Downtown Portland lies in the Southwest section between the I-405 freeway loop and the Willamette River, centered on Pioneer Courthouse Square ("Portland's living room"). Downtown and many other parts of inner Portland have compact square blocks (200 ft on a side) and narrow streets (64 ft wide), a pedestrian-friendly combination.
Many of Portland's recreational, cultural, educational, governmental, business, and retail resources are concentrated downtown.
Simon Benson had wished to build a world-class hotel in Portland. During the population boom which occurred between the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition and the Great Depression, Benson fulfilled his wish. The firm of Doyle, Patterson & Beach designed the main hotel building in French Second Empire style; Chicago's Blackstone Hotel served as an inspiration of the building's design. The hotel opened on March 5, 1913 as an annex to the adjacent Oregon Hotel, on the southern half of the block. It was known as the New Oregon Hotel for 16 months, then renamed The Benson Hotel after Benson took over management.
Benson sold the hotel to William Boyd and Robert Keller in 1919. They, in turn, sold it to Seattle-based Western Hotels in 1944. In 1959, the old Oregon Hotel building next door was demolished by Western to make way for a 175-room annex to the 1912 building. Western International Hotels was renamed Westin Hotels in 1981, and the hotel became The Westin Benson. The Westin Benson was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Westin Hotels sold the hotel to WestCoast Hotels in 1988 and it returned to its original name.
The Library Association of Portland was formed in 1864. After going through several locations during the first half-century of existence, the library board decided on a new large main branch for downtown Portland in 1911. The building was designed by architect A. E. Doyle, and opened on September 6, 1913. It was one of the first libraries in the United States to feature an open interior floorplan. Construction on the building lasted for two years and cost $480,000 to complete. Librarian Mary Frances Isom provided important input on the library’s design.
The Central Library was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Central Building, Public Library on June 11, 1979. On July 1, 1990, the private Library Association of Portland officially transferred ownership of the library to Multnomah County. From 1902 until that date, the association owned the collections and buildings, but the operations were paid for by the local governments. From 1994 to 1997, the building was extensively renovated. During the remodel the Fifth Avenue Building, the former State Office Building, housed the library collection.
The Portland Art Museum was founded in 1892, making it the oldest art museum on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the US. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum became one of the 25 largest art museums in the US, at a total of 240,000 square feet, with more than 112,000 square feet of gallery space. The permanent collection has more than 42,000 works of art, and at least one major traveling exhibition is usually on show. The Portland Art Museum features centers for: Native American art, Northwest art, modern and contemporary art, and permanent exhibitions of Asian art, and an outdoor public sculpture garden. The Northwest Film Center is also a component of Portland Art Museum.
The mission of the Portland Art Museum is to serve the public by providing access to art of enduring quality, by educating a diverse audience about art and by collecting and preserving a wide range of art for the enrichment of present and future generations. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Wells Fargo Center is a 40-story, 166.4 m (546 ft) tower and a five-story adjacent office building with three levels of parking below the surface in Portland, Oregon. The tower became the tallest building in the state of Oregon when it was completed in 1972. The Wells Fargo Center dwarfed all other existing high-rise developments in downtown Portland. Public outcry over the tower's scale and the potential of new development to block views of Mount Hood led to height restrictions on all new developments.
The building, originally named the First National Bank Tower, was designed by Charles Luckman and Associates. After it opened, the bank occupied the first 21 floors of the tower. The name was changed to the First Interstate Tower in 1980–81, after Western Bancorporation, the parent of First National Bank of Oregon, changed its name to First Interstate Bancorp. The current name was adopted after Wells Fargo purchased First Interstate in 1996.
