The recently released report, What’s Up Downtown? A Playbook for Activating Oregon’s Upper Stories addresses how upper stories in historic buildings like those shown here in Lakeview’s Heryford Building – an Oregon Most Endangered Place – can be rejuvenated. Photo by Restore Oregon. Oregon Heritage, which houses the State Historic Preservation Office and the Oregon […]
UPDATE: Big Grant for Cumberland Community Events Center!
Above: Board President, Rachel Browning, shown here with the Cumberland’s Vice President, Joel Orton, learned about the upcoming work on the Cumberland’s steeple on a recent visit with the CCEC in Albany. Photo by Restore Oregon. The Cumberland Community Events Center (CCEC) recently received a grant from the Kinsman Foundation for $50,000 to perform exterior restoration […]
2022: A Year of Progress for Restore Oregon’s Preservation Programs
Waldron Brothers Drugstore (The Dalles) – After years of uncertainty about the fate of this 159-year old building, The Dalles City Council made a momentous decision about its future this past October – they voted unanimously to pursue preservation in place! The Friends of the Waldron Brothers Drugstore will work with the City to identify […]
Oregon Historic Places Receive Large Grants for Restoration Projects
Several of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places have received large grants from the Oregon Cultural Trust’s Cultural Development Program recently, including: Friends of Santiam Pass Ski Lodge, Sisters: $29,080 To support the restoration of historic Santiam Pass Ski Lodge through the repair and restoration of its iconic stone foundation, chimney, and fireplace. Drexel H. Foundation, Vale: […]
UPDATE: The Dalles City Council Votes to Preserve Waldron Brothers Drugstore
On October 10, 2022, The Dalles City Council made a momentous decision about the future of the Waldron Brothers Drugstore, also known as the Gitchell Building – the oldest intact commercial building in The Dalles, and an Oregon Most Endangered Place since 2019. The City Council voted unanimously to pursue the preservation of the […]
Announcing the 2023 Pets ‘n Preservation Photo Contest Winners
Highly regarded—in our opinion—as one of Oregon’s premier pet photo contests, the Restore Oregon Pets ’n Preservation photo contest raises awareness of our most loved places around the state. For the last three years, animals from all across the state have entered our contest in hopes of winning the coveted cover of the Pets ’n […]
Historic Preservation Plans for Disaster Resilience
As a result of the 2020 Labor Day fires, hundreds of homes in the Santiam Canyon were reduced to ashes and dozens of businesses were razed. Four people lost their lives, and life has been altered for everyone who calls the community of Gates home. According to the USDA Forest Service, in 2020, 2017, and […]
Arthur’s Restoration Journey: A Preservation Planning & Testing Case Study
The Jantzen Beach Carousel has provided Restore Oregon with a unique opportunity to demonstrate how the process of historic preservation planning works, and why it is so vital to any preservation project, be that preservation of an object (like the carousel), a landscape, a structure, or a building. Our team spent the pandemic testing repair […]
Building a Preservation Roadmap: Inventory and Condition Assessment
Back in 2017, when the Jantzen Beach Carousel was offered to our organization, we had to scramble to make acceptance of such an unusual donation possible. Simply scraping together funds to pay for storage and insurance was a challenge. So, while we would have loved to have launched our stewardship with a thorough inventory and […]
Big Grants for Billy Webb Elks Lodge!
As one of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places, Restore Oregon staff has worked closely with the volunteer leadership of the Billy Webb Elks Lodge (BWEL) to raise close to $200,000 in grant funding and donations since the devastating fire occurred last September. An award of $140,000 from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, a program […]