This center was built in the early 1940s as part of an enormous federal housing project for ship workers mobilized for the World War II effort. At the time of its construction, it included recreational facilities as well as a restaurant, a fire department with three engines, and administrative offices for the housing project.

A wind-driven kinetic sculpture by Jerry Mayer was installed in front of the center on August 31, 1999. Mayer worked closely with the North Portland community to develop Whirlymajig, an altered water pump windmill with a 5-ft diameter fan wheel atop a 30-ft steel flag pool. It metaphorically suggests that we need both physical and mental exercise in order to live happy, healthy lives. Driven by the wind through a system of gears, drive shafts, axels, and drive chains, the sculpture's tail section consists of variously moving aluminum cutouts of arms and legs performing physically and mentally challenging tasks.

As part of the center's extensive renovation in 2007, a wall sculpture by Laura Bender was installed in the lobby. From Here to There is a metaphor for the venture of exploration, a story about movement, coordination, and change that references things historical, nautical, and navigational. Movement refers to people relocating here, ships sailing rivers and seas, driftwood swept up on the shores of the Columbia River, and people meeting and forming relationships as they dance, exercise, and move around one another.