Portland State Magazine, Spring 2021

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION The Home at the 18 Heart of Campus Te Simon Benson House, built in 1900, fts so well into the Portland State campus, it looks as though the University was built around it. In truth, however, it has only sat on the Park Blocks since 2000. Built by lumberman and philanthropist Simon Ben- son (of Benson Bubbler fame), the graceful Queen Anne-style house originally stood at Southwest Clay and 11th Street, but fell into disrepair and was condemned in 1991. Since the house was on the National Registry of Historic Places, it could not be torn down. Under the leadership of the late City Commissioner Gretchen Kafoury MPA ’08, the Friends of the Simon Benson House was formed. Critically, Kafoury forged a partnership with PSU’s Alumni Association. With the fnancial support of more than 1,000 businesses and individuals, a total of $1.6 million was raised from donations both large and small. (Te house’s patio bears the names of donors who gave $100 to have their names engraved on a brick.) Te Alumni Association contributed $285,000. People lined the Park Blocks on Jan. 16, 2000, to watch workers slowly transport the house by truck to the plot of land donated by the University at the corner of Southwest Park and Montgomery. Led by the Alumni Association’s long-time executive director, Pat Squire, who fnagled, fund-raised and served as the ofcial project manager, the painstaking restoration of the building was completed—including tracking down the original 13 leaded glass windows, some of which had been stolen.Te Alumni Association scheduled a dedication ceremony for Sept. 10, 2001, but bumped it to Sept. 11 to avoid the opening of Trimet’s new MAX Red Line to the Airport. “Sadly, we know what events occurred on that day,” says Mary Coniglio, current executive director of the Alumni Association, of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. “While we did not have the fanfare we had planned and hoped for, people still came to the house that day to fnd comfort and solace in one another and in community.” Since its move to campus, the house has been the site of many photoshoots, tours and parties. One that stands out for Coniglio is the ceremony for Joseph LaBaron ’69, who in 2008 was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Qatar on the patio. It was the frst swearing-in of a U.S. ambassador outside the District of Columbia. Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul De Muniz ’72 HD ’16 ofciated. Most importantly, Coniglio said, the Simon Benson House is now “home for the Universi- ty’s greatest assets—its alumni—and a visible presence to students to encourage their life- long relationship with PSU.” —JENNIFER LADWIG SPRING 2021 // 31