Restore Oregon is the distinguished nonprofit dedicated to preserving the most historic and meaningful s tructures from around the state. We were delighted to once again be the presenting sponsor for the annual fundraising gala, the Restoration Celebration .  Th e dinner and award ceremony are meant to honor and celebrate the work done over the past year, and to highlight the uphill battles that remain .

The event was held at the beautiful Sentinel Hotel in downtown Portland and was headlined by the presentation of the 2018 DeMuro Awards, which are named after the historic re al estate developer Art DeMuro . These prestigious awards are given to the outstanding rehabilitation projects from the previous year. Art DeMuro was the man responsible for many groundbreaking restorations that have helped shape Portland into the city it is today.  He served ten years on the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission and donated $2.8 million to the University of Oregon’s Historic Preservation Program.   Sadly, he passed away in 2012 at the age of 57 after a battle with cancer. We were incredibly proud to be part of the Towne Storage project, which brought a DeMuro to LRS Architects and Bremik Construction . Versatile’s scope was done in 13 total phases and include d 208 double hung windows, 2.4 tons of sash weights, 6000 square feet of insulated glass, and 1.2 miles of simulated divided lite bar for the windows alone!

Peggy Moretti, the Execut ive Director of Restore Oregon, gave an inspiring and moving presentation focusing on Oregon’s most endangered places, and spoke about the long road ahead to continue to preserve our architectural heritage.   A total of 47 places have already been saved since Restore Oregon’s inception of the Most Endangered Places Project in 2011 , and everyone is excited ab out the work still to be done. The event culminated in raffle drawings and a thrilling paddle-raise auction. Over $120,000 were raised by the event!

Versatile is excited to partner in upcoming historic preservation efforts, and we look forward to saving m ore of Oregon’s historic places.