Historic Kenton Firehouse Case Study

Preservation in Action Award Recipient

Chris Duffy & Tom Griffin-Valade
Historic Kenton Firehouse Committee
North Portland Neighborhood Services

The Historic Kenton Firehouse was built in 1912 - when the city used horse-drawn fire wagons and remained in use until 1959. Over time, the city abandoned this neighborhood landmark, it was boarded up and began to disintegrate.

A group of neighbors decided to take matters into their own hands and formed the Historic Kenton Firehouse Committee. They approached the city about restoring the building, and in partnership with the Office of Neighborhood Involvement and the North Portland Citizens Committee, began the process of bringing the firehouse back to life. This included raising over $500,000 and coordinating hundreds of hours of volunteer work from multiple organizations.

It required fanatical dedication… but what a wonderful result! Today the Historic Kenton Firehouse serves as a vibrant community center, and a business plan is in place to raise the $20,000 annual budget for ongoing maintenance and operation. This is an outstanding example of community-based preservation.

More Photos of the Historic Kenton Firehouse

Click to enlarge the images below.