Since the early 1970s, Adolf’s Pattern Shop created products to support pattern makers and foundries from its building at 425 NE 80th Ave. The location closed in April of 2020 after owners Leonor and Adolf Volkmann sold to the Minnesota-based Midwest Pattern. The building is currently empty, with plans to sell or lease the property under consideration.

Adolf’s Pattern Shop quietly occupied the cinder block building with only a small sign indicating what company operated from this location. That sign is now gone, leaving an unpainted square to the left of the one front window. Despite the lack of street-side advertising, Adolf’s Pattern Shop became internationally known for supplying products for the pattern-making and metal-casting industry. The company remained family-owned for its entire time in Oregon.

The publication Modern Casting from July 9th reported on the business’s sale and provided more information on the acquisition of Adolf’s Pattern Shop. According to that article, Leonor and Adolf Volkmann began pursuing the business’s sale several years ago and came close to liquidation. Midwest Pattern was a long-time customer of the Portland company and felt it critical their products remain available to the industry. The new owners have great respect for the history that comes along with their purchase, keeping Volkmann’s career details accessible on the company website.

The building was not part of the business sale, and it remains the property of the Volkmanns. Leonor and Adolf Volkmann are the second owners of the property. They acquired it on August 23rd of 1974 from the building’s original owner Abe Ryerson. Ryerson started construction on the building in 1955.

Although Montavilla lost a manufacturing business in the neighborhood, it is likely a positive outcome for the Volkmann’s. With luck, a new business will move into that space and see the same decades-long success Adolf’s Pattern Shop had.