Sellwood Community House History
Built 1910 — Established 2019
Sellwood Community House (SCH) has been welcoming the community through its doors for more than 100 years.
Constructed in 1910, the building was the first branch of the YMCA in Portland, housing a residential hotel for the men who worked in the old Sellwood Log Mill, a small swimming pool (decommissioned in 1940) and a thriving basketball program for youth boys. Vestiges of these uses remain; the swimming pool lies dormant beneath the studio, preschool classrooms and offices still bear the original dorm room numbers and the historic gym still echoes with young athletes.
By 1918 the City or Portland Bureau of Parks and Recreation (PPR) was teaching classes at SCH and by 1920 had purchased the building as the second City-run community center. The building was placed on the National Historic Register in 2006, one of only three such-designated buildings in the neighborhood at that time. It is also a Portland Historic Landmark.
In 2019, after years of threats of budgetary closure from the City of Portland, the Friends of Sellwood Community House leased the building from the City of Portland. The successful establishment of SCH as a nonprofit community center was thanks to the tireless effort of neighborhood volunteers and advocates and to the endowment by one woman, Helen Hiczun, who willed the sale of her home to the Friends upon her passing, understanding the importance of the community center in the lives of so many people.
Sellwood Community House continues the century-long tradition of service to its community. Striving to continually adapt to the changing needs of its community, SCH offers education, recreation, classes, camps, drop-in activities, rental spaces, community events and more; a place for people of all ages to learn, play, gather and connect.