This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Technical Design for Building Performance Knowledge Community and Historic Resources Committee .
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Jay Raskin AIA
Principal
Ecola Architects, PC
Portland OR
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The Historic Preservation of League of Oregon (HPLO) has spent the last year doing a roundtable discussion throughout the state, looking at risks facing masonry buildings. In the case of Oregon, a significant seismic risk has been added to neglect and disinterest. This report is part of a series of reports that started with looking at Healthy Historic Districts and Compatible Infill Design. The report shifts focus from just doing life/safety seismic to looking at preserving these buildings into the future, seeing them in their context as important elements of a community's economy. It looks at funding, regulations, and the costs (both of doing something and not doing anything).
For Oregon (and the Northwest) this is a regional concern, since the most likely earthquake is the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake that stretches from northern California to southern British Columbia.