10A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015
Column: ‘It’s a unique historical landmark’
Continued from Page 1A
Using large digital repro-
ductions of the 1926 black-and-
white photographs unavail-
able in 1995, Laibinis’ crew
is working to restore shading
and subtlety, depth and dimen-
sion to the images, rendered in
similar earth tones. The trees
have more texture. The shad-
ows stand out better. The faces
of the Native Americans and
white settlers are rounder and
fuller.
“There’s more ‘painterli-
ness’ to it,” Laibinis said. “The
more you work on it, the more
you appreciate this artist.”
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Travis Gustafson, a Tongue Point Job Corps student who
recently completed glazing training, works on the cupola
of the Astoria Column.
Rehab
The mural’s rehab, howev-
er, is just one piece of a resto-
ration project that got under-
way in March and closed the
Column in June. Since then,
the concrete cylinder has re-
mained engirdled by scaffold-
ing and — until the coastal
storm of Aug. 29 — veiled by
a white netting.
Engineers conducted a
structural evaluation on the
Column earlier this year and
concluded that, for a nearly
90-year-old structure, “it’s ac-
tually in very good condition,”
Laibinis said.
Subcontractors and Tongue
Point Job Corps Center stu-
dents have removed moss and
RWKHU ELRORJLFDO JURZWK ¿OOHG
the vertical cracks with mortar
and strengthened the plaster.
They and a group of sce-
nic artists are applying a min-
eral-infused primer and two
coats of paint over much of the
Column to help the mural bet-
ter withstand the water-blast-
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Kory Sato shields the sun from the Column as she works on matching tones. Resto-
ration workers are using black-and-white photos of the Astoria Column in order to deter-
mine the darkness values of the different paints in order to match the restoration work
to the original Column design.
ing weather atop Coxcomb
Hill, 600 feet above sea level.
“Hopefully, this’ll last much
longer,” Laibinis said.
This week, the crew hopes
WR ¿QLVK UHVWRULQJ WKH FXSR-
la, including the replacement
of four glass panes that have
cracked under temperature
changes and gale-force winds.
$ PDVRQU\ ¿UP LV VFKHGXOHG
to repair the observation deck
next week.
7KRXJK )ULHQGV RI WKH$V-
toria Column initially budgeted
$1 million, the restoration may
exceed that amount because
of unforeseen circumstances,
such as the summer storm and
the need to replace the glass,
Laibinis said. It is still unclear
whether the project will include
restoring the plaza and install-
ing LED lights as planned, she
added.
$V WKH ¿QLVK OLQH IDVW DS-
proaches, Kitty Kavanaugh,
the paint manager, hand-paint-
ed the leaves on the Column’s
wreath near the base trompe
l’oeil fashion — a technique
meant to fool the eye into per-
ceiving the leaves as three-di-
mensional.
“We’re really gonna try to
fool everybody,” Kavanaugh
joked.
Time to intervene
“The most challenging part
of this project is keeping every-
thing juggling, all the different
parts, and moving forward,”
said Site Manager John Good-
enberger, an Astoria native
and the co-founder of Clatsop
Community College’s Historic
Preservation program.
In addition to Goodenberg-
er, Laibinis hired Aretta Chris-
tie, a former Astorian and Port-
land resident, as documentation
manager in charge of gathering
photographs and tracking the
restoration’s progress.
The 2015 restoration is
something of a reunion for the
trio: Laibinis, Goodenberger
and Christie were all involved
in the 1995 restoration. But,
this time, they have more infor-
mation and better products to
work with.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Brian Peterson uses the “barber pole technique,” to
spread stucco along a portion of the Column which will
have the sgraffito redone.
Two decades ago, rough-
ly 80 percent of the mural had
weathered off, mostly on the
south and west facades. “It was
just a brown pole,” Gooden-
berger said.
Back then, the restorers had
their hands full just trying to
¿QGDUFKLYDOLPDJHVRIWKH&RO-
umn. With so much erosion to
the paint and far less available
research, the best they could do
was recreate the mural in broad
strokes.
Twenty years later, the harsh
coastal environment had begun
to take its toll, and it was time
to intervene.
“It’s a unique historical
landmark,” Laibinis said. “It
would be a shame not to be able
to preserve it.”
Counseling: ‘It seems that there’s a shortgage of mental health providers’
service, she said, albeit outside
the school.
Astoria has one Clatsop
“We have actually offered
Behavioral Healthcare coun- that position throughout the
selor covering Astoria High summer,” she said of the el-
School, Astoria Middle School ementary counselor position,
and the Gray Alternative High adding two people so far have
School a total of two days a accepted the position and later
week. But the two elementary backed out. Crump-Hart said
schools, which combined serve her agency is recruiting na-
more than 800 kindergartners WLRQZLGHDQGKRSHVWR¿QGWKH
WKURXJK ¿IWK JUDGHUV VWLOO KDV ULJKW¿WORQJWHUP
no counselor on campus.
Clatsop Behavioral Health-
“Every week I talk to(Clat- care also has a full-time coun-
sop Behavioral Healthcare); selor in Seaside; one at War-
WKH\ VD\ WKH\ FDQ¶W ¿QG SHR- renton High School funded by
ple,” Hoppes said.
a state grant, another full-timer
at Warrenton Grade School and
)LQGLQJULJKW¿W
another in the consortium class-
Michele Crump-Hart, clin- room serving special needs stu-
ical director at Clatsop Behav- dents throughout the county.
ioral Healthcare and the head The agency sends a counselor
of the program embedding once a week to Knappa, where
counselors in schools, said the they have seven clients. They
agency has about 25 clients also have two clients in Jewell.
at Astor and another seven at
Crump-Hart estimated more
Lewis and Clark. The families than 200 clients countywide,
have all been contacted about adding the number is likely to
the situation and are still getting go up as the school year starts
Continued from Page 1A
and more children are referred.
Board member Jenna Rick-
enbach reminded the school
board of a new counselor in
Astoria who had been ap-
proved for Oregon Health Plan
members and was interested in
serving students, but said he
still had to go through Clatsop
Behavioral Healthcare.
¿JXUHRXWZKHUHZH¶UHJRLQJ
to go from here.”
Cannon Beach Police
The Harbor is an essen-
Chief Jason Schermerhorn, tial resource for victims of
interim chairman of the non- domestic violence and sexual
SUR¿W¶V ERDUG VDLG )ULGD\ assault in Clatsop County and
morning that the 24-hour cri- often works with police and
sis line is still operating and prosecutors during emergency
domestic violence and sexual and traumatic situations.
assault victims would have
7KH QRQSUR¿W SURYLGHV
access to advocates.
victims with safe housing,
“We were just as surprised clothing, food, child care,
as everybody else,” Scher- transportation, and counsel-
merhorn said of the abrupt ing.
announcement about suspend-
“It disappoints me enor-
ing services.
mously,” Clatsop County Dis-
Schermerhorn said he has trict Attorney Josh Marquis
been reaching out to board said of the uncertainty.
members and others “trying to
0DUTXLVVDLGWKHQRQSUR¿W
Oregon Health Plan member-
VKLS LQ WKH &ROXPELD 3DFL¿F
Coordinated Care Organiza-
tion growing from about 4,200
when it was created in 2012
to 28,000 presently, Campbell
said, and there is now more
PRQH\ ÀRZLQJ WRZDUG PHQWDO
healthcare.
Campbell said the coor-
dinated care origination and
Greater Oregon have money
VHW DVLGH WR ¿QG PRUH SUR-
viders, often through primary
care providers. “We’re open
to expanding the provider
panel anytime we can,” he
said.
Shortage statewide
In an interview Thursday,
Kevin Campbell, CEO of
Greater Oregon Behavioral
Healthcare, Inc., said his orga-
nization works with the coordi-
QDWHGFDUHRUJDQL]DWLRQWR¿QG
healthcare providers.
Campbell said Clatsop Be-
havioral Healthcare has his-
torically been the provider for
Oregon Health Plan members
in Clatsop County because it
is well-established and takes
RQDPDMRULW\RIWKH¿QDQFLDO
risk involved with provid-
LQJ KHDOWKFDUH 7KH QRQSUR¿W
healthcare provider has been
Shelter: An essential local resource
Continued from Page 1A
operating in Clatsop County
since 1963.
“It seems that there’s a huge
shortage of mental health pro-
viders statewide,” Campbell
said about the healthcare pro-
YLGHU¶V DSSDUHQW GLI¿FXOW\ LQ
¿QGLQJFRXQVHORUV
The shortage is a result of
has had “one of the most pos-
itive relationships I’ve ever
seen between an organization
of that type and the law en-
forcement community.”
The Harbor, formerly
known as the Women’s Re-
source Center, is in the pro-
cess of moving back into a
renovated Van Dusen Build-
ing on Duane Street across
IURP&LW\+DOO7KHQRQSUR¿W
had operated out of the build-
ing before relocating to the
Norblad Building on Duane
in 2010 to contain costs.
The move to the Van Du-
sen Building was expected to
be completed this fall.
Every
business
needs a
fast track.
Unlike the national
banks, our loan process
isn’t complicated.
We understand you have
a lot on your plate, so allow
us to give your business a
nudge in the right direction.
No more waiting for loan
approvals from national
banks, and no more tapping
your foot. We’re here, and
we’re here to help. So call
us or come in.
Johnson: The Independent Party
has more than 109,250 members
Continued from Page 1A
policy. Two years ago, when
the Senate was more narrow-
ly split, the senator sided with
Republicans on labor, envi-
ronmental, gun control and
voter registration issues that
had been priorities for her
party.
Howard Dean, the former
Vermont governor and Dem-
ocratic National Committee
chairman, even called for John-
son’s ouster after she helped
kill the voter registration bill.
But Johnson, a former
state House representative
appointed to the Senate in
2005, is popular in Senate
District 16 and was re-elected
to a third term last November.
Her district covers Clatsop,
Columbia and Tillamook and
portions of Washington and
Multnomah counties.
In March, Johnson was the
only Senate Democrat to vote
against a bill that provided for
automatic voter registration
using drivers’ license infor-
mation. Gov. Brown signed
the bill — similar to the one
Johnson helped defeat two
years before — into state law.
The Independent Party,
ZKLFK TXDOL¿HG IRU PDMRU
party status in August, has an
agenda that calls for reduc-
LQJ VSHFLDO LQWHUHVW LQÀXHQFH
over government, increasing
vocational training, making
college more affordable, and
growing business.
The party has more than
109,250 members — com-
pared to the more than
815,050 majority Democrats
— but, like third parties na-
WLRQDOO\ PD\ KDYH GLI¿FXOW\
building the organizational
DQG ¿QDQFLDO UHVRXUFHV QHF-
essary to compete against the
dominant parties.
You’ll notice the difference.
Find out more at columbiabank.com or call 877-272-3678.
Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender