OregonScape

Abstract

IN JUNE 1981, new owners of the Apostolic Faith Building , located in Portland, Oregon, at West Burnside Avenue and Sixth Avenue, removed the iconic “Jesus The Light of the World” sign that had loomed large over downtown visitors since 1917. The sign, first located on a building on Front Avenue along the waterfront, moved to its final location in 1922 when the Apostolic Faith Church completed its twostory building. The church moved to a new location in 1979. Marko Susnjara and Betty Susnjara, the new building owners, decided that the religious messaging was not appropriate for their vision of public, mixed-use building. The Susnjaras removed the lettering, star, and support structure — weighing an estimated at 4.5 tons and standing 60 feet tall. It was not until March 1983 that the building would again operate a rooftop sign, this time to promote performances at the Starry Night Club (now the Roseland Theater), which operated out of the top floor of the building in the church’s former large meeting hall. According to the June 18, 1981, Oregon Journal article that accompanied this photograph, the company hired to remove the sign indicated that there were few parts that could be recycled or salvaged. Thomas Vaughan, then executive director of the Oregon Historical Society, “expressed regret over its pending demise” but declined to add it to OHS’s collections “because of its sheer bulk.” OREGONSCAPE OHS Research Library, Oregon Journal Collection, Org. Lot 1027, “Signs #3” Folder ON JUNE 18, 1981, photographer Steve Nehl captured this street scene with the “Jesus The Light of The World” sign that once sat atop the Apostolic Faith Building in Portland, Oregon. Later that month, new owners removed it. — Matthew Cowan, OHS Moving Images and Photography Archivist ...