Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet: M

 

The Miner Building (color photos by me)

This is the next in my Eugene/Architecture/Alphabet series of blog posts, the focus of each being a landmark building here in Eugene. Many of these will be familiar to most who live here but there are likely to be a few buildings that are less so. My selection criteria for each will be threefold:  

1. The building must be of architectural interest, local importance, or historically significant.
2. The building must be extant so you or I can visit it in person.
3. Each building’s name will begin with a particular letter of the alphabet, and I must select one (and only one) for each of the twenty-six letters. This is easier said than done for some letters, whereas for other characters there is a surfeit of worthy candidates (so I’ll be discriminating and explain my choice in those instances).

This entry’s selection begins with the letter M, for which my choice is the Miner Building.
 
Miner Building
At a resolute 8-stories in height and nearly a century in age, the Miner Building is a historic downtown landmark. Upon its completion in 1925, it was the city’s tallest building, a distinction it would hold until the 18-story Ya-Po-Ah Terrace high-rise apartment building arrived on the scene more than four decades later. Over its life, the Miner Building has been home to many important enterprises, among them the Slocum Center for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine and Nike (legend has it Bill Bowerman infamously churned out the initial prototypes of his waffle-soled trainers in the building’s basement).
 

The Miner Building, shortly after its completion in 1925.

I gleaned much of the information that follows from The Miner Building website.
 
Architect John Hunziker designed the Miner Building for two brothers—W.E. and Henry T. Miner—who came to Eugene from Wisconsin after establishing their credentials in the timber and real estate businesses. Filled with optimism in the future of Eugene and by the prosperity of the Willamette Valley, the brothers developed the 68,000 SF, cast-in-place concrete office building, which their architect executed in an economical, stripped-down aesthetic with subtle Art Deco flourishes. The narrow upper floor plates attracted a variety of tenants, proving especially attractive to private medical practices.
 
Devoted supporters of education, the brothers donated the building as a gift in trust to the University of Oregon in February of 1933 to serve as a permanent endowment for teaching and research in the School of Business Administration. The State Board of Higher Education ultimately sold the property in 1947 to 38 local doctors, whereupon it became known as the Eugene Professional Building. At the time, the entire 68,000 sq ft was occupied by over 100 tenants.
 
Fast forward to 2016: A local investment group purchased the Eugene Professional Building. Their aim was to bring it new life, reimagining the building as an attractive incubator for emerging companies To do this, the new owners decided to double down on the building’s history and significance to Eugene, and also chose to rechristen it as the Miner Building to play up that history. The building’s age and character are especially appealing today because so many of The Miner Building’s contemporaries were razed in the name of urban renewal.

Lobby views

My company—Robertson/Sherwood/Architects—has occupied a fifth-floor suite in the Miner Building since 1990. The building is likewise home to an eclectic collection of businesses, among them Modern Betty Salon, Revolution Design Group, XS Media, Passionflower Design, Eugene Rheumatology, Insight Northwest Counseling, the Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology, Pacific Cascade Legal, and others.
 
TBG Architects + Planners is another tenant. TBG provided design services for the $2.4 million renovation project in 2016 that revitalized the Miner Building’s entrances and main lobby, modernized the elevators, and provided a new bicycle storage room. Ordell Construction was the contractor for the renovation.
 
I enjoy working in the Miner Building for many reasons, most notably its location near the historic center of downtown Eugene, which rates a Walk Score of 98 (a “walker’s paradise”) and a Bike Score of 100. Other bonuses include ample daylight and the east-facing vista from my office windows (on clear days, the peaks of the Three Sisters are viewable on the horizon, and the morning sunrise is always a treat). The building is an important asset and destined to remain so as Eugene continues its efforts to attract new businesses and residents to its downtown.
 

View from my office window, looking east from the Miner Building: the Eugene Hotel, framed by a rainbow.

I could easily have selected another downtown Eugene landmark—the McDonald Theatre—as my entry under the letter M. Like the Miner Building, it also opened in 1925 (as did the Eugene Hotel—that was clearly a watershed year for architecture in downtown Eugene) and is of equal if not greater import to the history of the community. Regardless, I chose the Miner Building not only because I work there, but also because it stands as a clear example of how older buildings can be rebranded and revitalized during an uncertain time of constant change.