Oregon City Commission Honors Local Business With Ruth Powers McBride Preservation Award (Photo) - 05/18/23

Oregon City, ORE.- As Oregon City continues to honor its heritage throughout Historic Preservation Month this May, the City Commission acknowledged a local business for their preservation efforts during Wednesday night’s meeting.

The 2023 recipient of the Ruth McBride Powers Preservation Award was the owners of the I.O.O.F building, which now houses The Arc Light event venue and The Hive Social. 

The Historic Review Board nominates an individual or group for the award each year during Preservation Month to applaud the efforts of citizens, building/business owners and others who work to protect the city’s historic properties.

According to the award, “The owners have been before the Historic Review Board numerous times and have done an amazing job preserving the features while improving the building structurally and enlivening our city with new social spaces. They have been very sensitive to the preservation of the structure and should be commended for their efforts. It is a real asset to the community.”

The I.O.O.F. building was constructed in 1922 and was home to the International Order of Odd Fellows and Friedrich’s Hardware until the 1970s. The Dobbins family has been working to completely restore and renovate the building, bringing new life to the structure.   

Accepting the award was three generations of the family behind the restoration project, Linette Dobbins, Ashley Hunt and Judith McGee. Dobbins explained some of the challenges their family has faced restoring the old building, while highlighting their desire to preserve the historic character of the structure. 

“It was a very long project, a lot more than we had anticipated it being,” said Dobbins. “We thought we’d do a lot of cosmetic improvements to the building, in fact we did a lot of structural. A lot of the infrastructure was neglected for many years. It’s a lot of things that you don’t see that were replaced. We really appreciate the community’s support and most of all their patience as we complete all of this.”

The family itself has a long history in Oregon, having been among the first people to settle in the region.

“Our family came here in 1853, our ancestor actually met with John McLoughlin on his way to Pleasant Hill. He was actually offered 320 acres in Portland that he turned down which actually became Downtown Portland.”

Ruth Powers was born in 1903 and during the final 25 years of her life was a champion for preserving Oregon City’s historic properties, eventually donating several of the earliest homes to the City. 

Note: High resolution photos of the business can be requested from The Arc Light hello@thehivecatering.com