The city’s Historic Landmarks Commission today unanimously rejected the University of Oregon’s proposal to change the “Made in Oregon” sign on the west bank of the Willamette River, despite Commissioner Randy Leonard’s campaign on behalf of the city this spring to strike a compromise deal with the university (pictured above) on the sign’s wording.
Leonard was not immediately available for comment on the commission’s rejection of the “Made in Oregon” compromise.
The proposal that went before the commission this afternoon also included an application to alter the water tower next to the “Made in Oregon” sign, which sits on top of the White Stag building where the university has its Portland campus. That aspect of the university’s plan called for putting neon yellow “O”s on the 100-year-old tower. And it was that idea that caused the most concern among commissioners, according to Carrie Richter, a member of the landmarks group.
The “no” vote this afternoon on the combined application for the “Made in Oregon” sign and the water tower is technically a tentative rejection. City staff had initially recommended the commission approve the application. Now that the commission has said it won’t approve the application, staff must put their objections in writing. On July 27, the commission will take a formal vote on the matter. At that point, the university can appeal the decision directly to City Council.
A representative for the university was not immediately available for comment.
Update at 9:20 pm: Leonard said his goal when negotiating the new wording for the “Made in Oregon” was to preserve “a civically neutral message that did not appeal to any partisan loyalties of Portlanders.” If City Council hears an appeal from the university, he says he would not vote on the matter “given my personal involvement in negotiating the proposal that went before the Landmarks Commission.”
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Tags: Landmarks Commission, Made in Oregon, Randy Leonard, University of Oregon
[...] that the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission has rejected the University of Oregon’s proposal to re-brand the Made in Oregon sign and the nearby “Old Town” water tower, blogger Curt Gardner has an alternative [...]
This is good news. The brand-centric UO must be stopped. http://www.youtube.com/luddite333
Here’s how the UO’s Daily Emerald reported the UO admin’s loathsome gambit:
http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2009/07/20/News/For-Uo.Signage.In.Portland.Its.All.Or.Nothing-3752227.shtml?reffeature=htmlemailedition
Curiously, it is the UO’s journalism school that is the primary arrival from Eugene. One might well fear for the further degradation of the profession.
Do the banana-yellow Os that occupy the rear surfaces of far too many motor vehicles — primarily SUVs — driven so rudely on I-5 and elsewhere represent the anal orifice the university and its affiliates offer this city and this state?
[...] might still be hung up on the fate of the much-harangued Made in Oregon sign, but the fine folks at the White Stag building (aka the University of Oregon’s Portland [...]
[...] Commission was scheduled today at 1:30 to hear U of O’s appeal to the council’s July 13 rejection of the university’s proposal. The university wanted to change the sign’s lettering from “Made in Oregon” to [...]