popular in the United States from the late 19th century until the 1930s, and still one of the most common building materials found in U.S. urban environments...
building located in downtown
Downtown Portland
Downtown Portland, the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located on the west bank of the Willamette River. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and is where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found....
Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, across from the northeast corner of Pioneer Courthouse Square
Pioneer Courthouse Square
Pioneer Courthouse Square, affectionately known as Portland's living room, is a public space occupying a full 40,000 ft² city block in the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States...
. The building is the former flagship store and headquarters building for the Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought out by the May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.-History:Summary...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
chain and has now seen its lower floors be remodeled into an updated Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
. Upper floors of the building have been renovated into a luxury hotel known as The Nines
The Nines (hotel)
The Nines is a luxury hotel in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by the Starwood Hotels. Opened in 2008, the hotel occupies the top nine floors of the Meier & Frank Building, giving the hotel its name. The 331 room hotel includes 13 suites. The 12th floor, or "Club Floor", which can only be...
.
The building site is a full block bounded by SW Fifth and Sixth Avenues and Morrison and Alder Streets. The present building was constructed in stages, starting in 1909 with major expansions occurring in 1915 and 1932. It replaces an earlier Meier and Frank store built in 1898.
History
The project was the first major commission for prolific Portland architect, A. E. DoyleA. E. Doyle
Albert Ernest Doyle was a prolific architect in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. He is most often credited for his works as A.E. Doyle....
. Although the original commission was an annex to the original building, Doyle took a trip to Chicago with the company's co-founder Sigmund Frank to survey department stores. Frank was very impressed with what he saw, and plans for the building changed into a full-block fully modern department store. Frank's death in 1910 ended those plans and resulted in the building's construction in piecemeal segments over several decades, which led to anomalous differences in which elevators and which stairways reached which floors. However, A.E. Doyle first used glazed terra-cotta in this building, resulting in later use of it in many other Portland structures by his and other firms.
The building hosted the corporate headquarters of the Meier & Frank chain. After the acquisition of Meier and Frank by May Department Stores
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...
in 1966, the chain became a division which was based out of the former corporate offices.
The interior of the building has been modernized over the years with few interior historic elements remaining. However, several notable exceptions to this were the Georgian Room restaurant and seasonal Santaland, both on the 10th floor (highest retail floor in the building). The historic Georgian Room had remained virtually unchanged for at least the last 50 years. Santaland, which closed after the 2005 Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
season, was an annual holiday
Holiday
A Holiday is a day designated as having special significance for which individuals, a government, or a religious group have deemed that observance is warranted. It is generally an official or unofficial observance of religious, national, or cultural significance, often accompanied by celebrations...
favorite for generations of Portland families. Santaland operated a "kiddie"-sized overhead monorail
Monorail
A monorail is a rail-based transportation system based on a single rail, which acts as its sole support and its guideway. The term is also used variously to describe the beam of the system, or the vehicles traveling on such a beam or track...
around the ceiling of Santaland; first installed in 1959, it last operated during the 2005 holiday season. There was also a holiday model railroad layout and Santa Clauses.http://www.mfsantaland.com/. Pneumatic tubes were used throughout the store to convey messages and money from upper to lower floors and back again. The remnants of this system could still be found in some stairwells and back areas.
The Meier & Frank Building featured the first escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
installation in Portland, and housed the company's own radio station. KFEC signed on the air October 19, 1922. The studio was on the 5th floor and was also used as the library and reading room for employees. The transmitter towers were atop the building. KFEC operated until March 22, 1929 when it was sold and moved to Yakima, Washington which still operates today as KIT
KIT (AM)
KIT is a radio station broadcasting a News Talk Information format to the Yakima, Washington, USA area. The station is licensed to GAP Broadcasting Yakima License, LLC and owned by Townsquare Media...
. The building has two primary lower levels and a third service level beneath these. The first lower level was used for retail space until the mid 1980s. The levels beneath that were used for storage and various seasonal needs. The bank of hand-controlled elevators originally operated by store associates were closed off with the construction of new automatic elevators, but continued to function as stock elevators into the 1990s outside of public view.
At its peak, the store housed everything from a pharmacy to a pet store. Actor Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
worked in the store's tie department in 1922. Several delis and food vendors operated out of various levels. As demand for these services declined, the store changed focus. During the 1980s the store began to concentrate more on soft lines such as clothing, as well as small goods such as housewares. Several floors were modified to serve as corporate offices. Other floors were simply shut down and turned over to cold storage. The store was able to operate in this configuration until finally doomed by the development of the nearby Pioneer Place
Pioneer Place
Pioneer Place is an upscale, urban shopping mall in downtown Portland, Oregon. It consists of four blocks of retail, dining, parking, and an office tower named Pioneer Tower. The mall itself is spread out between four buildings, interconnected by skywalks or underground mall sections...
mall and increased competition from its stores and anchors, Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue is a luxury American specialty store owned and operated by Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprises , a subsidiary of Saks Incorporated. It competes in the high-end specialty store market in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, i.e. 'the 3 B's' Bergdorf, Barneys, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor...
and Nordstrom
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. is an upscale department store chain in the United States, founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. Initially a shoe retailer, the company today also sells clothing, accessories, handbags, jewelry, cosmetics, fragrances, and in some locations, home furnishings...
.
The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1982.
In 2005, the May Company was acquired by Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....
, corporate parent of Macy's and other chains. The Meier & Frank stores were renamed Macy's in September 2006. That same year, construction began on a project to turn the top nine floors of the building into a 330-room luxury hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
called The Nines
The Nines (hotel)
The Nines is a luxury hotel in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by the Starwood Hotels. Opened in 2008, the hotel occupies the top nine floors of the Meier & Frank Building, giving the hotel its name. The 331 room hotel includes 13 suites. The 12th floor, or "Club Floor", which can only be...
, a Starwood
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is a hospitality ownership and management organization, headquartered in White Plains, New York. One of the world's largest hotel companies, it owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties...
Luxury Collection Hotel. The former Meier & Frank store in the lower floors of the building was set to be turned into a Macy's and remained open until December 30, 2006, before being closed for the remodel. The new Macy's at Meier and Frank Square reopened on October 26, 2007. The hotel opened in late summer, 2008.
Other historic buildings
Meier and Frank also owned and operated two other historic buildings in the downtown area, namely, the Delivery Depot and Warehouse. Both structures are being transformed into other uses.On August 18, 2010, Vestas Wind Systems
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...
, a Danish wind turbine manufacturer, announced that it will lease the historic Meier & Frank Delivery Depot in the Pearl District. After renovations conclude in 2012, the 172000 square feet (15,979.3 m²) space will house the company's U.S. headquarters.
External links
- Meier & Frank Building (Emporis)