Emil Schacht Commercial

Emil Schacht was one of Portland's busiest architects from the 1890's until World War I. Unlike many of his peers, he had an active practice creating commercial buildings both in Portland and elsewhere in northwest Oregon, as well as his well-known residential projects. Many of his commissions were "unconventional", in that his clients were not in the social mainstream. A classic example was "The Louvre", an "entertainment complex" in Astoria built for August Erickson in 1895. This elaborately ornamented structure has been called the most elegant house of ill-repute in Astoria -- a city that once had more such establishments than churches.

Schacht's 1911 Pantages Theater was in a similar vein. Alexander Pantages had made his millions serving the needs of thirsty gold miners in Alaska, and had opened a low-priced vaudeville house in Seattle a few years earlier. Despite Seattle's moral outrage at the questionable entertainments presented, Pantages did a lively business. His next theater was built in Portland to designs by Emil Schacht.

Schacht produced a large amount of less controversial commercial work including downtown office structures, factories, and warehouses as well. - James Heuer