You might not notice but we have something extraordinary within our city limits. The industrial buildings along the waterfront are a marvel of engineering and a snapshot of our city’s beginnings. Many (if not all) of these buildings are hanging in limbo as the paper mill, which owns them, begins to shutter and vision plans for the waterfront’s future are being finalized without consideration of these buildings and the unique artifacts within them.

I’m a resident of West Linn, a graduate of West Linn High School and Portland State University and I’ve been practicing architecture for over 10 years both locally and abroad. I speak from experience when I say that the buildings on our shore are as special as anything you’ll find in any other great city. What makes these industrial buildings sacred is the unique quality inherent in a purpose-built building from the turn of the century. Materials and construction techniques we no longer see, machinery that is heavy and imposing. These machines were once useful but still are — as beautiful artifacts that are a wonder to behold, especially when allowed to remain in their original spaces and repurposed.

What is lost when these buildings get scrapped? Can menagerie ever be built in a way that feels just as good as the real thing without it also feeling like Disney Land? Or will it take another 100 years for something that was built today to be appreciated for its character? Will future generations be revering our obsolete WeWork spaces? It doesn’t seem likely.

We have a chance now to save something truly special which can not be brought back after it is gone. I urge the decision makers: City Council, the Historic Review Board and the citizens of West Linn to turn your eye towards the historic buildings on industrial waterfront. Please write to your council members and stand up for the value of these buildings to remain as a part of our past and future.

Aurelia Rohrbacker is a board member of the Advocates for Willamette Falls Heritage, a graduate of West Linn High School, a resident of West Linn for the last 34 years (on and off) and an architectural designer.