Talk:Thomas A. Livesley

Latest comment: 16 years ago by Katr67 in topic Tallest in Oregon

Tallest in Oregon edit

The Yeon Building was finished in 1911, and is taller in feet (194/151) and stories (15/11) than the Capital (or Capitol depending on the source) Center, and is an office building. So I'm not sure where the reporters got the idea that the Capital Center was briefly the tallest in Oregon (or tallest office building in Oregon). Should we re-word it to "tallest in Oregon outside of Portland"? Aboutmovies (talk) 08:20, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

If this is accurate, the building would have been the fourth tallest at the most. Aboutmovies (talk) 08:23, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply
FWIW, I'd consider salemnews.com borderline as far as reliable sources are concerned. I briefly looked through the Salem Historic Photographs Collection and didn't see anything that said that either. Katr67 (talk) 17:03, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply
The current owner Yost makes the assertion in the Statesman-Journal article sidebar which is what I used as a reference. The S-J just changed their website and the original link is no longer accessible. I changed it to the Google cached page. It does appear the claim is incorrect in relation to the Yeon building so it should be changed. Awotter (talk) 20:57, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply
With this and the Art Deco bit about the cap I'm starting to lose more respect for reporters. Plus another article in the Statesman Journal said the Capitol Center was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence. With the wording, I think we should change it to something like: "Once completed it was the second tallest building in Salem [assuming the church tower was just as tall before replacement] and remains the tallest office building in the city." or something along those lines. The current wording could imply it was the second tallest in the state, but since there were at least 4 taller in Portland, it was not the second. And I think it would take an architect/archaeologist to do the research and see what was standing at the time of the Cap Center going up and if it was taller or not to determine an actual ranking. Aboutmovies (talk) 22:00, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

Yeah, you can use the citation on Salem First United Methodist Church for the current status of the Cap Center's height. And having worked as a copyeditor for the Oregon Daily Emerald, I can assure you that many reporters don't care too much about accuracy, at least those younguns didn't. (But the copydesk is supposed to make sure reporters have checked their facts...) Hmm. Shouldn't we just start an article on the tower? I know we've got pics... Katr67 (talk) 23:13, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

I'm worken on the article, which is how this came up. Should be done by the end of the week. Aboutmovies (talk) 23:16, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply
Cool. Hey, if by chance you are thinking about doing Ladd and Bush bank, I have a book on cast-iron architecture of Portland that might be helpful. Katr67 (talk) 23:18, 23 April 2008 (UTC)Reply