Last one to know I guess but Gold Dust Meridian wasn’t always a cool, cozy bar. Its previous life was a Realtor shop. Then maybe accountant offices? The interiors have a solid mid-century vibe (love that roofline) and it feels like it could’ve always been a bar. So, kudos who saw that vision to make it so.
What I did discover though was a newspaper clip from the mid-50s titled “Art Murals Can Add Color to Modern Offices,” that mentions Nelson Sandgren ( a painter and printmaker who taught at Oregon State University for thirty-eight years, from 1948 until 1986) and a mural he created for the once offices, described as “12×3 foot mural decorating a wall in the office of Preferred Properties.”
The mural is described as a “well designed to incorporate forms suggesting the city—house plan, plot of city area, churches, public buildings, residential areas, parks, business and industry.”
I’m gonna guess it’s long gone. I’ll guess I’ll have to go back and order an Old Fashioned and ask around.
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Lost Oregon 
In the 80’s I think this building housed the offices of a small business that had (among other things) various leases available for buildings up and down the boulevard. I rented a space from them and opened an art gallery on 37th behind the Hawthorne Cafe. Good
Times!
I think can shed some light on this. The building previously housed an accounting firm. When my gallery was located on Hawthorne, ten blocks east, one of the owner’s sons used to stop by and became an art buying client of mine. He showed me the mural, still inside the building. When his father, the head of the accounting firm died, the son moved the mural out and still has it, I believe. I just left a voicemail for him to discuss. Many murals in public places are portable, such as this one.
That’s amazing to hear Mark! Please do keep me posted. We’ll do another post in it. -John, lostoregon@gmail.com
Will do John. We’ll have to be patient, but I’ll do my best to get in touch with him and confirm the details. I’m also going to contact Erik Sandgren, son of the artist and also a fine artist himself. He was just in recently at my gallery in Sellwood.