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🎂 Happy belated birthday to our members Robert Moseley and Robert Wagner!

Today’s newsletter is 1,110 words — a 4-minute read.

Ten years ago, Portland asked itself a simple question: What if we could save millions of pounds of building materials by taking old homes apart instead of knocking them down?

Why it matters: A decade later, the city's pioneering deconstruction program has helped create a local industry around salvaging valuable materials, reducing waste and giving old buildings new life.

The big picture: In 2016, Portland became the first city in the country to require certain older homes to be carefully dismantled rather than face a wrecking ball.

• The requirement initially applied to houses and duplexes built in 1916 or earlier and expanded in 2018 to include those built before 1941.
• The goal was to keep reusable building materials out of the dump.

By the numbers: Construction and demolition debris is the country's largest waste stream, according to a Cornell study. About 90% is generated at the end of a structure's life.

• Since Portland's ordinance took effect, 765 buildings have been deconstructed, including 673 houses and duplexes and 92 other structures, according to the city.
• Those projects also recovered more than 4.8 million pounds of lumber for reuse.

A typical deconstructed Portland home yields about 4 tons of reusable materials, with another 20 tons sent to facilities for recycling, according to the city.

Zoom in: Portland's older homes are particularly valuable sources of Douglas fir, including old-growth wood prized for its strength and durability.

Between the lines: The program initially raised concerns about higher construction costs, but the city says deconstruction now typically accounts for less than 1% of a residential development project's budget.

• Portland has 14 certified deconstruction contractors and more than 10 salvage retailers serving the region.

Zoom out: Since its inception, similar deconstruction programs have been adopted in cities in Washington, Texas and California.

What's next: Portland is exploring whether the approach can work for larger commercial buildings.

• A two-year pilot has included four projects, among them the former Avenue Plaza Apartments in Northeast Portland, where workers salvaged more than 26,000 pounds of materials.
• The city is studying the costs, logistics and potential for expanding commercial deconstruction.

Tell someone with a rickety house

Celebrity chef Michael Mina's Bar Sprezzatura opened inside the historic Heathman Hotel last week, bringing a Venetian-inspired menu with bar snacks, handmade pastas and shareable plates to downtown Portland.

The big picture: The restaurant is the James Beard Award-winning chef's first Portland venture and gives the nearly 100-year-old, recently renovated hotel a new culinary identity.

I got to preview a portion of the menu last week before the grand opening. Upon entry, the expansive ground floor immediately reads high-end swanky.

• There are wood-burning fireplaces, rich mahogany walls, plush velvet furniture, brass-accented fixtures, colorful artwork and dim, warm lighting.
• It's divided into two distinct spaces: the bar lounge and the dining area, with an exposed kitchen allowing diners to see the chefs at work.

Best bites: Featured dishes included everything from ahi tuna sashimi with butternut squash caponata to brick quail served with roasted Kiyokawa apples, as well as fried olives, lamb sausage and Dungeness crab tea sandwiches.

• My favorites were a melt-in-your-mouth gnocchi — coated in gorgonzola cream and topped with charred radicchio and crunchy walnuts — and an olive oil-poached Alaskan halibut served with melted leeks and fregola.
• I also got to try four (4!) desserts: the limone sorbetto, tiramisu with cornflakes, panettone French toast with huckleberries and cannoli served tableside with lemon ricotta creme and toppings of your choice.

"Sprezzatura" may translate to nonchalance in Italian, but I left with a feeling of opulence.

If you go: Bar Sprezzatura (1001 SW Broadway) is open daily at 5pm.

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🪧 Thousands took to the streets at dozens of "No Kings" protests around Portland on Saturday as rally-goers urged residents to vote early. (The Oregonian)

👀 The CEO of the dispensary chain La Mota was indicted on federal tax fraud charges last week, per the U.S. Attorney's Office for Oregon.

• Former Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan resigned from her position in 2023 after Willamette Week reported she had taken a consulting job with the company while her office was overseeing an audit of the state's cannabis regulatory agency. (KGW)

🏛️ Mayor Wilson called on Prosper Portland's board of commissioners to look into three no-bid contracts that were awarded to college friends of the economic development agency's executive director. (Willamette Week)

😋 Salt & Straw revealed a new flavor of its popular Tacolate ice cream treat in case you've been hankering for a strawberry pretzel cheesecake-flavored frozen confection. (The Oregonian)

Do you ever look up and think "woah"? Well, I did the other day while walking downtown on Southwest 11th Avenue toward Alder.

• The words, "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you," etched into a century-old building's terra cotta facade, stopped me in my tracks.

🏛️ Flashback: Built in 1923, the six-story Elks Temple was once believed to be the largest Elks lodge in the country — a million-dollar clubhouse for Portland's booming fraternal and charitable organization.

• Designed by local architects Houghtaling & Dougan in an Italian Renaissance style, with classical columns, sculpted floral details and elaborate window crowns, it was modeled after Rome's Farnese Palace.
• Inside was a ballroom for 700 dancers, a 1,200-seat lodge room, billiards rooms and even a swimming pool, according to its 1977 nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.

📉 Yes, but: Membership plummeted from 3,800 to just 450 after the 1929 stock market crash, and the organization went bankrupt in 1932, losing its grand headquarters less than a decade after opening.

• It later served as a military induction center, health club and office building before becoming part of the Governor Hotel in 1992, now known as the Sentinel.
• In 2014, the original Elks Temple lettering above the entrance was restored after being covered for nearly 30 years.

🤩 Do you have a favorite historical building in Portland?

• Let me know and I may feature it in an upcoming newsletter.

🐕 Meira is dog sitting for two of her neighbors this week.

🗺️ Kale had fun playing tour guide this weekend.

This newsletter was edited by Geoff Ziezulewicz.