Sue Springer

Greyhound “Portal” Tile replacement

The Historic Medford Greyhound Bus Arch restoration is complete!

As part of the Lithia Motors corporate Headquarters  “The Commons” development in Medford, Oregon, the building which served as the Greyhound Bus Station was demolished.  However a large rectangular “arch” has been  preserved to create a Portal within the Park blocks for the Commons.  Large enough to allow buses to pass through, the Portal was covered in light green tiles at the time of the Depot’s construction in the mid 1940’s.   Long since painted, and neglected, the arch was stripped of paint and the vintage tiles revealed.   

During the construction phase, several of the large tile slabs were broken and destroyed.  I was initially contacted by Lithia Motors and KoGap construction to redevelop the matte textured glaze and reconstruct 26 tiles to replace damaged tiles on the arch.  Many months of ceramic glaze chemistry resulted in a close match, fortunately the original tiles are quite varied in texture and color, which made matching somewhat easier.

The Common’s arch during Park Blocks construction

The new tiles were installed this week, just in time for a November 30 public celebration.  The new Portal leads to a stage area which will allow outdoor concerts and performances to be viewed from the grassy park beyond.

Medford Mail Tribune story on the Portal:   http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131116/NEWS/311160312

Read more about the preservation story here in George Kramer’s blog -Preserve Oregon   http://thepreserveoregonblog.blogspot.com/2013_03_01_archive.html