Tag: Portland

Benson Polytechnic High School, 2024

Planning for a modernized Benson Polytechnic High School began near its one-hundredth anniversary. Eight years later, following three years of construction, the new campus opened in August 2024. With a blend of historic landmark buildings and new state-of-the-art career-technical education (CTE) facilities, the school is ready to welcome another century of students.

This post takes a virtual tour through the new school, primarily in images taken during the grand opening celebration on September 14. We’ll also look back at a few views from the construction process. For a comprehensive sense of the “before”, see my post on the campus history and existing conditions.

Exteriors

The Benson Tech campus has long held a prominent presence along the surrounding streets. The new design maintains 100% of the remaining original street-facing facades. In fact, only the 1991 media center, along NE Irving St., has been entirely replaced. The mirror south-facing structure, the 1964 gymnasium, remains with a new energy-efficient…

Benson Polytechnic High School, 1916 – 2021

I first experienced Benson Polytechnic High School in 2007. I began working on its modernization project a decade later, then the 2017 Portland Public Schools (PPS) bond (partially) funded the reconstruction. As the new design nears completion, and with construction including substantial demolition slated to begin later this year, I have explored the history of the school through its buildings.

1916 Master Plan

Benson fills a six-block campus in inner northeast Portland. Extensive career-technical-education programs present a unique collection of building uses, from manufacturing shops to healthcare-education clinics. The original main building, boiler house, north shops, and foundry building date to 1916. The corresponding master plan envisioned a series of neoclassical brick building “units” separated by courtyards. Single-loaded corridors connected the units and defined a large eastern athletic courtyard.

From PPS Archives: a 1917 construction photograph taken at the southeast corner of the campus shows the original buildings at various stages of completion. From left to…