Bridlemile School’s Founding
From the 1955-03-01 Oregonian:
School Building Schedule Approved
Portland school board Monday night approved the administration’s schedule of building for 1955-56 …
The superintendent was authorized to negotiate for property in Bridlemile. An elementary school is an early necessity in this district, (Superintendent J.W.) Edwards said.
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From the 1957-07-09 Oregonian:
Board Gives Green Light to Bridlemile School
By Wilma Morrison, Staff Writer, The Oregonian
Portland’s school board had some construction trouble Monday night but after considerable discussion of the low bid of $807,636, made by Contractors Inc., for the Bridlemile site elementary school, the board awards the contract.
The low bid was $118,500 above the estimated cost. It prompted Director Herbert Schwab again to raise the question of whether the board should consider a change from its policy of stating what it wants in a school to one of setting an amount to be spent and within certain specifications, asking the architect to show what can be produced for the money.
$100,000 Cut Suggested
Board Chairman Dorothy Johansen suggested that Architect Hollis Johnston be asked to cut $100,000 from the plans and was told that savings of that amount would mean cutting out substantial parts of the building itself. Getting it out of cheaper materials, Johnston said, is hard to do when labor constitutes one-half the cost of the building, and when the price of materials must be measured, not only on the immediate cost, but on the long-time cost of maintenance.
It is possible $21,000 could be saved by leaving out a covered play shed the architect said. The play shed was designed to be transformed into classrooms with future increase of enrollment, Lee Baker, business manager said, and would cost less in the long run if the framework were included in the contract at this time.
Johnston said estimates allowed for the 10 per cent increase in costs over 1954 index, “Apparently this doesn’t apply to the building industry,” he concluded.
The Bridlemile school site is at S.W. Hamilton street and 45th avenue, and the full-scale elementary building there is due to open in fall of 1958.
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From the 1957-08-10 Oregonian:
City Okehs Park Deal
City councilmen have approved the purchase of some six acres near S.W. 45th avenue and Hamilton street for a future Bridlemile park.
The land is part of a 15.389-acre tract being acquired jointly by the city and school district No. 1 for a neighborhood development.
Finance Commissioner Ormond R. Bean said the school district bought the entire tract for $49,500. The city’s share in the cost is $22,356.
He said the property is to become the site for a new school and the city will build a playground next to it.
The city’s purchase will be paid for out of public recreational area fund, a continuing levy approved by the voters in 1950.
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From the 1958-03-13 Oregon Journal:
Latest elementary school in the Portland system, 20-room Bridlemile, is costing $855,000 altogether - $40,381 per classroom, $1346 per student and $12,80 per square foot.
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From the 1958-09-08 Oregon Journal:
