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Inventory Form

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:3530 SE Division St historic name:Oregon Theater
Portland, Multnomah County (97202) current/other names:Roach's Oregon Theatre; The End; Gone West PDX; Tomorrow Theater
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:1 / 3-4 / 6500
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:1S 1E 1 NW/NE
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):2.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:
elig evaluation: eligible/contributing NR Status:
prim constr date:1925 second date: date indiv listed:
primary orig use: Theater orig use comments:
second orig use: Business
primary style: Commercial (Type) prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Brick:Other/Undefined siding comments:
secondary siding: Stucco
plan type: 2-Part Block architect:Universal Plan Service, H. Boland
builder:
comments/notes:
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Portland LGBTQ+ Historic Resources 2024 RLS Survey & Inventory Project 2024
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: N/A
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 04/17/2023
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
3530 SE Division Street is a two-story 20th Century Commercial style theater building facing north and east on the block’s northeast corner. The rectangular plan building has a flat roof on the northern side, a hipped roof above the theater entrance, and large gable roof covering the auditorium obscured by brick parapet walls. It has a concrete foundation and is clad in painted brick, stucco pilasters, brick belt course and cornice, and hollow clay tile on the secondary facades. The ground level has multiple commercial retail spaces with wood storefronts with transom windows above, and entrances. In the center of the building is a recessed entrance for the second-floor residences that has a wood glass door topped by a transom. The second floor has wood double-hung windows that appear original. The westernmost side of the Division Street façade has wide pilasters that project from the façade and support a flattened arch with decorative brickwork on the second floor and a hipped roof that is not visible from the sidewalk. These pilasters extend to the second floor and project above the roofline.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Oregon Theater opened in 1925 as a vaudeville theater. By 1967, it began showing pornography, and sex acts among audience members were reportedly common, potentially including same-sex couples. The Oregon Theater closed in 2020; Portland Art Museum renovated the building and opened the Tomorrow Theater in 2023. Further research is required to determine the significance of the Oregon Theater under National Register Criterion A in the area of LGBTQ+ history.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:
Bibliography:
“New Life Envisioned for Old Portland Landmark.” DJC, April 30, 2020. https://djcoregon.com/news/2020/04/30/new-life-envisioned-old-portland-landmark/. Turnquist, Kristi. “Former Portland Porn Cinema Reborn as Portland Art Museum’s Tomorrow Theater.” Oregonian, October 5, 2023. “Business District on Division Street.” Oregon Journal, December 21, 1924, 30. Ad. Oregon Journal, September 6, 1925, 45. Ad. Oregon Journal, December 21, 1924. Horton, Jay. "The Oregon Theater, the City's Last Operating Porn Palace Before Closing This Year, Plans for a Second Coming." Willamette Week, August 11, 2020. https://www.wweek.com/arts/2020/08/11/the-oregon-theater-the-citys-last-operating-porn-palace-before-closing-this-year-plans-for-a-second-coming/.