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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2019)
NORTHWEST East Oregonian A2 Friday, July 12, 2019 Restoration of old theater moving forward About 1,500 old bricks were installed in facade of La Grande’s Liberty Theatre By DICK MASON EO Media Group LA GRANDE — The renovation of the Liberty Theatre building is keep- ing the past alive — in more ways than one. Restoration workers have finished installing about 1,500 old bricks at the theater’s facade. The bricks resemble those of the origi- nal theater’s entrance before it closed six decades ago. The bricks will be a prominent part of the re-creation of the facade of the old building. The entrance will include new doors and a metal awning that will cover much of the sidewalk running past it at 1010 Adams Ave. next to La Grande City Hall. “It will look almost exactly as it did when the theater was open,” said Dale Mammen, a leader of the Liberty Theatre resto- ration project and a histor- ical preservation consul- tant for the Liberty Theatre Foundation’s staff. Ashley O’Toole, a mem- ber of the Liberty Theatre EOMG Photo/Dick Mason A metal sign reviews the history of the Liberty Theatre in La Grande. Dale Mammen, a leader of the Liberty Theatre restoration project and a historical preservation consultant for the Liberty Theatre Foundation’s staff, hopes the Liberty Theatre will someday look as it did in the 1920s when it was in its second decade of operation and named the Arcade. The bricks at the entrance might look famil- iar to many area residents, because they are from the gym of the old Central Ele- mentary School at K Ave- nue and Sunset Drive. The school and its gym were built in 1954 but were torn down about two years ago Foundation’s board, said people get excited when they see the highly visi- ble facade being recreated, which is one reason focus is being placed upon it. “We have made it a pri- ority because we want to generate a buzz in the com- munity,” O’Toole said. Forecast for Pendleton Area TODAY SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY Partly sunny Mostly sunny Partly sunny and pleasant Partly sunny and delightful Mostly sunny and nice 90° 62° 88° 61° after the new Central at Second Street and H Ave- nue was constructed. “I can’t stress enough how fortunate we are to have the bricks,” O’Toole said. “So many people went to school (at Central).” The old Central School was taken down because it 86° 59° 85° 58° 94° 66° 92° 64° 91° 61° By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press 87° 59° 90° 64° OREGON FORECAST 90° 63° ALMANAC Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows. PENDLETON through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Seattle Olympia 72/58 84/57 89/59 Longview Kennewick Walla Walla 91/63 Lewiston 79/59 94/65 Astoria 71/58 Pullman Yakima 89/62 79/56 93/66 Portland Hermiston 82/62 The Dalles 94/66 Salem Corvallis 80/59 Yesterday Normals Records La Grande 88/58 PRECIPITATION John Day Eugene Bend 84/58 85/52 92/56 Ontario 101/69 Caldwell Burns 88° 65° 88° 58° 107° (2002) 42° (2008) 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date Albany 81/59 0.00" Trace 0.08" 4.55" 5.10" 5.78" WINDS (in mph) 98/66 93/53 0.00" 0.02" 0.11" 9.59" 6.49" 7.68" through 3 p.m. yest. HIGH LOW TEMP. Pendleton 84/54 82/60 24 hours ending 3 p.m. Month to date Normal month to date Year to date Last year to date Normal year to date HERMISTON Enterprise 90/62 87/64 87° 62° 88° 58° 107° (1897) 40° (1911) PRECIPITATION Moses Lake 78/58 Aberdeen 84/61 85/63 Tacoma Yesterday Normals Records Spokane Wenatchee 78/61 Today Boardman Pendleton Medford 91/62 Sat. WSW 6-12 WNW 6-12 WSW 7-14 W 7-14 SUN AND MOON Klamath Falls 89/50 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2019 Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today 5:17 a.m. 8:44 p.m. 5:03 p.m. 2:11 a.m. Full Last New First July 16 July 24 July 31 Aug 7 NATIONAL EXTREMES Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states) High 114° in Thermal, Calif. Low 33° in Gothic, Colo. NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY vations made at the theater in 1923, which were found at the University of Wash- ington. They also have pho- tos of the theater taken that year, two inside and one outside. These photos are helping the Liberty The- atre Foundation restore the inside and outside of the building to what it looked like in the 1920s. Long-range plans call for the Liberty Theatre build- ing and the now vacant and historic Putnam build- ing next to it to be part of the Liberty Complex. The Putnam building, which the Mammens own, will include a bakery, an exten- sive kitchen and eating area, a stage for entertain- ers, skylights, a dressing room for theater perform- ers, offices, living quar- ters and much more. Work on the Putnam building, which like the Liberty The- atre will have a mid-1920s look, is being funded by the Mammens. Much of the Liberty Theatre and Liberty Com- plex work is being funded by grants, including one for $200,000 received ear- lier this year from the Ore- gon Main Street Project. Mammen said $100,000 of this grant went to the Lib- erty Theatre and $100,000 went to the Putnam build- ing restoration. Oregon seed crop dodges damage from July rain PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST was in poor condition over- all due to its age. The same cannot be said for the bricks inside its gym. They are in excellent shape because they were not exposed to the elements, Mammen said. He is delighted that the bricks will help preserve memories of the old school. “It is nice to be able to help keep Central’s legacy alive,” he said. Crews are also continu- ing to do extensive work on restoring the interior of the Liberty Theatre, which was built in 1910 and closed in 1959, after which its facade and lobby were torn out to accommodate retail estab- lishments. Work being done now includes rebuilding the lobby and restoring utilities, such as water and electric- ity. Work to be conducted in the future includes restor- ing the floor and balcony seating, building a staircase to the balcony, renovating the stage and much more. Mammen hopes the Lib- erty Theatre will someday look as it did in the 1920s when it was in its second decade of operation and named the Arcade. Mam- men and his wife, Ginny, selected the mid-1920s because that was when the Liberty Theatre was at its peak in terms of elegance and because they have the blueprints for major reno- SALEM — A short spell of unseasonable rain in early July isn’t expected to diminish yields for Ore- gon seed farmers during this summer’s harvest — unless it persists. While growers can typi- cally count on dry weather this time of year, steady showers on July 9 and overcast skies on July 10 probably won’t cause prob- lems as long as the sun soon comes back, said Tom Chastain, seed crop physi- ology professor at Oregon State University. “I don’t think we’re looking at a disaster, it’s just going to be a delay for people,” Chastain said. Roughly a half-inch of rain fell July 9 on the cen- tral Willamette Valley, where much of the state’s grass seed is produced — the equivalent of the entire month’s average rainfall all in one day, he said. The downpour was likely too gentle to knock seeds loose to the ground, thereby reducing yields, which can occur during violent storms, he said. “I’m not expecting a lot of shattering, at least for the crop that’s not cut yet.” Sustained moisture can induce seeds in wind- rows to germinate, hurt- ing quality, but forecasts call for a return to sunny weather that would dry out the crop before that occurs, Chastain said. “I don’t think it got wet enough for long enough for us to have problems with sprout,” he said, noting that pest and fungus pres- Capital Press Photo, File Grass seed is harvested in a Willamette Valley field. A recent spell of rainy weather isn’t likely to impact grass seed yields unless the sunshine stays away for longer. sure can also result from prolonged moisture. Different types of grass seed are harvested in stages in Oregon’s Willa- mette Valley, with annual ryegrass and forage-type tall fescue being cut into windrows, and then run through a combine to col- lect seed earlier than perennial ryegrass and turf-type tall fescue. Like- wise, red and white clover are harvested after crim- son varieties. Crops that have already been windrowed face other issues from rain aside from seed shatter and ger- mination: grass blades can grow into the windrows, interfering with the com- bine’s harvesting mecha- nism, Chastain said. That possibility can also be averted if sunshine soon dries out the windrows. In recent memory, the area saw 0.63 inches of rain in July 2011 and 1.12 inches in July 2014 with- out causing serious dis- ruptions to seed farmers, he said. “Things were OK those years, we didn’t have a lot of yield problems.” However, the 3 inches of rain that fell in July 1983 did cause sprouting that cut yields because the seed was rendered unus- able, Chastain said. If weather forecasts are correct and condi- tions return to normal, the recent rain will prob- ably just result in a more compressed harvest sched- ule for growers, he said. “They’ve got to pick up the backlog of fields they hav- en’t harvested plus the new ones coming online.” Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. -10s -0s 0s showers t-storms 10s rain 20s flurries 30s snow 40s 50s ice 60s cold front E AST O REGONIAN — Founded Oct. 16, 1875 — 211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211 333 E. 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