Collage by Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive

By GRANT BUTLER

As Portland has grown over the decades, it has witnessed the arrival of new buildings and development projects that have changed the skyline as well as the way we live and work. Some of these buildings – like stately City Hall, majestic Pittock Mansion, or the revitalized Armory in the Pearl District – are almost universally loved.

Then there are buildings that sparked controversy. Some were way ahead of their time, while others got caught up in tricky development politics. And then there are building’s that incited the public’s wrath with their sheer hideousness.

While some of these controversial buildings eventually earned the public’s acceptance, a handful are widely reviled to this day.

Here are the Portland-area’s 15 most-controversial buildings, starting with a few projects that only slightly raised our blood pressure, to world-class boondoggles that people still fume over.

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No. 15: Portland Plaza condominiums

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Oregonian file photo

When this 25-story condominium tower opened in 1973, it was one of the downtown Portland’s first high-rise residences. But it wasn’t quick to catch on, and it was several years before the building was fully occupied. Several factors played into the Plaza’s sluggish start. Downtown Portland at the time was known more for low-income apartments than luxury condos. Also, the building’s timing could hardly have been worse, opening just as the 1970s’ economic “stagflation” hit its peak. That meant high-interest rates, keeping ownership out of reach for many people.

Since then, the building that sometimes is referred to as "The Norelco Building" because its distinctive triangular shape resembles an electric razor, has been joined by other high-rise condos and first-rate apartments.

While the concept of living downtown doesn’t seem odd today, the Portland Plaza remains an expensive address. Monthly HOA fees for 1,300-square-foot units run $849. Ouch!

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No. 14: Martha Washington Apartments

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Dale Swanson, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This four-story apartment building operated for years on Southwest 11th Avenue as a residence hotel for women, but in 1983 it became a lightning rod when it was purchased by followers for Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and was rechristened the Hotel Rajneesh. That year, three small bombs went off at the 127-room hotel, causing significant damage and injuring a man who was later convicted of the bombing.

While authorities never established a clear motive for the bombing, it became the catalyst for the Rajneeshees increased militarism, which later culminated in poisoning plots, attempted murders, and the eventual collapse of the cult’s Eastern Oregon commune.

After the Hotel Rajneesh closed, it was purchased by Multnomah County, which operated it as a halfway house for county offenders. In 2010, it reopened as low-income apartments. But for many longtime Portlanders, the Martha Washington will always be thought of as the Hotel Rajneesh.

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No. 13: The Henry

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Michael Lloyd, The Oregonian/OregonLive

When the Pearl District redevelopment started in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the neighborhood was known for residential lofts made out of converted warehouses. Then along came The Henry condominiums, a 15-story high-rise tower that went up in 2004 directly north of Powell’s Books on a block that had once been a bottling plant for the Blitz-Weinhard Brewery. It became the neighborhood’s first building to break the $300-a-square-foot threshold, and all the units were sold before construction ended.

The Henry is an undeniably beautiful building, and it has LEED Gold certification, making it one of the greenest buildings in the Pearl. But what it set the stage for is why it was controversial. Its success changed the course of the Pearl, opening the door to more high-rise condos like the Metropolitan and Cosmopolitan on the Park. The increasing trendiness of the Pearl meant art galleries were pushed out by rising rents, creating a generic-feeling neighborhood where once there was “Keep Portland Weird” character.

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No. 12: Cosmopolitan on the Park

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Courtesy of Hoyt Street Propertie

This 28-story condominium tower became the tallest building in the Pearl District when it was completed in 2016, and its staggering height angered neighbors, who complained that the building would cast a long shadow on The Fields Park directly to the north, and was just too tall compared to surrounding buildings.

The dispute over the Cosmopolitan's height resonated when plans to redevelop the nearby post office site were proposed earlier this year, and one architecture firm proposed a ridiculous pair of towers. No way, neighbors cried, pointing to the height of the Cosmopolitan as the last straw for tall buildings in the Pearl.

Controversy aside, there’s no denying that Cosmopolitan on the Park is opulent. The $108 million building features 150 units, and all but four of them were pre-sold before the building opened, a sign that condo fever may be making a comeback. The condos feature luxury detail, like marble, walnut and oak finishes throughout the building, along with premium appliances and fixtures.

That luxury comes with a cost: Units ranged from $400,000 to $3.8 million for the 28th-floor penthouse. That's quite a contrast from the once-gritty Pearl District that was just beginning to be redeveloped 20 years ago.

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No. 11: The Oregonian Building and its press plant

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When The Oregonian moved into its offices on Southwest Broadway in 1948, acclaimed architect Pietro Belluschi’s design was something to behold. The building featured an atrium-style entryway, a rooftop terrace, and large windows looking out on Sixth Avenue, giving passersby a glance at the newspaper’s elaborate 608-ton printing press. And it was a technological marvel, too: At the time, it was the largest air-conditioned building in the Pacific Northwest, featured radiant heat in the building’s floors, and came outfitted for both TV and radio stations.

But the building’s granite and limestone-clad exterior had a monolith-look that rubbed many the wrong way. And then there was the building’s staggering price tag. Construction costs were roughly double original projections, ringing in at $4 million, a staggering amount at the time. That forced the newspaper to borrow from banks and scale down the new building’s ambitions as it was being built. The debt forced the eventual sale of The Oregonian to its current owners.

Then there was unfortunate remodeling over the years, which included lowered ceilings, carpeting over tiled floors, and “updates” that robbed the building of much of its charm.

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Oregonian file photo

In 1975, The Oregonian (along with The Oregon Journal) opened a block-sized printing plant to house new offset presses. The massive building, located a block east from Civic Stadium (now known as Providence Park), was out of character with its Goose Hollow surroundings, which was still largely residential.

In 2014, The Oregonian/OregonLive moved from the Broadway building to smaller offices a few blocks away, and in 2017 sold the press plant, which will be torn down to make way for high-rise apartments. New owners of the Broadway building remodeled it from head-to-toe before reopening last year, restoring some of the original features, including the open lobby.

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No. 10: Cascade Station

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Lizzy Acker, The Oregonian/OregonLive

When the MAX Red Line extension to Portland International Airport opened in 2001, the 120-acre Cascade Station shopping and office development was supposed to come with it. The project was built on land owned by the Port of Portland, which offered developers a long-term land lease deal in exchange for $28 million to help pay for the light rail line and new streets and an interchange along Airport Way.

The long-term idea was to create a “lifestyle community,” where people would come to work and shop, but no one would actually live there. The original plan called for more than a million square feet of office space, 1,200 hotel rooms, 400,000 square feet of retail space, a cinema with as many as 24 screens, and the creation of 10,000 jobs.

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Marv Bondarowicz, The Oregonian/OregonLive

The MAX line opened on schedule, but Cascade Station stalled after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when the economy hit a rocky patch, and big-name retailers seemed to lose interest. It would take six years to get Cascade Station back on track, after the city allowed a zoning change that would permit big-box retailers at the site. That opened the way for Ikea’s massive store, and the main shopping center landed discount retailers like Nordstrom Rack and Home Goods.

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Rob Finch, The Oregonian/OregonLive

While Ikea’s arrival delighted shoppers, not many were thrilled with Cascade Station. Clark County retailers grumbled that this was just another no-sales-tax mall, a la Jantzen Beach, designed to lure sales-tax dodging shoppers from Washington. The development also was seen by many as a betrayal of a core planning value for regional leaders: building light-rail lines to new neighborhoods so that people aren't required to drive. Let’s face it: Only a handful of Ikea shoppers get there on MAX, and the store’s success has created a traffic nightmare in the area.

But Cascade Station did help underwrite the Red Line, which more than a million people take every year to get to the airport. At least it was good for something!

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No. 9: Meier & Frank/The Nines

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Oregonian file photo

For decades, the flagship 15-story Meier & Frank building was one of the crown jewels of downtown Portland. Going to its famous Santaland and its famed overhead monorail became a a childhood rite of passage. And for “Ladies who lunch,” Friday get-togethers at the Georgian Room restaurant were a treasured tradition. Then in 2005, Meier & Frank was acquired by the parent company of Macy’s, and the store became part of that brand the following year.

That year, Macy’s began a significant remodel that reduced the size of the store down to the building’s lower five floors, with the upper floors set to become the luxury Nines hotel.

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Oregonian file photo

The Nines has more than 300 rooms, many of them overlooking Pioneer Courthouse. The hotel opened in late 2008 at a cost of $140 million, and struggled almost immediately due to the economic recession. The hotel had to delay paying back tax-funded loans until corporate business improved. Not exactly good initial public relations.

Turning the old department store into a hotel was no easy feat. The former Meier & Frank floors had to be hollowed out to create the hotel’s atrium, and complying with LEED requirements helped drive up construction costs.

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Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

The revamped Macy’s had none of the old Meier & Frank charm. Sales floors were crammed with rack upon rack of merchandise, and inventories were kept small because there wasn’t adequate storage behind the scenes.

In 2016, Macy’s announced that it would close the downtown store the following year due to slumping sales. But Macy’s had only itself to blame for turning Meier & Frank into a place that was no fun to shop at. The Macy’s portion of the building is being redeveloped into a mix of commercial and office space.

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No. 8: The Round

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Wendy Owen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

When the westside MAX line opened in 1998, it proved a catalyst for residential development along the line, particularly from the Beaverton Central to Orenco Station stops, where there was a boom in construction of townhomes, condominiums and apartments.

Not all of those projects would go smoothly, however. The Round, a mix of high-end condos, restaurants and offices at the Beaverton Central station, was originally supposed to open not long after the new MAX line. But there were construction delays that slowed the transformation of the onetime sewer treatment site into the new face of Beaverton.

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Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

The Round was plagued with ownership changes, shoddy workmanship, bankruptcies, stiffed contractors, unpaid expenses and foreclosures. The first phase of the project wasn’t completed until 2003, and work would continue on additional phases of the project until 2014, when Beaverton’s City Hall moved to the Beaverton Building on the south side of The Round, where there also is a multi-story parking garage and an office building that includes a 24-Hour Fitness health club.

The Round’s story is far from over. Construction continues on a complex of apartments on the northwest edge of the development, and a new $46 million performing arts center, including an additional parking garage, is also planned for the north end of the site, with ground-breaking scheduled for 2019.

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No. 7: Lloyd Center

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Randy Wood, The Oregonian

When it opened in 1960, Lloyd Center instantly became Portland’s top shopping destination. The open-air mall featured 100 shops, including big names like Meier & Frank, Woolworth and J.J. Newberry. In addition, the center of the mall featured an ice-skating rink, and the Sheraton-Portland hotel directly to the south, which catered to regional shoppers who turned a visit to Lloyd Center into a Portland escape.

Lloyd Center boasted that it was the largest shopping center in the country at the time of its opening. But a few decades later, it had become yesterday’s news. Enclosed malls became the standard in the late 1970s and early ‘80s. Why would anyone brave the elements to shop at Lloyd Center when enclosed malls like Washington Square or Clackamas Town Center were a short drive away?

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Michael Lloyd, The Oregonian/OregonLive

In the late '80s, the idea was hatched to pop a roof on top of Lloyd Center, and add new amenities to the mall like a food court and a multi-screen movie theater. Work was done in phases over several years, and when the renovation was completed in 1991, it landed with a thud. The cathedral-style glass ceiling offered plenty of natural light, and the enclosure provided year-round climate control. Many welcomed the changes as being a long time coming, but old-time Portlanders groused about Lloyd Center becoming another generic mall filled with cookie-cutter shops.

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Doug Beghtel, The Oregonian/OregonLive

As often happens, shopping patterns change, and open-air malls like the Hillsboro’s Street of Tanasbourne and Tualatin’s Bridgeport Village are the rage these days. Maybe it’s time to think about taking that roof off of Lloyd Center and restoring the mall’s original charm.

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No. 6: KOIN Center

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Mike Zacchino, The Oregonian/OregonLive

KOIN Center Tower has become one of Portland’s most-iconic high-rise buildings. But when it first arrived in 1984, many people hated for the 35-story building’s stepped-back design and red-brick finish. And the tower blocked views of Mount Hood for drivers coming out of the Vista Ridge Tunnel on Highway 26, angering people even more.

The building was designed to accommodate the Portland’s CBS affiliate TV station, a multi-screen movie theater and 15 floors of office space. Rising above it all were 11 floors of high-end condominiums, the city’s most-prestigious address at the time.

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Kristyna Wentz-Graff, The Oregonian/OregonLive

The $48 million tower originally was meant to be the focal point of a 2-1/2 block development that was supposed to be known as Fountain Place, an homage to the Forecourt Fountain (now Keller Fountain) across the intersection at Southwest Third Avenue and Clay Street. But plans for an adjacent hotel and office building never materialized. Over time, Portland has warmed to the building’s unique look.

In recent years, newer building’s in the Pearl District have robbed the KOIN condos of some of their caché, but units continue to command big prices, with units recently selling between for as much as $1.15 million.

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No. 5: The John Ross tower

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Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

In the fast-paced real estate market of the mid-2000s, Portland went crazy over condominiums. And there was no better symbol of the hot trend than the 31-story John Ross tower and other boom-and-bust high-rise buildings of the South Waterfront development.

When construction began on the John Ross in 2005, 222 would-be buyers jumped at the chance to live there, plunking down $5,000 each to reserve a unit. Within six days, 80 percent of the building was spoken for. When the building opened two years later, the financial world had changed dramatically, and dozens of sales were canceled.

The economic downturn eventually forced the lender that controls the John Ross to unload 50 condos at auction, with some bidders getting units at 50 percent of their original price at the height of the boom. One of the building's 3,400-square-foot penthouse units was swept up for $850,000, 66 percent off its original $2.5 million asking price.

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Joel Davis, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Other South Waterfront buildings didn't fare well, either. With an extension of the streetcar line and the expansion of OHSU to the waterfront, the South Waterfront had been looked on as the city's next great neighborhood, and the biggest economic development in Portland's history. But when the economy collapsed, the boom started to look like a boondoggle.

Owners of units at other nearby condo buildings had to sell them at a loss. Other buildings were converted to apartments before they even opened. And the restaurants and shops that many had hoped for were slow to materialize.

The stalled projects and dashed dreams fueled public debate about tax breaks the city gave to developers, though South Waterfront supporters still contend that the neighborhood will prevent sprawl and will eventually become a destination similar to the Pearl District.

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No. 4: Yard apartments

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Courtesy of Skylab

This $63 million, 21-story apartment building on the east end of the Burnside Bridge is one of the most-controversial development projects in recent memory. For starters, the Portland architecture firm Skylab changed the building's design after it had been approved by the Portland Design Commission, and the changes weren't caught before building permits were issued. That resulted in fewer windows than had been originally OK'd creating a darker façade that's been derided by many as monolith-like.

Not everyone objects to Yard's stark appearance. Architecture critic Brian Libby sees the building as infinitely better than cookie-cutter buildings that have marred streets like Southeast Division and North Williams. He also appreciates details like its eco-roof, communal lounge area and Knot Springs day-spa.

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Courtesy of Skylab

"I don't necessarily love Yard, but I respect that it's aspirational and not just another cheap banal box," Libby says.

But for folks who aren’t fans, the Yard building looms over the Burnside Bridge like 21 stories of doom and gloom.

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No. 3: Veterans Memorial Coliseum

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Pete Corvallis, The Oregonian

The Glass Palace, as Veterans Memorial Coliseum is sometimes called, is about as beautiful as a sports arena can get. When it opened in 1960, people marveled at the sheer glass walls, as well as the 360-degree views of the city people had when curtained walls were pulled away from the bowl-shaped concrete seating area. And it’s been the site for so many historic events. Everyone from The Beatles to opera legend Luciano Pavarotti has performed here. The coliseum was home for the 1977 NBA champion Trail Blazers. And the arena has been the staging ground for decades of Grand Floral Parades during the Rose Festival.

But controversy has always been associated with the Coliseum. Its construction, along with the construction of Interstate 5 and an expansion of Emmanuel Hospital that never got off the ground, destroyed the Albina neighborhood, which had been the heart of Portland's African-American community. The neighborhood's street grid was disrupted, homes were bulldozed, and thousands of families were forced out. Decades later, community leaders still hope to restore aspects of the neighborhood.

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Bob Ellis, The Oregonian

The “memorial” aspect of the Coliseum has also stirred up passions. It’s made of two slabs of black granite inscribed with the names of Oregonians killed in wars, though you’ve got to seek out the memorial, since it’s located below the main entry to the Coliseum near the exhibition hall. And the memorial hasn’t been kept up over the years. Gold paint for the inscribed names has faded.

There’s also controversy about how poorly the Coliseum has been maintained since the Moda Center opened in the mid-1990s, moving most Rose Quarter events to the larger arena. During a series of Cirque du Soleil performances at the Coliseum a few years ago, it was shocking to see so much peeling paint and broken seating. This is Portland honors its veterans?

There’s no clear answer what to do with the Coliseum. Over the years, there have been proposals to tear it down to make room for a baseball stadium. Other ideas have included turning it into a multipurpose recreation center, an indoor track and field facility, an arts venue, and an entertainment zone with movie theaters and smaller live performance spaces. None have come to fruition.

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No. 2: Wells Fargo Center

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Mike Zacchino, The Oregonian/OregonLive

This 40-story giant became the tallest building in all of Oregon when it opened in 1972 as the First National Bank Tower. The skyscraper raised the blood pressure of many Portlanders while it was still under construction. The building's 546-feet height dwarfed other buildings in the south end of downtown, and blocked views of Mount Hood for many wealthy West Hills homeowners.

Critics didn't like the new building either. New York Times architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable wondered if First National Bank had a vice president in charge of spoiling, because the building committed violence to the city's skyline. Huxtable called the tower a "monument that tacitly advertises values of insensitivity, unsuitability and flashy vulgarity." Harsh!

The controversy led the city to put height limitations on new high-rise construction.

Bank acquisitions led to several name changes over the decades -- it was the First Interstate Tower in the 1980s, and became the Wells Fargo Center when that bank purchased First Interstate in 1996.

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Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Wells Fargo Center's image hasn't improved much over the years, much like the ethically challenged bank.

"The Wells Fargo building is mediocre at best from an architectural standpoint," said Rudy Barton, an architecture professor at Portland State University, in 1999. "It just doesn't present itself nicely to the rest of the city."

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No. 1: The Portland Building

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Matthew Moore, The Oregonian/OregonLive

The Portland Building has been hailed as “one of the most-hated buildings in America,” and the postmodern 15-story building has been a civic hot-button issue since it opened in 1982. The main bone of contention is architect Michael Graves’ design, which resembles a wedding cake for a Disney princess, with colorful ribbons and tiny checkerboard windows.

Even the 1985 addition of the beloved copper statue Portlandia didn’t soften criticism of the building – many contend the statue should have been put on the building’s east façade, facing Chapman Square. Prominent voices, including former mayor Vera Katz, called for the statue to be moved, with some proposing that it be moved to Waterfront Park, divorcing it entirely from the eyesore building.

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Dave Killen, The Oregonian/OregonLive

After the Portland Building opened, the controversy deepened, when structural flaws and water leaks were discovered, leading to the spread of mold. Workers in the building also complained about its poor ventilation and lack of natural light, and said the low ceilings and tight spaces made it feel depressing.

In 2014, there were calls for the building to be demolished and replaced, and Graves said such a move would wound him personally: "The whole idea of tearing the building down, it's like killing a child,” he said. “I don't know how to react to that."

Graves died in early 2015, before learning the building’s ultimate fate.

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Oregonian/OregonLive file photo

That same year, the Portland city commission decided to essentially rebuild the building to repair water damage and give it seismic upgrades. To do the work, more than 1,300 employees were moved out to temporary offices, and ground-floor businesses like a day care center and a bento shop were forced to move or shutter.

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Grant Butler, The Oregonian/OregonLive

Early this year, workers began stripping the building of its exterior adornments. Portlandia was shrouded in protective plywood to protect it from falling debris as tiles were scraped from the building’s façade. When the work is completed, the cost for the renovation and related expenses could run close to $200 million – roughly five times the building’s original construction budget.

When the renovation is complete (by the end of 2020, it’s hoped), the building will likely still be dark on the inside and silly on the outside, ensuring the Portland Building’s continued reign as the Rose City’s most-controversial building.

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Dishonorable mention: Wapato Jail

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Mark Graves, The Oregonian/OregonLive

A reader points out that this list ought to include Wapato Jail, which was built in 2004 to house 500 minimum-security inmates on 13 acres of land, to the tune of $58 million. The North Portland facility was never used due to budget limitations and bureaucratic in-fighting, and cost Multnomah County $300,000 a year to maintain. Earlier this year, it was sold to developer Jordan Schnitzer for $5 million, well below its $54 million market value.

The debacle caused the loss of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, and it remains unclear what the building will be used for in the future. It’s been mentioned as a possible homeless center, treatment facility, or distribution complex. Earlier this summer, Clark County entered into discussions to lease the facility to ease overcrowding at the Washington jail.

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More Portland history

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Oregonian file photo

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-- Grant Butler

gbutler@oregonian.com

503-221-8566; @grantbutler