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THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW
September 2013
“We have anywhere from little $2 gifts to entertainment centers, sofas, love seats, jewelry, women’s
Outdoor pots can be transformed into fountains. Terra Casa will prepare pots by sealing the insides.
By ANNE ENDICOTT
Pamplin Media Group
Michael Higgins doesn’t take change well.
But in October 2000, he did take change
— and currency too.
Higgins, then a 9-year-old fourth grader at
West Gresham Grade School, was disturbed
by news that a historic building in his
hometown was about to fall victim to the
wrecking ball. He embarked on a mission to
raise $2,000 for a sign to mark the location
of the former Beaver State Motor Co., once
located in what is now, Gresham Station.
“I remember being in the car with my
mom and seeing a sign that said the building
was going to be torn down,” Higgins, now
22, recalled. “I was looking out the backseat
window and told my mom, ‘That’s really
sad.’ I’ve never been good with change and
I didn’t like the idea that something that had
been so monolithic and there all my life,
was just going to disappear.”
The long, warehouse-style factory was
“obviously important,” Higgins said, but
why? Even as a youngster, Higgins was
smitten by history. He and his mom, Lisa,
began to research what the building had
been used for and uncovered the high
hopes of Portland businessman P.A. Combs
to make Gresham the “Detroit of the West.”
So with the encouragement of his mom
and the support of West Gresham Principal
Carlynn Capps, Higgins placed a jar in the
school of ce for donations to his cause. As
word of the project got out, it attracted the
attention of local antique car collectors and
others, who mailed checks to the school to
help the youngster reach his goal.
Higgins raised nearly $1,000. The project
also didn’t go unnoticed by Gresham Station
developer Fred Bruning, whose company,
Center Oak Properties, pitched in the
additional $1,000 and made arrangements
for the sign’s installation.
In December 2001, Higgins was the man
of the hour at a dedication ceremony
attended by Bruning, antique car collectors,
The Outlook and Higgins’ entire fth-grade
class.
Savinghistorywith
nickelsanddimes
Michael Higgins then—as a 10-year-old West Gresham
Grade School fth-grader. Higgins was the man of the hour at a
dedication ceremony in December 2001, when the sign he helped
fund was installed on the site of the former Beaver State Motor Co.
OUTLOOK ARCHIVE PHOTO
Local student recalls raising money for a permanent
sign to mark location of former auto factory
“Raising money for the sign
did something good for the
community’s history.”
MICHAEL HIGGINS
a Gresham resident and Portland
State University history major.
See “sign” / Page 5
