As part of our Oregon’s Most Endangered Places program, Restore Oregon combined forces with the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to bring an unprecedented grant opportunity to rural historic theaters in Oregon! Last year, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), which includes the Oregon Main Street Network and the State Historic Preservation Office, received […]
A New Marquee, Drive-In Open for Business, and a Chance Meeting Reveals Historic Plans
The economic impacts of COVID-19 in Oregon are being felt across the state and we’re only just beginning to understand how far and wide the effects will reach. While we unite to help each other through these troubling times it’s important to remember the positive things that are happening around us. Though theaters were forced […]
Announcing the Oregon Historic Theater Grant
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), which includes the Oregon Main Street Network and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), was awarded $665,000 in federal grant funding to implement a grant program for the preservation of historic theaters. The grant was one of nine awarded nationally through the National Park Service Historic Revitalization Subgrant Program. […]
Two for the Price of…FREE!
Restore Oregon has partnered with Oregon Heritage to offer a FREE regional membership in the League of Historic American Theatres (LHAT) and Restore Oregon. This is an exclusive offer for historic Oregon theaters! Our work with historic theaters started with a survey in 2015, continued with regional theater workshops throughout the state in 2016, and now […]
Future Success Secured
In the past year, Restore Oregon has made great strides towards protecting and preserving the places that make Oregon livable and sustainable. This is an update on two of the places that were on the 2016 list of Oregon’s Most Endangered Places and have now progressed toward the ultimate goal of a long-term viable use. The […]
Historic Theaters Workshops a Success!
Theaters make magic happen. Our childhood memories are filled with buttery popcorn, first dates, and stolen kisses lit by the glow of the silver screen. Experiencing art and culture, feeling the power of architecture, and meeting family and neighbors for a special night out, are all ways we interact with theaters. Restore Oregon, along with […]
Theater of High Class and Free Baby Giveaway: The Grand of Medford Oregon
Written with assistance from Verginia Turpin It began with a photograph picked up at a yard sale by my mom-in-law. It is a really beautiful image; a brick theater building, early autos, a celebratory mood. The label on the back reads “Grand Theater, Medford Or. 1913” Neither of us were familiar with a Grand Theater in […]
Historic theaters: potential economic engines face challenges
A new report on the condition and needs of Oregon’s historic theaters reveals them as potentially significant economic engines as well as cultural touchstones in communities small and large. But they’re challenged by deferred maintenance and other financial and organizational needs, for which the report provides specific recommendations. Nearly a year of research resulted in […]