Legal Battle over Besaw’s Building Gets Bigger

In a legal battle that has spanned for months , the fight over NW Portland’s iconic Besaw’s building keeps getting fiercer. The latest punch to be thrown was by building owner C.E. John , a Vancouver-based development company whose lawyers filed for a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court on Tuesday against former restaurant operator Cana Flug’s company Tuatara Enterprises.

According to the court order, Flug removed all of the Besaw’s signage before her lease ended Sunday, despite repeated orders by C.E. John not to do so.

Flug says she was instructed otherwise.

“I was advised - and my lease required me - to remove all signage,” Flug said Tuesday afternoon. “There was zero vandalism. I’m disappointed that this is the angle the C.E. John is taking because I think it’s incredibly misguided.”

Differences Of Opinion On Ownership

The court order was filed promptly after a C.E. John employee discovered the alterations done to the building’s exterior and interior this weekend. Cited in the lawsuit are the building’s barstools, floor tiling that read “est. 1903,” its striped awning, and the electric neon Besaw’s sign that had been hanging above it – all of which Flug removed after closing restaurant doors on Friday.

“With them destroying an icon like this… I equate it to ISIS and Syria, if you really want to know,” said building landlord Jim John of C.E. John on Tuesday.

In a letter to Flug sent in May that was included in the court order, C.E. John’s attorneys stated that “the awnings and Besaw’s sign affixed to the Besaw’s building all belong to CE John upon expiration of the lease. They must not be removed by your client.” These demands were reportedly reiterated to Flug several times over the following month, and in a follow-up letter re-stating demands that all signage to be left behind.

“Not once during that time did [Flug] ever indicate that [she] planned to remove any of the fixture,” the court order states. Instead, C.E. John’s attorney’s say Flug “sandbagged” them by choosing to remain silent and “conceal [her] true intentions to strip the Besaw’s building of anything bearing the name ‘Besaws.’”

C.E. John’s attorneys are demanding that Flug immediately return and reinstall all of the signage, tile, and fixtures that she removed from the building, as it legally belongs to them. But Flug, who took over the building’s lease and restaurant operation in 2005, says nearly all of those things were not part of the original building, and were actually bought and added to the building by her.

“The reality is that I left his space in pristine condition. Everything else was either mine or not original” Flug said. “I think C.E. John heard somewhere that the “1903” tiling was original, but that’s something I put in myself when we moved there. The barstools weren’t original, I put those in seven or eight years ago. There were ones years ago that were crappy and falling apart. The bar-top itself is something I did myself. I bought the awnings and paid an exorbitant sum for it eight years ago.”

The only item cited in the court order that Flug says were not purchased by her was the neon sign that hung above the outdoor awning. According to C.E. John’s lawyers, the sign was originally installed over 70 years ago and is therefore “extremely fragile.” Flug, however, says she had it refurbished during her tenure at the restaurant.

“At the end of the day, there’s a difference of opinion on who owns what,” Flug said. “I wish them nothing but good luck. They’ve got a great location in a freaking fantastic neighborhood, and with the lawsuits, it’s going to fall one way or another. Everything is going to work itself out.”

A Plan For Besaw's Future

In a statement released Tuesday, C.E. John said they are "seeking to save the iconic 1892 building" and are planning to build a new kitchen, ADA bathrooms, and apartments behind the building. The company also said it had originally offered Flug an extension of her existing lease and to remain as operator of the restaurant, but the two could not agree on terms.

The temporary restraining order and injunction is only the latest move in an ongoing legal battle between Besaw’s building’s owner and former tenant. Flug and C.E. John both filed competing applications for ownership of the Besaw’s name with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office earlier this year. Additionally, Flug’s Tuatara Enterprises also filed a lawsuit claiming “common law ownership” over the Besaw’s brand in U.S. District Court in Portland in May.

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