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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 27, 2015)
Manzanita Clatskanie Cultural Center holds grand opening Historic IOOF Hall renovation to enhance civic, cultural opportunities Tour of Homes celebrates 20 years Aug. 29 MANZANITA — The Kiwanis and Women’s Club of North Tillamook County invite the public to the 20th annual Manzanita Tour of Homes. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 29. Tour six charming homes at your leisure, and enjoy refreshments. All proceeds will go toward local children needs. Tickets are sold day of the tour starting at 8:30 a.m. at the Kiwanis booth located in Howell’s Square located on Laneda Avenue. Tickets cost $10. For more infor- mation, call Mary Brophy at 503-368-7002. CLATSKANIE — After a suc- cessful $3.18 million capital campaign and 18 months of interior renovation work, the new Clatskanie Cultural Cen- ter is nearing completion. The Clatskanie Foundation invites the public to view and cele- brate the opening of the cul- tural center at a public open house, scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30. The center is located at 75 S. Ne- halem St. For decades, the Indepen- dent Order of Odd Fellows Hall was a prominent center of community life in Clatskanie. The building, which was add- ed to the National Registry of Historic Places in 2012, was designed by prominent Oregon architect Ernst Kroner in 1926 and opened in 1927. Nearly every adult who grew up in Clatskanie remembers going to movies, dance classes, public celebrations and civic meetings at the I.O.O.F Hall. Watch- LQJPRYLHVDWWKHJURXQGÀRRU Avalon Theater was a popular activity, but by the 1990s the building became an eyesore. After it was sold by the dwin- dling membership of the Odd Fellows Lodge, it fell into dis- repair through neglect by a se- ries of private owners. Renovating the I.O.O.F. Hall began to emerge as a dream of community mem- bers in the late 1990s. Yet, the concept did not move forward until late 2005 when the Clats- kanie Foundation received a VLJQL¿FDQW EHTXHVW IURP WKH estate of C. Keith Birkenfeld, for whom the building’s new theater is named. With the Birkenfeld be- quest, the foundation was able to purchase the building, complete restoration of the IDFDGH DQG WKH ¿UVW SKDVH RI HDUWKTXDNH UHWUR¿WWLQJ 7KH Clatskanie Foundation then launched a capital campaign to raise funds to renovate the marie POWELL shoalwater cove gallery building’s interior. To date, the project has raised over $3.18 million — enough to cover the $3.15 million construc- tion costs and create a needed longterm maintenance fund. The successful fundraising campaign has earned wide- spread support from regional foundations, including ma- jor grants from the C. Keith Birkenfeld Memorial Trust at the Seattle Foundation, The Ford Family Fund of The Or- egon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, The Collins Foundation, and The Wollenberg Foundation. More than 100 other founda- tions, businesses and individu- als have donated to the project. “We are grateful for the widespread support of this project. The depth of gener- osity, locally and regionally, WHVWL¿HVWRWKHQHHGDQGFRP- mitment to restore this build- ing and create a new cultural center in Clatskanie,” says Clatskanie Foundation board member and Capital Cam- paign Chair Deborah Hazen. “Thanks to our dedicated vol- unteers and generous donors, the building will once again become a center of community life and culture.” Transforming the I.O.O.F. Hall into the Clatskanie Cul- tural Center has been large- ly a volunteer effort led by Clatskanie Foundation board members and community volunteers, including: Mike Engel, a retired general con- tractor serving as construc- tion manager; Dave Hicks, a retired Wauna Mill engineer serving as project engineer; Hazen, retired publisher and editor of The Clatskanie Chief serving as capital campaign chair; Elsa and Dee Wooley, founders and directors of the Clatskanie Arts Commission, providing support through- out the project; Rich Larsen, foundation president; Teresa Wemmer, foundation treasur- er, and Christal Hood, foun- dation director and marketing chairperson. Whenever possible, the Clatskanie Foundation has hired local contractors and sup- SOLHUV7KH¿QLVKHGLQWHULRUIHD- tures both modern and vintage elements. Highlights include the original restored maple EVER WONDER WHAT’S ON YOUR DOG’S MIND? (Here’s a hint) EDOOURRPÀRRUDQGUHIXUELVKHG theater seats, which are origi- nally from Portland’s Baghdad Theater. Local artisan Jeremy Furnish was commissioned to design and build 50 lighting ¿[WXUHV IRU WKH FXOWXUDO FHQ- ter. His creations, which range from wall sconces to chande- liers, are designed in the Art Deco style, paying homage to the building’s 1926 origin. Clatskanie Arts Commis- sion performances and other events are already scheduled in the restored building. Com- bined, the 165-seat Birkenfeld Theatre and 2,400-square-foot ballroom will accommodate a range of programming in- cluding musical performanc- es, readings, lectures, recitals, movies, community theater, forums, talent shows, dances, art and dance classes, wed- dings and more. In addition to its primary purpose as a cultural center, the building includes a suite of of- ¿FHVIRUWKHFLW\RI&ODWVNDQLH RI¿FHVSDFHIRUWKH&ODWVNDQLH Arts Commission and the Clatskanie Foundation, and a retail space occupied by the Quilted Dandelion quilt shop. The Clatskanie Foundation is currently selling theater seat naming sponsorships. Approx- imately 50 seats remain avail- able for sponsorship. Dollars raised through the remaining seat sponsorships and other planned fundraising events will go toward additional equipment and furnishings, and to the longterm mainte- nance fund. For information about the Clatskanie Cultural Center contact Hazen at 503-338- 8268 or Elsa Wooley at 503- 338-9770. U-Pic k 100% Natural ORIGINAL FINE ART on the waterfront l port of ilwaco marie-powell.com l 360.244.0800 8 | August 27, 2015 | coastweekend.com Blueberrie s Open Daily ‘til 6 pm $2.00 lb. 113th & Sandridge N. Long Beach, WA