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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Egyptian Theater Almost Ready for Its Close-Up
Back in 2011 the Egyptian Theatre (built in 1925) was placed on Restore Oregon’s Most Endangered Places list. It had been shut down by our theatre’s owner, the Urban Renewal Agency of Coos Bay, because of structural concerns. In 2012 the City of Coos Bay and the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association (ETPA) embarked on an […]
Rebirth of Egyptian Theater—Many More to Come?
After three years of intense community advocacy, Coos Bay’s beloved Egyptian Theatre is shining bright once again. The downtown landmark was listed as one of Oregon’s Most Endan gered Places® in the spring of 2011 fol lowing its closure due to structural safety concerns. At the time of its listing as an Endangered Place, the theater […]
Corvallis’ Whiteside Theatre Shines Again
In 2006, an impassioned group of preservationists and theatre enthusiasts refused to sit idly by when developers proposed to gut the Whiteside Theatre—one of Oregon’s grand movie palaces—for a mini-mall and restaurant. Armed with the knowledge that the 800-seat Whiteside would contribute more to the cultural vitality and economic diversity of downtown Corvallis as a […]