Steve Forrester

There are many examples of what brings a small town back from atrophy.

One unheralded factor is that men and women with what I call the carpenter gene who show up. These are people who see opportunity in the town’s historic housing stock. And they have the ability to repair, remodel and refurbish a residence or commercial property.

That’s happened in Astoria over the past 30 years. And that is what’s celebrated in the annual Dr. Edward Harvey Historic Preservation Awards given by the Astoria City Council.

Among this year’s honorees were Theodosia Woods for the restoration of her Italianate-style residence, the Merwyn Apartments and Lucien Swerdloff, director of Clatsop Community College’s historic preservation program.

Harvey was one of the founders of the Oregon State University Seafood Lab in Astoria. His avocation was historic preservation. He started marking Astoria’s earliest historic homes with medallions in the late 1960s. Many of those markers remain visible. Harvey did this even before the national preservation movement that Jacqueline Kennedy would spark with her saving Grand Central Station in New York City.

I had the good fortune to meet Harvey at a Boxing Day party in Astoria in the 1970s. Also there that evening was Rolf Klep, founder of the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Both of these men exuded the passion for their causes.

The Merwyn’s rebirth was nothing short of miraculous. This much abused and neglected building had defied more than one prior attempt at restoration. Astoria is fortunate that the Portland nonprofit Innovative Housing Inc. made the Merwyn the object of its energies and funding.

Clatsop Community College’s historic preservation program has been an avenue to careers for students. Describing Swerdloff’s role, the historian John Goodenberger says, “Lucien is able to see the big picture of the importance of the historic preservation program, while seeing all the working parts needed to create it. One of his many talents is his ability to manage all the parts — classroom lectures, hands-on workshops, students, adjunct faculty, administration, local craftspeople, community partners – and do so seemingly effortlessly.”

Historic preservation has been one of this newspaper’s core values for decades. When the drive to acquire and restore the Liberty Theatre took root in the 1990s, The Astorian contributed money at a key, early moment and the newspaper absorbed the administrative costs of the nonprofit Liberty Restoration Inc.

Over the decades since Harvey’s ethos took root, there have been several significant restorations that brought back decrepit properties. Some of the most notable were the Hotel Elliott, the Judge Guy Boyington Building and the Astoria Column. Also there have been a bevy of residential restorations.

The Harvey awards are a reminder that Astoria’s housing stock and its commercial and church architecture are the very core of this town.