Park Haviland Hotel - Heathman
723 SW Salmon Street, Portland, Oregon
Years:
·The Heathman 1926-1959 [the second one then called the New Heathman Hotel was built in 1927]
·Park Heathman 1959-1962 [original Heathman Hotel was renamed the Park Heathman]
· Park Haviland 1962 – 1980? [Park Heathman renamed Park Haviland as the hotel was sold to John Haviland and he used his last name on the hotel]
· Park Tower Apartments presently
Above is an ad from the May 15, 1926, The Oregonian
Per website, https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/23490/ Building History “Hotel owner George Heathman spent about $1 million to erect this 300-room, 11-story hotel, originally catering to a wealthy clientele. Due to the success of this venture, Heathman erected the New Heathman Hotel one block away in 1927. It stood one story lower. In 1957, hotel manager Harry Heathman operated two hotels in Downtown Portland, OR, the Park Heathman at 731 SW Salmon Street, and the New Heathman at 712 SW Salmon Street. (See Portland, Oregon, City Directory, 1957, p. 66.) In 2020, Harsch Investment Properties operated the Park Tower Apartments for low-income seniors and disabled residents of Portland.”
Fun historical note: The KOIN Radio studios were housed in the Heathman from 1926 to 1952.
Above Left is an ad from https://lostoregon.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/heatman.jpg website. Above Right is from Public Works Administration (Archival) - Public Works Administrator - Photographs - A2005-005.784.1 Hilton Hotel series Corner of SW 6th Ave and SW Taylor St looking southwest toward New Heath (1). Photo below Left is The Oregonian file photo – renamed in 1962.
PER GLAPN WEBSITE: Park Haviland Hotel, Park and Salmon. (now public housing). This is an example of a “non-site,” in other words a building that could have had some significant history had the event planned for it actually taken place. The Dorian Society of Seattle was the Pacific Northwest’s earliest homosexual social action group, founded in 1966. In February 1968, the Dorian Society began an effort to start a similar homophile organization in Portland. They mailed literature and letters to the Greater Portland Council of Churches (now Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon) urging them to sponsor a movement in the city on behalf of the homosexual. The letters evidently were ignored. It is not known if the Dorians had contacts in the city to help with their plans, although flyers were mimeographed (copies have been found in the University of Washington Archives) and perhaps posted in the bars. The meeting was scheduled to take place on February 24, 1968 in a meeting room of the Park Haviland, but later records indicate the Society attempted to contact the hotel manager to refund the Society’s deposit on the room.
HISTORY – nothing is mentioned at this point of its restaurants etc. Per Wikiepdia: Now known as The Park Heathman Hotel, originally known as the Heathman Hotel After the death of son Harry Heathman in 1960, Heathman family interest in the hotel was sold to John Haviland. The name was changed from Park Heathman to Park Haviland in 1962. Haviland, after purchasing the Paramount Theater, constructed a sky bridge connecting the Park Haviland Hotel, the Paramount, and the New Heathman Hotel. For a time in the 1970s, he operated both hotels as the Paramount Heathman Hotel, but the older building was marketed more as a home for transients, elderly, and disabled persons, and it retained the name Park Haviland. Building inspectors closed the hotel in 1980 for building and fire code violations. The Schnitzer family purchased the hotel in 1980, and Jordan Schnitzer began a major renovation in 1982 to address code violations and to prepare the building for Section 8 subsidized housing. The name was changed to Park Tower Apartments, and the building reopened in December 1982.
Per the National Register of Historic Places nomination: The first was in the late 1960s. New ownership attempted to infuse the property with new energy in a fading marketplace. The canopy on Salmon Street was removed, while a second-story pedestrian bridge was constructed at the east connecting to the Paramount Theater and New Heathman Hotel. Other work included modifying the south and west portions of the eleventh floor for a dining room, bar and swimming pool. This change was expressed on the exterior by widening the windows on this floor.
In 1961, John Haviland, who was known in real estate circles largely for owning apartment houses, acquired the lease for the Park Heathman from the Hauser family, along with an option to buy. The hotel became the Park Haviland. One of Haviland’s first initiatives was to open the Aloha Room in the storefront at the southwest corner of Salmon and Park. He also had plans to create an indoor passage from the hotel lobby to Chef Joe’s Restaurant located at 961 SW Broadway adjacent at the east. Next he did “Top O’ Park” on the eleventh floor. The $100,000 project consisted of a swimming pool, a 50-seat restaurant called the “Carriage House,” and a bar called the “Sky Lounge.” The décor was by restaurant designer R. K. Grubb and the restaurant specialized in prime rib and lobster thermador. Haviland also remodeled rooms on the ninth and tenth floors with plans to update all the rooms and the lobby. As part of the design, he also planned to create some deluxe suites.
Side Note: Per https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/portland_paramount_theatre_arlene_schnitzer_concert_hall/
“John Haviland, owner of the Park-Haviland Hotel, adjacent to the Heathman Hotel just north of the Paramount, purchased the building in 1971 and leased it to Tom Moyer, owner of Luxury Theaters. To promote the movie Planet of the Apes, his son Tim Moyer dressed in a gorilla outfit and crawled onto the brightly lit marquee. Waving and howling at passersby, he slipped, became stuck, and had to be rescued by members of the Portland Fire Bureau.
Movie attendance began declining in the 1960s, and Haviland closed the Paramount to films on August 15, 1972. He auctioned off the organ, the statuary, and most of the antique furnishings.”
Below Left ad 1962: Park Haviland Hotel formerly Park Heathman Hotel.
Oregon Journal February 9, 1965, page 2 states “One Man’s Night On The Town” – “I steer clear of blue comics, female impersonators and poetry readings. I suppose I could drop in at the Park Haviland’s Aloha Room and catch those “Happy Hawaiians.”
The Dorian Society of Seattle was the Pacific Northwest’s earliest homosexual social action group, founded in 1966. In February 1968, the Dorian Society began an effort to start a similar homophile organization in Portland. They mailed literature and letters to the Greater Portland Council of Churches (now Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon) urging them to sponsor a movement in the city on behalf of the homosexual. The letters evidently were ignored. It is not known if the Dorians had contacts in the city to help with their plans, although flyers were mimeographed (copies have been found in the University of Washington Archives) and perhaps posted in the bars. The meeting was scheduled to take place on February 24, 1968, in a meeting room of the Park Haviland, but later records indicate the Society attempted to contact the hotel manager to refund the Society’s deposit on the room.
In 1967, The Park Haviland advertised in the Sunday Oregonian rooms for $75.00/month per ad below Left. An ad Right touts “Top of the Park” Oregonian September 12, 1969.
citations & references:
Listed in GAY PLACES 1971 International Guild Guide – telephone number: no phone number with the connotations of H, AYOR – Hustlers, At Your Own Risk
Listed in Guild Guide 1973 USA & International. It also states “The Casbah Cocktail Lounge.”
April 1973 – Fountain under APRIL ACTIVITIES IN THE GAY NORTHWEST “DEBUTANTE BALL sponsored by the Imperial Court of the Fifteenth Rose for Debutante of the Year, Park Haviland Hotel, SW Park and Salmon, Georgian Room 7:00 pm admission $5.00. Candidates for Princess Royale will be introduced.” Below photos are from that event. Empress Darcelle XV the one with the big hat possibly wearing Black Suede or Velvet dress one photo is in Empress Darcelle 73 Green Book. Per with balloons is K-Lynne, man is slacks is Blaine.
Ad below Left is from page 16 “Official Passport The Portland Forum November 4, 1973. Newsletter below Right is from Darcelle XV’s stepdown as Empress who made the Park Haviland the “OFFICAL HOSPITALITY CENTER.
Article below Left is from May 1974 issue of Northwest Gay Review in the Society News column. And below Right HOWEVER, July 1976 ad in Northwest Gay Review says
Per an notice [ABOVE MIDDLE] in the Portland Reporter newspaper, Saturday, February 22, 1964 the Actors Ring produced “The Seven Year Itch” at the Park Haviland Hotel.
November 1974 issue of The Northwest Gay Review, page S 11 under Northwest Calendar PORTLAND – November 9th, Cocktail Party – Park Haviland Hotel – 5 to 8 pm, sponsored b the beautiful people of “Purple Pickle” and “New Bell Saloon”, San Francisco by Rose 1, 11, 111
The OLCC issued a citation in 1975. Haviland Hotels Inc. v. OREGON LIQUOR CONTROL COM'N Annotate this Case 530 P.2d 1261 (1975) HAVILAND HOTELS Inc., Dba Park Haviland Hotel, Petitioner, v. OREGON LIQUOR CONTROL COMMISSION, Respondent. No. 3582. Court of Appeals of Oregon. Argued and Submitted November 18, 1974.
Decided January 20, 1975. Petitioner is a licensee of the OLCC, and maintains in the Park Haviland Hotel a cocktail lounge called the "Casbah Lounge." On February 13, 1974, at approximately 7 p.m., two inspectors for the OLCC entered the Casbah Lounge and ordered something to eat. The waitress told the inspectors that the only thing available was a "Stewart Sandwich."[1] When one of the inspectors asked if she could have "anything like a steak or a dinner," the waitress told her that she would have to go to a cafe to get such an order. Shortly thereafter a citation was issued for the alleged violation of OAR 845-10-185(2).
https://law.justia.com/cases/oregon/court-of-appeals/1975/530-p-2d-1261-0.html
September 1976 Calender Portland page 23 Oct 3. Ebony Court Cornoation. Georgian Room, Park Haviland, 7:30 pm
As THE HEATHMAN SW Broadway at Salmon 503-241-4100 800-551-0011 First listed in Out & About Gay Travel Guide 1997 Under Stay
Below are various ads, coin images from Etsy.com website. The hotel and its facilities were used for about five years by the gay community.
