Medical College Building Association records

When the Medical College Building Association was formed in 1891, the University of Oregon Medical School consisted of two buildings: the original two room structure at Twenty-third Avenue and Lovejoy Street and the facility at Twenty-third and Marshall Street in Northwest Portland. Due to rapid expansion, the school needed larger facilities. The Medical College Building Association was formed to raise money for a new building.

The Medical College Building Association was incorporated and authorized to sell stock subscriptions on January 8, 1891. The original incorporators, all members of the faculty of the University of Oregon Medical School, were W. H. Saylor, Andrew J. Giesy, Curtis C. Strong, George F. Wilson, Otto S. Binswanger, and Simeon E. Josephi. They authorized Dr. Josephi to open books and to receive stock subscriptions at $1 per share and elected a board of directors to serve a term of one year. They appointed a committee to, “prepare and submit plans for a building suitable for medical college purposes, to enquire and if necessary get a written statement from the Board of Regents of the University of Oregon or its proper offices as to any legal operatives that may arise”(Secretary’s Book, 8 June 1891, p.12).

On July 15, 1891, the committee submitted plans for the medical college building. The Board of Directors accepted them and then authorized the committee to secure bids and to sell the old building on Marshall Street. The committee received and reviewed bids and authorized the secretary and president of the Building Association to secure a loan of $5500 from the German Saving and Loan Society of California. Contractors were secured in all fields of construction, and in 1893 the new building on Twenty-third Avenue and Lovejoy Street was completed.

Each year the Association elected a new Board of Directors that would report to, and consult with, the stockholders about new property acquisitions and repairs, maintenance and upgrades to the college building. The medical college building was used until 1919, when a fire destroyed the structure. After the fire, the Building Association handled the appraisals of the property and its sale.

On February 17, 1922, the Board of Directors called a special meeting of the stockholders to dispose of all assets, ratify all previous dispositions, and dissolve the corporation. The corporation had no debt and was merely serving as an owner of “sundry fixed assets mostly consisting of bonds and mortgage to be given on the Twenty-third and Lovejoy Street property for which a sale had been contracted for and approved by the stockholders”( Secretary’s Record Book, 1922 March 20, p.108). On May 20, 1922, the stockholders resolved to dissolve the corporation when practical, and on June 29, 1923, the State of Oregon issued a Certificate of Dissolution. All debts having been paid, they distributed all assets to the stockholders according to their holdings.