Bill Naito
Encyclopedia
William Sumio Naito better known as Bill Naito, was a noted business
man, civic leader and philanthropist
in Portland
, Oregon
, U.S. He was an enthusiastic advocate for investment in downtown Portland
, both private and public, and is widely credited for helping to reverse a decline in the area in the 1970s through acquiring and renovating derelict or aging buildings and encouraging others to invest in downtown and the central city
.
In the 1980s and 1990s he was one of Portland's most esteemed business and civic leaders, honored with nearly 60 awards and holding positions on several volunteer boards
, commissions, and advisory committees. He commonly went by the name Bill, as opposed to William. An arterial street in downtown Portland, Front Avenue, was renamed "Naito Parkway" in his honor.
in 1925, to Hide and Fukieye Naito, who had emigrated from Japan in 1912. His parents owned a curio shop in downtown Portland, and young Bill spent much time helping his father at the shop.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
in 1941, the Portland area became one of the "exclusion zones" created under Executive Order 9066
, affecting Japanese American
s living within 200 miles (321.9 km) of the Pacific Coast. In order to avoid internment
, Hide Naito moved the family to Salt Lake City, Utah, to live with relatives there. Bill Naito was a 16-year-old sophomore at Portland's former Washington High School
at the time.
After graduating from high school in Utah, Naito joined the U.S. Army
, in 1944, and was a member of the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II
. He served in Military Intelligence
in the post-war occupation of Japan, as a translator, before being honorably discharged in 1946 at the rank of staff sergeant
. He returned to Portland to attend Reed College
, graduating Phi Beta Kappa
in 1949 with a degree in economics. Continuing his education at the University of Chicago
, he earned a master's degree
in economics in 1951. He met Millicent (Micki) Sonley in Chicago, and they married in 1951. The couple had four children.
is now in widespread use for the district at the northeast end of downtown.
Headed by Bill and Sam Naito, Norcrest China Company became even more a property development company than a retail
ing enterprise, but remained both, with Bill focused on the former and Sam on the latter. Ultimately, the Naito brothers acquired and renovated more than 20 historic buildings in Portland.
One of their highest-profile such investments came in 1975, when they purchased the Olds, Wortman & King
building, a six-story former Rhodes
department store, occupying a full downtown block, which had closed the year before. They restored the 1910 building and converted it into an indoor shopping arcade for dozens of small stores and restaurants—downtown Portland's first shopping mall
—which they named the "Galleria" and opened in 1976. An article in The Oregonian
newspaper three months after the Galleria's opening referred to this project as being possibly "the most exciting development in downtown [Portland] merchandising in several decades."
At the same time, Bill Naito worked to convince others of his vision that downtown Portland
could become a thriving, attractive place, if given attention and investment. In addition to private property development, he believed that investment in public amenities was also a key part of that equation. He was a strong proponent of building a light rail
system in Portland when proposed in the 1970s—the MAX system which opened in 1986 and has expanded since—as well as other public transit
investments in downtown, including the Portland Transit Mall
, Fareless Square
, Portland Vintage Trolley
, and the Portland Streetcar
. He led a successful effort to plant more than 10,000 trees in the city, as founder of the Street Tree Advisory Committee, which became Portland's Urban Forestry Commission and which he chaired from 1976 until his death. He donated space to start Portland's Saturday Market
, a popular arts and crafts market that has been held in the Old Town/Chinatown district continuously since 1974. He was co-founder and chairman of Artquake, an annual arts festival held in downtown from the 1980s until 1995. He fought for adequate funding to keep Multnomah County's public libraries in operation.
Although focused on downtown Portland, Naito's development efforts were not limited to it. Norcrest launched its Made in Oregon brand with the opening of a store at the Portland International Airport
in 1975. By the 1990s it had grown to a chain of 11 stores. And, in 1985–1986 Naito Properties acquired and renovated a nine-story former Montgomery Ward
catalog warehouse in Northwest Portland
, refitting it for offices and trade shows/banquets and renaming it Montgomery Park
.
While Bill Naito's business ventures were often financially risky, it was clear that the potential for profit was not his primary motive, or at least not his only motive. He was widely recognized for taking on ventures that were at least as beneficial to the community as they were potentially moneymaking. When asked about his own salary by The Oregonian in 1985, he replied, "I'm a little crazy. My pay may not be the best in town, but I offer good economic advice. My objective is not to make a pile of money. That's one objective, but another is satisfaction." In the early 1980s he built the 300-unit McCormick Pier Apartments along the Willamette River
waterfront, just north of Old Town, replacing a derelict warehouse district and providing needed middle-income housing in an area where other developers had concluded it could not succeed. He lobbied in favor of a proposal for historic Union Station to be acquired by the city (and thereby preserved), which came to fruition in 1987.
Bill and Sam Naito were jointly honored with the "First Citizen" award for 1982 by the Portland Association of Realtors.
system, which he also supported, Naito kept alive the idea of running vintage trolley cars
on the downtown section of the future MAX light rail. He helped convince city officials to embrace what became Portland Vintage Trolley
, which started service in 1991. Bill and Sam Naito went as far as to purchase six old American-style trolley cars being retired in Portugal in the early 1980s with the intention of donating them for restoration for this planned service, and one of those cars was on display next to the Galleria for ten months starting in June 1985 to publicize the plans. However, TriMet decided that buying new faux-vintage trolleys would be more cost-effective than rebuilding the Portuguese cars and allow larger per-car capacity, so the Naito-owned streetcars were not used and eventually were sold to other places, such as Memphis' Main Street Trolley
. At the time of its start, Portland Vintage Trolley was one of only a few urban heritage streetcar
services in the country, whereas similar operations now exist in more than 15 U.S. cities. Bill Naito was president of the non-profit Portland Vintage Trolley, Inc. from its formation in 1987 until his death in 1996.
Although the modern Portland Streetcar
did not come to fruition until five years after Bill Naito's death it had been working its way through various stages of planning since the 1980s, under the name Central City Trolley or (later) Central City Streetcar, and Bill Naito was one of the proposal's most influential and ardent supporters, serving on the board of the non-profit Portland Streetcar, Inc. (PSI). At the 1999 groundbreaking for the line, PSI board president Donald Magnusen commented that the streetcar project was a vision of the late Bill Naito. The line opened in 2001 and has been extended several times since then.
, which the city designated a historic landmark in 1977. Until 2010 it was owned by Ramsay Signs. The leaping stag
on the sign is given an illuminated red "nose" each holiday season, a tradition started in 1959, but in 1989 the sign went dark after the building's previous occupants—who had continued paying the sign's electricity bill after moving out in 1973—decided to stop paying for the sign's maintenance. By this time, the sign, which also includes a neon outline in the shape of the state of Oregon, had become a popular local landmark.
As the 1989 holiday season approached, Bill Naito agreed to take over payment of the sign's upkeep, even though the sign continued to advertise White Stag Sportswear
, which had no connection with any Norcrest or Naito property. "I miss the sign – I really do," he told The Oregonian
, when asked about his decision. "So even after Christmas, I'm going to keep it on." Eight years later, in 1997, the sign's wording was changed from White Stag to the name of a Naito-owned brand, the Made in Oregon retail store chain. Norcrest China moved out of the building in 2004, but the sign retained the "Made in Oregon" wording until November 2010, when it was changed to "Portland Oregon", after Ramsay Signs donated it to the city.
Notwithstanding his willingness to pay to keep the historic sign functioning, and other community-minded "gifts" to fellow citizens, in his personal activities Naito was "notoriously frugal". He was described as a "gregarious workaholic" who was content to work at an old "battered desk" in an open office space shared with his employees. Despite his financial success, "Bill Naito continued to drive old cars and displayed few of the trappings of wealth," The Oregonian wrote in its 1996 obituary. Willamette Week
called him "perhaps the most unpretentious tycoon Portland ever embraced."
He was also finance chair for the Oregon Nikkei Endowment, an organization devoted to preserving and sharing the history of Japanese American
s in Oregon. His fundraising through the non-profit made possible the creation of a memorial in Portland, the Japanese-American Historical Plaza, which opened in 1990 in Tom McCall Waterfront Park
. Its stone sculptures bear the names of Japanese internment
camps and stories of some of the internee
s, along with the U.S. Bill of Rights.
At the time of his death, he was also working with others to create a Chinese garden
in Portland's Old Town/Chinatown district
, an effort which ultimately led to the opening in 2000 of the Portland Classical Chinese Garden (renamed the Lan Su Chinese Garden
in 2010).
on May 8, 1996, only eight days after being diagnosed with the disease. In June, the Portland city council decided to honor him by renaming Front Avenue in his memory. The new name, Naito Parkway, was applied to the section of Front Avenue south of NW 15th Avenue and the Fremont Bridge. Naito Parkway is an arterial street running along the eastern edge of downtown and alongside Tom McCall Waterfront Park, passing some of the historic districts Naito helped to preserve.
The Portland Business Alliance (formerly the Portland Chamber of Commerce) bestows an annual leadership and service award, which for a time was named the "William S. Naito Outstanding Service Award" and currently is called the "William S. Naito Leadership Award". The city's Urban Forestry Commission created an annual award in honor of Naito, its founder, entitled the Bill Naito Community Trees Award. It has been given each year since 1997.
In 2007, Reed College renamed a residence hall in memory of Naito, who had graduated from Reed in 1949 and later was elected to the college's board of trustees, in 1974. In August 2009, a new public fountain was dedicated in Waterfront Park and named the Bill Naito Legacy Fountain. It is located between the Burnside Bridge
and Ash Street in the park, at the site (since 2009) of the Portland Saturday Market
.
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
man, civic leader and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, U.S. He was an enthusiastic advocate for investment in downtown Portland
Downtown Portland
Downtown Portland, the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located on the west bank of the Willamette River. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and is where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found....
, both private and public, and is widely credited for helping to reverse a decline in the area in the 1970s through acquiring and renovating derelict or aging buildings and encouraging others to invest in downtown and the central city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
.
In the 1980s and 1990s he was one of Portland's most esteemed business and civic leaders, honored with nearly 60 awards and holding positions on several volunteer boards
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, commissions, and advisory committees. He commonly went by the name Bill, as opposed to William. An arterial street in downtown Portland, Front Avenue, was renamed "Naito Parkway" in his honor.
Early life
William S. Naito was born in PortlandPortland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
in 1925, to Hide and Fukieye Naito, who had emigrated from Japan in 1912. His parents owned a curio shop in downtown Portland, and young Bill spent much time helping his father at the shop.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
in 1941, the Portland area became one of the "exclusion zones" created under Executive Order 9066
Executive Order 9066
United States Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942 authorizing the Secretary of War to prescribe certain areas as military zones...
, affecting Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
s living within 200 miles (321.9 km) of the Pacific Coast. In order to avoid internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
, Hide Naito moved the family to Salt Lake City, Utah, to live with relatives there. Bill Naito was a 16-year-old sophomore at Portland's former Washington High School
Washington High School (Portland, Oregon)
Washington High School was a high school in Portland, Oregon, United States, described in 1950 as "Portland's finest high school." It was part of the Portland school district. Opened in September 1906, the school was originally named the East Side High School, but changed its name to Washington in...
at the time.
After graduating from high school in Utah, Naito joined the U.S. Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, in 1944, and was a member of the 442nd Infantry Regiment during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He served in Military Intelligence
Military Intelligence Service (United States)
The Military Intelligence Service was a World War II U.S. military unit consisting of two branches, the Japanese American Unit described here and the German-Austrian Unit based at Camp Ritchie, described partly in Ritchie Boys. The unit described here was primarily composed of Japanese-American...
in the post-war occupation of Japan, as a translator, before being honorably discharged in 1946 at the rank of staff sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
. He returned to Portland to attend Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, graduating Phi Beta Kappa
Phi Beta Kappa Society
The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...
in 1949 with a degree in economics. Continuing his education at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, he earned a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in economics in 1951. He met Millicent (Micki) Sonley in Chicago, and they married in 1951. The couple had four children.
Career
Bill returned again to Portland in 1952 to join his brother Sam Naito in running their family-owned import business, which in 1958 was incorporated as Norcrest China Company. In 1962, they purchased a decaying former hotel (the historic Globe Hotel) in what was then known as downtown Portland's "Skid Road" district, now Old Town, and converted it into a retail store named Import Plaza. The risky move proved a success, as the store thrived, and inspired the Naito brothers to acquire several other vacant or neglected historic buildings in downtown over the next several years and renovate them at a time when most other developers were shifting their focus to the suburbs and abandoning downtown. Bill Naito is credited with coining the name "Old Town" for Portland's Skid Road district, in order to improve the area's image, and one way he publicized the name was by having it painted in large letters on the side of a water tower atop the building Norcrest China occupied, the White Stag building. The name Old TownOld Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon
Old Town Chinatown is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods...
is now in widespread use for the district at the northeast end of downtown.
Headed by Bill and Sam Naito, Norcrest China Company became even more a property development company than a retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
ing enterprise, but remained both, with Bill focused on the former and Sam on the latter. Ultimately, the Naito brothers acquired and renovated more than 20 historic buildings in Portland.
One of their highest-profile such investments came in 1975, when they purchased the Olds, Wortman & King
Olds, Wortman & King
Olds, Wortman & King, also known as Olds & King, was a department store in Portland, Oregon, United States, established under a different name in 1851 and becoming Olds & King in 1878, on its third change of ownership. The store was renamed Olds, Wortman & King in 1901; Olds & King again in 1944;...
building, a six-story former Rhodes
Rhodes Brothers
Rhodes Brothers was a department store located in Tacoma, Washington, established in 1892 as a coffee shop in downtown Tacoma by Albert, William, Henry and Charles Rhodes. The store greatly expanded through the years, including having a tea room, a branch library and a separate budget store...
department store, occupying a full downtown block, which had closed the year before. They restored the 1910 building and converted it into an indoor shopping arcade for dozens of small stores and restaurants—downtown Portland's first shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
—which they named the "Galleria" and opened in 1976. An article in The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
newspaper three months after the Galleria's opening referred to this project as being possibly "the most exciting development in downtown [Portland] merchandising in several decades."
At the same time, Bill Naito worked to convince others of his vision that downtown Portland
Downtown Portland
Downtown Portland, the city center of Portland, Oregon, United States, is located on the west bank of the Willamette River. It is in the northeastern corner of the southwest section of the city and is where most of the city's high-rise buildings are found....
could become a thriving, attractive place, if given attention and investment. In addition to private property development, he believed that investment in public amenities was also a key part of that equation. He was a strong proponent of building a light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
system in Portland when proposed in the 1970s—the MAX system which opened in 1986 and has expanded since—as well as other public transit
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
investments in downtown, including the Portland Transit Mall
Portland Transit Mall
The Portland Transit Mall is a set of public transit corridors through the center of downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. More specifically, it is a pair of one-way streets—one for northbound traffic, the other for southbound—along which two of the three lanes are restricted to...
, Fareless Square
Fareless Square
The Free Rail Zone is an area within Portland, Oregon where all TriMet light rail and Portland Streetcar rides are zero-fare . It primarily consists of the downtown area and the Lloyd District. Established in 1975, it was known as Fareless Square until 2010, and until then had included free rides...
, Portland Vintage Trolley
Portland Vintage Trolley
The Portland Vintage Trolley is a heritage streetcar service in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Service is provided with replicas of a type of Brill streetcar, nicknamed the "Council Crest" cars, which last served Portland in 1950. The Vintage Trolley is managed by Vintage Trolley Inc.,...
, and the Portland Streetcar
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...
. He led a successful effort to plant more than 10,000 trees in the city, as founder of the Street Tree Advisory Committee, which became Portland's Urban Forestry Commission and which he chaired from 1976 until his death. He donated space to start Portland's Saturday Market
Portland Saturday Market
The Portland Saturday Market is an outdoor arts and crafts market in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest continuously operated outdoor market in the United States. It is held every Saturday and Sunday from February 28 to December 24, at the junction of SW Ankeny and the Naito Parkway located...
, a popular arts and crafts market that has been held in the Old Town/Chinatown district continuously since 1974. He was co-founder and chairman of Artquake, an annual arts festival held in downtown from the 1980s until 1995. He fought for adequate funding to keep Multnomah County's public libraries in operation.
Although focused on downtown Portland, Naito's development efforts were not limited to it. Norcrest launched its Made in Oregon brand with the opening of a store at the Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil-military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of passenger travel and more than 95% of air cargo of the state. It is located within Portland's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah...
in 1975. By the 1990s it had grown to a chain of 11 stores. And, in 1985–1986 Naito Properties acquired and renovated a nine-story former Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward
Montgomery Ward is an online retailer that carries the same name as the former American department store chain, founded as the world's #1 mail order business in 1872 by Aaron Montgomery Ward, and which went out of business in 2001...
catalog warehouse in Northwest Portland
Northwest District, Portland, Oregon
The Northwest District is a densely populated retail and residential neighborhood in the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. Craftsman- and Old Portland-style houses are packed tightly together with grand old apartment buildings and sleek new condominiums, within walking distance of...
, refitting it for offices and trade shows/banquets and renaming it Montgomery Park
Montgomery Park (Portland, Oregon)
Montgomery Park is an office building and former Montgomery Ward mail-order catalog warehouse and department store located in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1920. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under its historic name Montgomery Ward & Company Building...
.
While Bill Naito's business ventures were often financially risky, it was clear that the potential for profit was not his primary motive, or at least not his only motive. He was widely recognized for taking on ventures that were at least as beneficial to the community as they were potentially moneymaking. When asked about his own salary by The Oregonian in 1985, he replied, "I'm a little crazy. My pay may not be the best in town, but I offer good economic advice. My objective is not to make a pile of money. That's one objective, but another is satisfaction." In the early 1980s he built the 300-unit McCormick Pier Apartments along the Willamette River
Willamette River
The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...
waterfront, just north of Old Town, replacing a derelict warehouse district and providing needed middle-income housing in an area where other developers had concluded it could not succeed. He lobbied in favor of a proposal for historic Union Station to be acquired by the city (and thereby preserved), which came to fruition in 1987.
Bill and Sam Naito were jointly honored with the "First Citizen" award for 1982 by the Portland Association of Realtors.
Support for streetcars
As early as 1975 Bill Naito concluded that operation of historic streetcars had a significant potential to attract people to downtown Portland, and he headed a drive in 1977 to convince downtown property owners to commit to helping fund the construction of such a line; Portland's last streetcars had been abandoned in the 1950s. Although that idea was soon supplanted by plans for a 15 miles (24.1 km) light railLight rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
system, which he also supported, Naito kept alive the idea of running vintage trolley cars
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
on the downtown section of the future MAX light rail. He helped convince city officials to embrace what became Portland Vintage Trolley
Portland Vintage Trolley
The Portland Vintage Trolley is a heritage streetcar service in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Service is provided with replicas of a type of Brill streetcar, nicknamed the "Council Crest" cars, which last served Portland in 1950. The Vintage Trolley is managed by Vintage Trolley Inc.,...
, which started service in 1991. Bill and Sam Naito went as far as to purchase six old American-style trolley cars being retired in Portugal in the early 1980s with the intention of donating them for restoration for this planned service, and one of those cars was on display next to the Galleria for ten months starting in June 1985 to publicize the plans. However, TriMet decided that buying new faux-vintage trolleys would be more cost-effective than rebuilding the Portuguese cars and allow larger per-car capacity, so the Naito-owned streetcars were not used and eventually were sold to other places, such as Memphis' Main Street Trolley
MATA Trolley
The MATA Trolley is a heritage streetcar system operating in Memphis in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It has operated since April 29, 1993.As of 2008, the system consists of three lines: the Main Street Trolley, the Madison Avenue Loop and the Riverfront Loop...
. At the time of its start, Portland Vintage Trolley was one of only a few urban heritage streetcar
Heritage streetcar
Heritage streetcars or heritage trams are a development of the heritage railways that are becoming popular across the world. As with modern streetcar systems, the vehicles are referred to as trams or tramcars in the United Kingdom, Australasia and certain other places , but as streetcars or...
services in the country, whereas similar operations now exist in more than 15 U.S. cities. Bill Naito was president of the non-profit Portland Vintage Trolley, Inc. from its formation in 1987 until his death in 1996.
Although the modern Portland Streetcar
Portland Streetcar
The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. It is currently a single line that is almost long and serves some 12,000 daily riders, but a second line is expected to open in 2012.As with the heavier-duty MAX...
did not come to fruition until five years after Bill Naito's death it had been working its way through various stages of planning since the 1980s, under the name Central City Trolley or (later) Central City Streetcar, and Bill Naito was one of the proposal's most influential and ardent supporters, serving on the board of the non-profit Portland Streetcar, Inc. (PSI). At the 1999 groundbreaking for the line, PSI board president Donald Magnusen commented that the streetcar project was a vision of the late Bill Naito. The line opened in 2001 and has been extended several times since then.
White Stag sign
For many years until 2004, the main offices of Norcrest China were located in the 1907-built White Stag Building, at the intersection of West Burnside Street and what was then Front Avenue, in Portland's Old Town. The building was acquired by Norcrest division H. Naito Properties in 1972. Perched atop the building since 1940 is a large neon-and-incandescent-bulb sign known as the White Stag signWhite Stag sign
The White Stag sign, also known as the Made in Oregon sign and the “Portland Oregon” sign, is a lighted neon-and-incandescent-bulb sign located atop the White Stag Building, at 70 NW Couch Street in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States, facing the Burnside Bridge. The sign faces westbound...
, which the city designated a historic landmark in 1977. Until 2010 it was owned by Ramsay Signs. The leaping stag
White stag
A white stag or white deer is a red deer with a condition known as leucism that causes its hair and skin to lose its natural colour. The white stag has played a prominent role in many cultures' mythology.-Biology:...
on the sign is given an illuminated red "nose" each holiday season, a tradition started in 1959, but in 1989 the sign went dark after the building's previous occupants—who had continued paying the sign's electricity bill after moving out in 1973—decided to stop paying for the sign's maintenance. By this time, the sign, which also includes a neon outline in the shape of the state of Oregon, had become a popular local landmark.
As the 1989 holiday season approached, Bill Naito agreed to take over payment of the sign's upkeep, even though the sign continued to advertise White Stag Sportswear
White Stag (clothing)
White Stag is an in-store brand of women's clothing and accessories sold by Wal-Mart. Originally founded as a skiwear manufacturer in Portland, Oregon, the company was purchased by the Warnaco Group in 1966, which in turn sold the brand to Wal-Mart in 2003....
, which had no connection with any Norcrest or Naito property. "I miss the sign – I really do," he told The Oregonian
The Oregonian
The Oregonian is the major daily newspaper in Portland, Oregon, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850...
, when asked about his decision. "So even after Christmas, I'm going to keep it on." Eight years later, in 1997, the sign's wording was changed from White Stag to the name of a Naito-owned brand, the Made in Oregon retail store chain. Norcrest China moved out of the building in 2004, but the sign retained the "Made in Oregon" wording until November 2010, when it was changed to "Portland Oregon", after Ramsay Signs donated it to the city.
Notwithstanding his willingness to pay to keep the historic sign functioning, and other community-minded "gifts" to fellow citizens, in his personal activities Naito was "notoriously frugal". He was described as a "gregarious workaholic" who was content to work at an old "battered desk" in an open office space shared with his employees. Despite his financial success, "Bill Naito continued to drive old cars and displayed few of the trappings of wealth," The Oregonian wrote in its 1996 obituary. Willamette Week
Willamette Week
Willamette Week is an alternative weekly newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, United States. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business and culture....
called him "perhaps the most unpretentious tycoon Portland ever embraced."
Other involvement
Naito served on the boards of several organizations and entities, including the following:- Reed CollegeReed CollegeReed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, board of trustees (1975–1996) - Portland Urban Forestry Commission (1976–1996)
- Portland Chamber of Commerce (1977–1996)
- National Trust for Historic PreservationNational Trust for Historic PreservationThe National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
(1982–1987) - Multnomah County LibraryMultnomah County LibraryMultnomah County Library is a public library system serving Multnomah County, Oregon, United States. Started in 1864, the system has 19 library locations with books, magazines, DVDs, and computers. It is the largest library system in Oregon serving a population of 724,680, with more than 425,000...
(chair) (1990–1996) - National Wildlife FoundationNational Fish and Wildlife FoundationThe National Fish and Wildlife Foundation protects, sustains and restores the wildlife, plants and habitats of the United States. Established by Congress in 1984, the Foundation directs public conservation dollars to critical environmental needs and matches those investments with private...
(1989–1996).
He was also finance chair for the Oregon Nikkei Endowment, an organization devoted to preserving and sharing the history of Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
s in Oregon. His fundraising through the non-profit made possible the creation of a memorial in Portland, the Japanese-American Historical Plaza, which opened in 1990 in Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Tom McCall Waterfront Park
Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located on the west bank of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is , comprising 16 tax lots owned by the City of Portland....
. Its stone sculptures bear the names of Japanese internment
Japanese American internment
Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...
camps and stories of some of the internee
Civilian Internee
Civilian Internee is a special status of a prisoner under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Civilian Internees are civilians who are detained by a party to a war for security reasons...
s, along with the U.S. Bill of Rights.
At the time of his death, he was also working with others to create a Chinese garden
Chinese garden
The Chinese garden, also known as a Chinese classical garden, is a style of landscape garden which has evolved for more than three thousand years, and which is inspired by Chinese literature, Chinese painting and Chinese philosophy...
in Portland's Old Town/Chinatown district
Old Town Chinatown, Portland, Oregon
Old Town Chinatown is a neighborhood in the Northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods...
, an effort which ultimately led to the opening in 2000 of the Portland Classical Chinese Garden (renamed the Lan Su Chinese Garden
Lan Su Chinese Garden
Lan Su Chinese Garden, formerly the Portland Classical Chinese Garden and titled the Garden of Awakening Orchids, is a walled garden enclosing a full city block, roughly in the Chinatown area of the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, USA...
in 2010).
Memorials
Bill Naito died of cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
on May 8, 1996, only eight days after being diagnosed with the disease. In June, the Portland city council decided to honor him by renaming Front Avenue in his memory. The new name, Naito Parkway, was applied to the section of Front Avenue south of NW 15th Avenue and the Fremont Bridge. Naito Parkway is an arterial street running along the eastern edge of downtown and alongside Tom McCall Waterfront Park, passing some of the historic districts Naito helped to preserve.
The Portland Business Alliance (formerly the Portland Chamber of Commerce) bestows an annual leadership and service award, which for a time was named the "William S. Naito Outstanding Service Award" and currently is called the "William S. Naito Leadership Award". The city's Urban Forestry Commission created an annual award in honor of Naito, its founder, entitled the Bill Naito Community Trees Award. It has been given each year since 1997.
In 2007, Reed College renamed a residence hall in memory of Naito, who had graduated from Reed in 1949 and later was elected to the college's board of trustees, in 1974. In August 2009, a new public fountain was dedicated in Waterfront Park and named the Bill Naito Legacy Fountain. It is located between the Burnside Bridge
Burnside Bridge
The Burnside Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.-Design:Including approaches, the Burnside has a total length of and a center span. While lowered this span is normally above the river. The deck is made of concrete, which contributes to its being one of...
and Ash Street in the park, at the site (since 2009) of the Portland Saturday Market
Portland Saturday Market
The Portland Saturday Market is an outdoor arts and crafts market in Portland, Oregon. It is the largest continuously operated outdoor market in the United States. It is held every Saturday and Sunday from February 28 to December 24, at the junction of SW Ankeny and the Naito Parkway located...
.
Bill Naito Properties, Inc.
After Bill Naito's death, a rift developed between his immediate family and his brother Sam and Sam's family with regard to the management and focus of their company. After several years of trying to work out their business differences, the two groups decided in 2005 to settle their long-running dispute by dividing the assets of the now-$100 million empire, H. Naito Corporation. Sam Naito took full control of the Made in Oregon chain of retail stores, while H. Naito Corporation's real estate holdings went to Bill Naito's heirs, who formed a new real estate management company, Bill Naito Properties, Inc., to manage those assets. Bill Naito's widow, Micki, was named chair of the board of directors of Bill Naito Properties.External links
- Bill and Sam Naito: A Portland Story by Oregon Nikkei Endowment
- Memorial tribute resolution passed by the 1997 Oregon LegislatureOregon Legislative AssemblyThe Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives, with 60 members elected to...