La Grande’s Rally to Save a Downtown Anchor
Editor’s Note — To celebrate National Historic Preservation Month we’ve asked several individuals and organizations from around the state to tell us what preservation means to their community. We hope you find inspiration for your next preservation project from these stories.
Beginning in the late 1980s, residents of La Grande have worked to revitalize their downtown. In the last decade, City-assisted rehabilitation of historic buildings has made the downtown an attractive destination. One such example is the IOOF Building (1892) and the State Theatre (1910), conjoined commercial buildings in La Grande’s Historic District. By 2011, due to years of neglect, failed roofs and broken windows, the buildings were in such an advanced state of deterioration that some — including members of the City Council — were considering the best thing for the community might be to have them demolished.
Could La Grande save these historic downtown buildings?
The buildings suffered extensive water damage and infestation from pigeons. The upper floors were a toxic mix of live and dead pigeons, pigeon droppings and mold, rendering them unsafe to enter and unmarketable. Desiring to turn the properties into viable commercial real estate opportunities and to preserve the iconic historic buildings, the City Council and City Staff convinced the current owners to deed the properties over to the City’s Urban Renewal Agency.
The rehabilitated buildings are now ready for business!
An extensive, two-phased project sought to clean up the buildings and do minimal restoration. A complex environmental rehabilitation took place in summer 2012. The costs associated with this phase were largely offset with Brownfield Clean-up Fund grants from Business Oregon. The clean-up phase was immediately followed by a repair phase that installed new roofs, repaired and/or replaced windows, repaired structural masonry and spruced up the buildings’ facades.
The buildings are now on the market seeking an investor to return these century-old buildings to their former commercial glory. At the very least, prominent historical structures have been saved from further deterioration and potential demolition. At best, they may be brought back to life in a commercial role, revitalizing La Grande’s downtown.
Charlie Mitchell is the Community & Economic Development Director for the City of La Grande. Learn more about La Grande’s efforts and the work of the City’s Main Street program.
Modern is Historic this Preservation Month
Editor’s Note — To celebrate National Historic Preservation Month we’ve asked several individuals and organizations from around the state to tell us what preservation means to their community. We hope you find inspiration for your next preservation project from these stories.
On Saturday, May 11, the Historic Preservation League of Oregon hosted the third annual Mid-Century Modern Home Tour in Portland to raise public appreciation and understanding of our state’s recent past architecture. This year’s tour provided a retrospective on the work of Saul Zaik, a Portland architect who has maintained his practice since 1952. One of the region’s few living architects from the mid-century period, the 86-year-old Zaik practiced during a time of great change in the design of buildings—not to mention change in the design of the region’s urban landscape.
A sketch of a home designed by architect Saul Zaik
While Zaik himself was present at the Modern Home Tour to provide a unique perspective on the period, Preservation Month brings a number of additional opportunities to appreciate the state’s high-quality mid-century designs. Two back-to-back sessions at the Oregon Heritage Conference explored the history of post-World War II architecture and outlined best practices in identifying and protecting the best designs from the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. The Mid-Century Modern League is hosting a self-guided driving tour, Rejuvenation Hardware is sponsoring a cocktail Snappy Hour, and Corvallis is presenting an Atomic Ranch Homes Tour—all intended to celebrate Modern architecture as part of Preservation Month.
Home designed by architect Saul Zaik
While historians and present-day designers readily acknowledge the significant role that mid-century architects played during the decades following World War II, considerable research and advocacy is needed to preserve the important places that date to the period. For example, while Saul Zaik was a primary contributor to the maturation of the Northwest Modern Style, none of his buildings have been designated on a local or the National Register of Historic Places. Furthermore, only five buildings from Zaik’s extensive portfolio have even been recorded in historic resource inventories, meaning the broader preservation community has much work to do to document and protect some of Oregon’s best designs from the recent past.
With events happening around the state, let this year’s Preservation Month expose you to Oregon’s great mid-century buildings and the important work that lies ahead in preserving the best from the period.
Brandon Spencer-Hartle is the Field Programs Manager at the Historic Preservation League of Oregon.
Editor’s note — To celebrate National Historic Preservation Month we’ve asked several individuals and organizations from around the state to tell us what preservation means to their community. We hope you find inspiration for your next preservation project from these stories.
By Gwendolyn Trice
Our parent’s pass on their cultural idioms through us, their artifacts and textiles weave their story; we pass on our tools, ideas and traditions to our children, friends, and neighbors.
Maxville Heritage Interpretative Center in Enterprise
Our descendant’s collective culture carefully packed into satchels, suitcases, and steamer trunks are symbolic of a child’s treasured cigar box. It reveals the story of daily life and the hope of a new beginning.
How does the wonder of a child ignite within us today?
Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center’s (MHIC) mission is to increase access to the public of communities that migrated out west in the logging, railroad and timber industry in the early 1900s. Established in 2008, the MHIC has been changing our perspectives of Oregon’s rural historical record. Access to oral history, artifacts and textiles provide enjoyment and personal connection, enriches scholastic and genealogy research. Developing electronic media tools will broaden the MHIC’s outreach globally. Blogging tools will enhance and provide a conversational corridor within our website and as a standalone tool.
Preservation is rooted to our mission. Our collaborative efforts with agency, community and individuals provide MHIC with a new home, buildings for historical and cultural interpretation and education. On the National Register since 2009, this Forest Service, CCC-built compound will provide economic relief over time as well as draw tourist traffic.
What discovery will you make today?
Gwendolyn Trice is the Executive Director of the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center in Enterprise. Find out more about the work of MHIC.
Salem: Heritage All-Star Community
By Salem Historic Landmarks Commission
Salem has a long history beginning with the state’s first inhabitants living on the banks of the Willamette River and the arrival of Methodist missionaries led by Jason Lee in 1840, through the establishment of the State Capitol and the rise of the State’s agriculture and timber industries. Since the 1950s, the city’s residents and leaders have recognized Salem’s history and have actively preserved and interpreted its rich past. For example, in 1953, the heirs of Asahel Bush, a prominent businessman, donated his home to the City as a museum. Efforts to preserve the Jason Lee House, Thomas Kay Woolen Mill (now the Willamette Heritage Center) and other notable places followed in rapid succession. In the 1970s, the City established a landmark program. Today, the downtown core, two prominent neighborhoods, the State Capitol Building, and the old Mill are among 67 districts and individual properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Salem’s historic Union Street Railroad Bridge, now a pedestrian and bike bridge.
The recent designation of Salem as a Heritage All-Star Community not only recognizes the city’s past, but also celebrates the collective and tireless work of individuals and organizations to preserve, interpret, and share Salem’s history and culture for the enrichment of the community. The legacy of these efforts provide both residents and visitors unique and authentic opportunities to visit art, history, and children’s museums, attend a play or concert, take a pleasurable walk, and taste Willamette Valley wines and cuisine in historic buildings and districts.
The Mayor and City Council’s recent steps to preserve historic places and promote cultural tourism reaffirm the City’s ongoing commitment to its past and future. The award-winning rehabilitation of the Union Street Railroad Bridge in 2009 and the current restoration of the Railway Express Agency Depot — one of Salem’s oldest buildings — are just two examples. For Salem, the Heritage All-Star Community designation is an opportunity to assess and celebrate not only what’s been accomplished so far, but also what can be done in the future. As a community, we look forward to meeting that challenge.
The Salem Historic Landmarks Commission is made up of City residents who volunteer their time and professional expertise to review, designate, and encourage the preservation of historic resources.
Ready for a Field Trip?
By Annie von Domitz
Heritage organizations and government agencies are always on the lookout to find cost effective ways to fulfill their mission and reach the public. The Oregon Travel Experience (OTE) Oregon Historical Marker and Heritage Tree Program is no different, so when we saw an opportunity to participate in a new Google project, we jumped on board.
Historical markers and trees in Oregon are now part of the Field Trip app.
Google launched their new Field Trip app in September 2012. Field Trip acts like a local tour guide. It pops up messages on your smart phone, alerting you to things you might find interesting nearby. It is a free app available for download on Android and Apple devices.
Our involvement with Field Trip began after I was using the app on my personal phone for a couple of days. I was having a great time using the app to discover hidden public art, interesting architecture and local history, and thought the OTE heritage tree and historical marker sites should be included. We submitted a request to publish our information on Field Trip to Niantic Labs (the division of Google developing the app.) The developers agreed that the content was a good fit. After that, it was a fairly fast process, since we had already formatted the Oregon Historical Marker and Heritage Tree content for OTE’s mobile website. Field Trip was even able to integrate our audio tour files, creating a complete multi-media experience.
An example of an entry in the Field Trip app. The app is currently available free for Android and Apple devices.
OTE has a goal to find ways to take advantage of new mobile technology to reach a wider audience. Although our current funding sources limit our ability to create our own stand-alone apps, the content sharing agreement with Field Trip will help OTE reach a much larger audience than we could on our own at no additional cost.
We are constantly looking for ways to connect with a fast-paced, increasingly plugged-in public. Many people are curious about Oregon history, but are too busy to stop at each site. With the Field Trip app, however, people can get the same information at their own convenience. Of course, they miss out on the scenery and the experience of actually standing in front of a heritage tree or historical marker, but we think it will entice them to stop next time. Either way, this app helps us to reach more residents and visitors alike, and helps drive traffic into the unique communities that people might otherwise miss.
As the Field Trip tag line says, “It’s your world, explore it!” We hope that Oregon heritage sites (and the communities that surround them) will be a big part of that exploration. I have learned about several new places in my own hometown that I would not have found on my own. I plan on visiting as many as I can over the next year. I encourage you to download the app and do some exploring of your own!
Annie von Domitz is the Administrator of OTE Heritage Programs
6 Reasons to Go to the 2013 Oregon Heritage Conference
By Carol Michael
Have you registered yet for this year’s Oregon Heritage Conference being held May 9-10 in Portland? If you haven’t, here are 6 reasons why you should consider going.
1. Location, Location, Location: Registration and most sessions will be at the Architectural Heritage Center (AHC) in Portland. The AHC hosts programs, tours, and exhibits which help people appreciate, restore, and maintain older and historic buildings, neighborhoods, and traditional commercial areas. The AHC has a large collection of architectural artifacts, maintains a research library, and hosts monthly art exhibits. If you, your family or your community is in the process of restoring or preserving a historic building, you want to become familiar with AHC resources. Famed Rejuvenation Hardware is only four short blocks away.
Because 5 reasons just weren’t enough… (Flickr credit: Leo Reynolds)
2. Timely Topics: Surveys of Oregon museums and community heritage centers, directors, and volunteers indicate a great need for education about techniques and best practices to sort, inventory and preserve artifacts. A FREE Collections Care and Best Practices Workshop will be offered on Thursday, May 9 to meet your needs. On Friday, May 10 another FREE workshop on Disaster Preparedness will help your organization develop a plan for dealing with those earthquakes and tsunamis that are due in Oregon sooner or later.
3. Connections and Networking: Meet people from museums, archives, historic preservation organizations, tourism, government agencies, and other heritage groups at a variety of seminars, workshops and other activities about common issues and topics. Tours, meals, and breaks are excellent opportunities to build connections.
4. Fun Tours and a Banquet: An “insider” tour to the Pratt & Larson Tile and Stone; a tour of Grand Avenue Historic District and Produce Row; plus, the Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards Banquet at the Melody Ballroom. You can’t go wrong!
5. Affordable: The cost of the conference is modest. There are rates for advance purchase, students, and on-site. Check out the registration form online for more details.
6. Motivational: Last year at the Oregon Heritage Conference, a group of Oregon veterans were recognized with an Oregon Heritage Excellence Award for their signage project to mark historic military sites on Highway 97. This signage runs the entire length of Highway 97 from Biggs to the California border. As my husband and I traveled the route, we felt an enormous sense of pride in the people of eastern Oregon: their individual participation in various military actions, and gratitude for small communities that provided support for a variety of military trainings. I’m looking forward to what’s in store for this year!
Ready to register? Visit the Oregon Heritage Conference website for details.
Carol Michael is a member of the Oregon Heritage Commission.
Summer Lake and John C. Fremont
By Loren Irving
John C. Fremont named a number of locations while on what is known as his Second Exploring Expedition in 1843-1844. His mission when he left Westport, Missouri in spring of 1843 was to map and survey the Oregon Trail. Congress wanted the information published to encourage folks to come out to Oregon, primarily for the purpose of populating the area and then to claim it as part of the United States.
Summer Lake and Winter Ridge, Lake County, Oregon
When Fremont arrived at The Dalles in November of 1843, he considered his mission complete, then decided to head south instead of wintering in there.
After going south on a route most likely approximating the Klamath Trail, he turned east in order to get the expedition out of the mountains and pine forest. His journal mentions the lack of grass and forage for the 104 horses and mules and some cattle he was trailing along for food. When he left the Sycan Marsh (located in what is now western Lake County, Oregon) he was on a foot or two of snow, which got deeper as the party ascended the back side of what is now called Winter Ridge.
The party had no idea that they would soon come to the edge of an escarpment from which they could look down some 3,000 feet and see a lake with no snow and was surrounded in places with green grass at about noon on December 16, 1843. Fremont had been advised of this lake already by local Native Americans.
Here is an excerpt from Fremont’s Journal entry for Dec. 16, 1843:
At our feet–more than a thousand feet below–we looked into a green prairie country, in which a beautiful lake, some twenty miles in length, was spread along the foot of the mountains, its shores bordered with green grass. Just then the sun broke out among the clouds, and illuminated the country below; while around us the storm raged fiercely. Not a particle of ice was to be seen on the lake, or snow on its borders, and all was like summer or spring. The glow of the sun in the valley below brightened up our hearts with sudden pleasure; and we made the woods ring with joyful shouts to those behind; and gradually, as each came up, he stopped to enjoy the unexpected scene. Shivering on snow three feet deep, and stiffening in a cold north wind, we exclaimed at once that the names of Summer Lake and Winter Ridge should be applied to these two proximate places of such sudden and violent contrast.
In a rare error in estimating, Fremont misses the actual distance in elevation substantially. As noted above, he thought it was 1,000 feet but it is more like 3,000 feet. The approximate location of the camp of Dec. 16, 1843 is where the Summer Lake Lodge is now located.
Loren Irving is currently the Vice Chair for the Oregon Historic Trails Advisory Council.
Interested in reading more of Fremont’s journal? Check it out on Google Books.
Roseburg: Heritage All-Star Community
By Brian Davis
Roseburg values its history. At I-5 exit 124 motorists see the usual brown heritage attraction sign; what is unusual is that it says “National Register Historic Districts”. Roseburg boasts three National Register districts that celebrate distinctly different aspects of Roseburg’s past.
Mill-Pine could be thought of as the workingman’s district. It runs along the railroad and provided housing for workers. Houses are simple and generally utilitarian but reflect the American dream of home ownership even if at a modest scale.
Laurelwood on the other hand, presents eclectic styles, from Colonial to Mediterranean, and huge bungalows to cozy cottages. Homes overlook the South Umpqua River or surround the neighborhood park. Mature landscaping complements the gracious homes tucked back in a private enclave.
(Left) House in the Laurelwood Historic District; (Right) View of a building damaged in The Blast in 1959.
Downtown represents Roseburg’s claim to national press coverage – the site of the Roseburg Blast. On a hot August night in 1959 a delivery truck loaded with dynamite parked downtown. A small fire broke out nearby resulting in the destruction of much of our original downtown.
Heritage All-Star Community status demonstrates that Roseburg values its history and its citizens. It reminds us of our amazing partners who celebrate what makes Roseburg special. It is the Downtown Roseburg Association working as an Oregon Main Street city and celebrating past times during Graffiti Week events, or the Visitor and Convention Bureau creating a self-guided smart phone tour of The Blast. The program also reminds us that we can do more to celebrate and recognize our unique city and its past.
Perhaps Roseburg will look to its future to preserve its past by engaging students in local history or developing an oral history program to interview long-time residents or those who recall events and activities from our past. The Heritage All-Star designation is a true honor for Roseburg and demonstrates the community’s commitment to preserving our proud history.
Brian Davis is the Roseburg Community Development Director.
Register Today for the 2013 Oregon Heritage Conference
Have ideas for heritage advocacy crossed your mind?
Do you need tools for documenting and managing mid-century modern buildings in your community?
What about case studies for engaging new people in your heritage efforts?
All of the above questions — and many more! –will be the focus of this year’s Oregon Heritage Conference on May 9-10 in Portland. The conference will take place at the Architectural Heritage Center, East Bank Saloon, Melody Ballroom and other venues in the Grand Avenue Historic District.
The 1890 Barber Block & Odels building, one of many great historic buildings in east Portland’s Grand Avenue Historic District.
The abundance of opportunities for stewarding Oregon heritage will be the center of workshops, speakers, and panels at this year’s conference. Whether you are documenting and preserving an important collection or building, preparing for a disaster, advocating for support, or creating a new appreciation for Oregon heritage in its many forms, you will want to attend.
Make plans to attend the Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards banquet being held in the historic Melody Ballroom, where eight individuals, organizations, and projects will be awarded for outstanding efforts on behalf of Oregon heritage. Highlights of the conference will include an affecting keynote talk, special tours (including a behind-the-scenes look of a tile factory), research presentations from Oregon’s Heritage Fellows, and meeting colleagues from across the state.
Ready to register? Visit the conference site for more details and to download the registration form.
Our Gift to You? 28 Days of Free Training!
Just in time for Oregon Statehood Day, Oregonians with a passion for heritage are about to get a gift.
Oregon Heritage is announcing it will conduct 28 days of training related to collections care and disaster preparedness in all regions of the state this year. Hundreds of Oregonians and dozens of organizations passionate about their state will benefit from the free training, thanks to a Connecting to Collections grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services.
It’s like getting 28 days of birthday presents!
The first 14 days of training will take place from April 14-May 17 in Astoria, Bend, Coos Bay, Medford, Pendleton, Philomath and Portland. Each community will have two days of training. The first will be about collections care and management. The second will be about disaster preparedness. People may sign up for one or both days of training.
The collections care workshop will cover the topics of collection policy, preservation planning, collections assessments, environmental controls, collections problem solving, and solving conundrums through networking.
The emergency preparedness workshop includes connecting with emergency responders, disaster planning, identifying threats and resources, collections prioritization, and involving the public in disaster preparedness.
The workshops will include lectures, hands-on activities, discussions, guest presentations, and small-group work. They are designed for archives, libraries and museums and will be relevant to people with little collections experience as well those with more significant experience.
A second round of workshops in the fall will develop the training topics further.
For the schedule of spring trainings, visit the Oregon Connecting to Collections website.
