The street in front of Centennial Mills is closed due to the building being unstable in downtown Portland, Ore., on Aug. 14, 2026. The Centennial Mills building has been unstable since it caught on fire in early August.
Saj Sundaram / OPB
For the 75 years Diane Lewis has lived in Portland, she’s seen the derelict Centennial Mills warehouse on Northwest Naito Parkway not as an eyesore but a landmark.
On Friday, she set up a lawn chair behind the chainlink fence now blocking The Fields park, to paint a watercolor of the charred and hollowed-out 116-year-old building before it’s demolished.
“I love the connection to history,” Lewis said. “I think it’s really cool looking, including all the graffiti.”
The Centennial Mills warehouse in Portland’s Pearl District caught fire on Aug. 2, sending out huge plumes of smoke that were visible from miles away. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
All images: Saj Sundaram / OPB.
As the blaze grew, the building’s floors collapsed, raising concerns that the building — which had already been deemed unsafe — would fall.
Demolition of the warehouse was set to begin Friday morning — but it was slow going.
Onlookers craned their necks to look at the water tower on top of the building, only to see there were no giant cranes or other machinery — just a cherry picker lowering steel plates onto the adjacent road.
Celine Stroinski, who was watercoloring alongside Lewis, injected some humor into the underwhelming situation.
“I’m hoping to be here when Supergirl and Superman come and pick up that tower and fly it away,” Stroinski said.
On Friday afternoon, city officials announced that the demolition is expected to begin in earnest on Monday, Aug. 17, and would start with a controlled demolition of the building’s water tower before the rest of the structure was dismantled.
Officials said nearby residents and property owners will be notified before any explosives are detonated — and cautioned that the blast would be loud.
They also noted that the building has tested positive for lead and asbestos, and warned people to remain inside until the dust clears.
Portland Director of Permitting and Development Eric Kutch speaks to the media about the upcoming demolition.
Saj Sundaram / OPB
“We realize there is a desire to see this building come down quickly,” Eric Kutch, director of the city’s permitting department said in the news release. “Safety is our highest priority. We ask for the public’s patience as we work to bring this building down as quickly as we can in the safest manner possible.”
Throughout Friday afternoon, people continued passing by to see what progress had been made on the building.
Robert Baert, a Portland resident who came out early that morning to watch, said he was surprised the building hadn’t already collapsed.
He reflected on what the loss of the building means for the neighborhood.
“It’ll be an empty spot in the little skyline that we have going on down here [in the Pearl District].”
“For me, is that a significant loss of a building architecturally? No,” he said. “Culturally, in a way, as far as its relation to the waterfront? Yes. So it’s kind of sad to see it go.”
The city has not yet provided a precise timeline for how long the demolition will take, but Kutch offered some clues at a Friday press conference.
“Based on the contractor’s current estimate, the building could be reduced to approximately 50% of its current height within about two weeks,” he said.
City officials have previously noted that the demolition is atypical due to the building’s current risk of collapse. In a press release earlier this week, the city warned that vibrations from rail cars passing through the area could increase that risk.
That risk has caused tension between Portland city officials and Union Pacific over the railroad’s decision to allow rail cars through the area, including some containing hazardous materials.
Metal plates are placed on the street near Centennial Mills to evenly distribute the weight of the crane to be used in the demolition.
Saj Sundaram / OPB
Portland City Administrator Raymond C. Lee III sent a letter to Union Pacific on Aug. 11 alerting the railroad that 13 rail cars carrying residual hazardous materials had passed the warehouse.
The city said it confirmed this using the AskRail app — which allows first responders to know what rail cars are carrying — and immediately notified Union Pacific. “That immediately raised serious concerns, particularly given Union Pacific’s previous commitment to restrict moving hazardous materials through the collapse zone,” city spokesperson Dan Douthit said in an email.
Even if a car is empty of hazardous chemicals, a small percentage of the tank’s volume can still contain residual chemicals, the email said, citing Portland Fire & Rescue’s Hazmat Coordinator. If the building were to collapse, it could damage the train, potentially releasing those hazardous chemicals into the air.
“A release of that magnitude would produce a hazardous plume requiring immediate emergency response and posing a severe health and safety threat to the surrounding area,” Douthit wrote.
Workers stand in front of the Centennial Mills Building, which is adjacent to the Union Pacific Train Tracks on Aug. 10, 2026 in Portland, Ore.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Union Pacific said in an email Friday morning it “has suspended running ”loaded rail cars’ transporting toxic and poisonous inhalation hazards,” but did not respond to OPB’s additional questions about the safety of the rail cars that have passed through the area since the fire.
For now, some Portlanders, like Lewis, will use the demolition as an opportunity to remember what’s left of the historical port area.
“I’m sad that it’s going away — and that’s life,” Lewis said. “Cities change, I know that, but I really like the old buildings and I hope we can preserve those that are left.”