Multnomah County and Thomas Hume announced today that they reached an agreement for Mr. Hume to sell his property in the Jefferson Station building at 1236 SW First Avenue, and the county purchased the property on Friday, November 4th. Mr. Hume has owned and operated Tom’s 1st Avenue Bento Restaurant at that location for 18 years. The county will renovate the historic landmark building and make it part of the new Central Courthouse project, which will begin heavy construction in early 2017.
Multnomah County plans to construct a seismically safe courthouse on the block bounded by SW Madison, SW Jefferson, SW First Avenue and SW Naito Parkway to replace its century-old courthouse that is structurally and functionally obsolete. The county selected the south block of its west Hawthorne Bridgehead property as the new courthouse site in April 2015 and also obtained site and project approval from the Oregon Judicial Department, which will share in funding construction. The county is in the process of obtaining design approval from the Portland Historic Landmark Commission and has submitted its construction drawings for Building Bureau approval.
“Tom’s Bento has long been a popular lunch spot for Multnomah County employees and hundreds of other downtown workers,” County Chair Deborah Kafoury said. “The seismic upgrade and interior remodel of Jefferson Station made it necessary to vacate the building for up to a year. At the same time, we learned that all of Jefferson Station would be needed for courthouse services. We thank Mr. Hume for negotiating an agreement that is fair to both parties.”
Mr. Hume plans to keep the restaurant open and continue its popular lunch service through the end of November, to give loyal customers one more chance to enjoy their lunchtime favorites and said “I’d like to thank all our customers for their faithful patronage over the years.”