Multnomah County Courthouse
| Multnomah County Courthouse | |
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Multnomah County Courthouse
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Neoclassical |
| Location | 1021 SW 4th Ave., Portland, Oregon, USA |
| Current tenants | County Courts, Sheriff’s Office, District Attorney's Office |
| Cost | $1.6 million |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Whidden & Lewis |
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Multnomah County Courthouse
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Portland Historic Landmark
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| Coordinates | 45°30′59″N 122°40′42″W / 45.516328°N 122.678319°WCoordinates: 45°30′59″N 122°40′42″W / 45.516328°N 122.678319°W |
| Built | 1911/1914 |
| Visitation | 3000/day (2011) |
| NRHP Reference # | 79002136 |
| Added to NRHP | June 11, 1979 |
Multnomah County Courthouse serves as the courthouse for Multnomah County, Oregon and its Sheriff's Office. It is located in downtown, Portland, Oregon, the county seat. It currently includes 39 courtrooms, 36 of which are district courts, two are traffic courts, and one used for forced eviction detainment. Due to concerns over the structural deficiency of the 100-year-old building, which was determined to need a costly seismic retrofit, the county board of commissioners decided in 2013 to launch plans to construct a new courthouse in a different location, to replace the existing building. Construction began in October 2016, and the new courthouse is projected to open in 2020.
Multnomah County Courthouse was built in two phases between 1909 and 1914 at a total cost of $1.6 million; to make it fire-resistant, it was constructed of concrete-encased steel, with concrete slab floors and walls of terra-cotta brick, covered with plaster. At the time, it was the largest courthouse on the west coast and served also as county seat and county jail.
Originally, the building had a central courtyard, where prohibition-era confiscated alcohol was poured down a drain; over time, this courtyard was filled in to make room for more offices and a jury room. The courthouse has four two-story courtrooms which feature most of the courthouse's original design; some two-story courtrooms were split horizontally during the 1950s, expanding capacity and resulting in new floors.
Further renovation of the courthouse has been under consideration since at least 1970, with studies starting in the 1990s also considering building a new courthouse. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
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