MHCC: How it all started

It was a blast from the past, with perhaps a boost for the future.

Shortly before Mt. Hood’s district board of education met for its December meeting, an aged binder with pages from the 1970s was given to MHCC President Debbie Derr by the family of Donald Lutz.

Lutz was the principal architect for the construction of Mt. Hood Community College in the mid-1960s.

The Lutz family delivered the notebook “because they felt like it needed a home,” according to President Debbie Derr. She then passed it on to board member James Zordich.

“She called me over saying, ‘Look at this,’ and I have been looking ever since,” said Zordich.

Zordich was the obvious choice because of his experience with historical items. Before coming to Oregon, he worked as the curator for technological history at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for 30 years. “There was no doubt that he was the right man,” said Derr.

“I call it the Rosetta Stone. It has served as the nucleus upon which we’re trying to expand our understanding of the college,” said Zordich about the document.

Lutz’s notebook is a record of everything relating to the college at that time that Lutz could get a hold of.

There are pictures, newspaper articles, documents about the college, documents about the college’s supporters, even hand-drawn sketches from Lutz himself.

Mt. Hood is hoping to roll this gift out next year, as it celebrates its 50-year anniversary and attempts to couple a successful new bond measure with it. “(The college) plans to dedicate a significant amount of revenue to repairing the facilities” should a bond measure win voter approval, said Zordich.

The official date marking the 50-year anniversary of MHCC has yet to be finalized. Zordich said there is some debate about whether the starting point should be when the college was built, or when the school’s education district was formed. As Lutz’s notebook notes, the college was established in 1965, but the current campus was largely completed the following year, 1966.

Zordich believes that the college today really needs to catch up to electronic technology. The hope is to expand IT (information technology) programs by building a new IT facility with some of the bond money.

Originally, the school was going to set aside a significant portion of bond money, should voters approve, to combat the seismic uncertainties on campus, in case of a strong earthquake. However, the Lutz notebook reveals that the core structure of the Academic Center is structural super-steel, a very strong metal that is used in the construction of skyscrapers.

“To be honest with you, I think this is the strongest and probably the most well-built facility of any building in Gresham,” said Zordich.

The money from this proposed bond (targeted for the May 2016 election) would not just go to the repairs of facilities. It would also help pay off some of the college’s general obligation funds, which are essentially credit obligations. MHCC borrowed money from its general fund to repair the Student Union’s leaky roof and deal with a failing main primary power supply, Zordich said.

Having Lutz’s notebook delivered to the college just a year before the 50-year anniversary of the college could only be described as “serendipity,” Derr noted.“This really did come at the right time,” said Zordich.

 

 

Part One – MHCC: How it all started

Part Two – Exploring the life of Mt. Hood’s principal architect

Part Three – Mt. Hood’s Gresham campus built to survive quakes

Part Four – College to reach crucial milestone in time for bond

 

To view more of Donald Lutes’ notebook. click here.