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About Wallowa County chieftain. (Enterprise, Wallowa County, Or.) 1943-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2019)
NEWS Wallowa.com Wednesday, June 12, 2019 A7 Litch Building: McKee cites multiple issues hindering Litch Building overhaul Continued from Page A1 McKee grew up in the small town of Colton, on the west side of the state. He later served as a hunt- ing guide and packer for the Minam Lodge and fell in love with the area. “We invest in the commu- nity we live in,” he said. “My kids go to school in Joseph, and my wife works here in Joseph on Main St.” He has the same feel- ings about Enterprise and the Litch Building project, which he will work on con- currently with building his own residence. “My family’s living in a 5th-wheel right now while we’re building,” he said. “That takes priority over any other project.” Something many are possibly unaware of is that McKee is virtually a one- man show. He has one part- time helper. Keeping cost low is what allows the McKee brothers to keep investing in properties. McKee noted that the Litch building has a huge structural fl aw that took months to fi nd an engineer to rectify. The fl oor was sag- ging up to four inches in places upstairs. “If we hadn’t bought the building, the building prob- ably would have toppled over,” McKee said. “It was that bad. “People may not like the way it looks now, but you really wouldn’t have liked it laying on the ground or killing somebody.” McKee said many engi- neers don’t like working on historical buildings, espe- cially those made of stone. He fi nally talked local engi- neer, Ralph Swinehart into taking on the project. According to McKee, it still took a little arm-twisting to get Swinehart to take on the project even though he has a penchant for older buildings. McKee said the work done on the project already included taking about a half-million pounds of mostly plaster out of the upstairs portion to relieve the stress on the fl oor. The building owner explained that the build- ing on the corner was orig- inally designed as a one- story structure back in 1903. In 1909, another story was added onto the fi rst — with- out rebuilding the fl oor struc- Ellen Morris Bishop Doors and a bathtub from the old upstairs apartments in the Litch Building are stacked along a Bowlby Stone interior wall, awaiting restoration of their original quarters. Ellen Morris Bishop The Litch Building at Enterprise’s Main and River Streets has massive ceiling beams, and an intriguing vault at it’s rear. ture for the second story. “It’s over-spanned, and it’s under-engineered because back then they didn’t really engineer anything — they just made it super stout and super heavy duty to withstand loads because they had no way to calculate snow loads and wind loads and all that,” he said. Later, issues surfaced, and some previous owners had used band-aid fi xes to keep the building standing. Some issues were not read- ily observable until McKee started taking apart the inside. There, he discovered that the building had three drop-down ceilings with all the accompanying extra weight. “We couldn’t do any- thing until it was engi- neered to be fi xed,” McKee said. The McKee brothers would eventually like to see eight professional-living houses upstairs. While the main fl oor is envisioned as a mix of bed and breakfasts with commercial spaces in between. He is currently working with an Idaho businessman to create a lit- tle burger joint in one space. He added the commer- cial spaces would be much smaller than the old 3000- 4000 square feet commer- cial spaces of the past. McKee said the grant funds are available now and get put to use in the near future. “We’re going to get started on the facade fi rst, and get it restored to its original condition,” he said. “That should put some peo- ple’s anxiety to rest.” Hospital: Once again on top 100 list Continued from Page A1 How does Wallowa Memorial fi nd the right peo- ple for its staff? “You fi nd people who love what they do. And love their commu- nity. Its not just your medi- cal or other skill set. Health care is hard. Unless you have a personal mission of ser- vice, it’s impossible to put up with,” Davy said. With 125 full-time employees and a total of 185 overall, Wallowa Memorial Hospital is the largest sin- gle employer in Wallowa County. Davy considers Wal- lowa Memorial Hospital to be one of the county’s most important economic engines. Last year the hospital paid out $10,700,000 in wages, and $2,965,000 in benefi ts… money that is channeled back into the local economy. And, he says, because of its des- ignation as a critical access hospital, a lot of that money comes from outside the community through Medi- care, Medicaid, or other fed- eral and state programs. “In total, the hospital contrib- uted $26,604,825 to the local economy when you consider a sort of multiplier effect. The hospital purchases supplies locally whenever we can. Our employees purchase grocer- ies, gasoline, and a lot of other things that provide jobs in the community, whether you are a grocery store clerk or a school-bus driver.” That adds up to support for 302 jobs overall, or about 7 percent of the labor force, according to a study published in ECONor- thwest this year. Looked at another way, the hospital is directly or indirectly responsible for four percent of the jobs here. That may seem puny, but all the hospitals in Multnomah county, including Portland, supply only three percent of jobs. The same statistic (three percent of total jobs is gener- ated by hospitals) holds true in Marion County (Salem) as well. “Our mission is to provide high quality health care for all,” Davy said. We’re doing our very best to meet that mission statement.” Joseph, Oregon NORTON’S WELDING SUPPLY For more information on becoming a member and our calender of events visit: http:// eaglecap shooters. com This Father’s Day, Help Dad Serve it up in Style! Thank you to the following businesses for supporting Newspapers in Education Their generous support of the Wallowa County Chieftain NIE program helps provide copies of the newspaper and unlimited access to Wallowa.com and the e-Edition to schools throughout the community. WALLOWA COUNTY GRAIN GROWERS 541-426-3116 WCGG.biz On a new Traeger Grill 911 S. River St. Enterprise, OR 97828 Jr. Jason Follett, DMD YOUR BUSINESS HERE: Call Today & Donate! 800-522-0255 Bronze Antler Bed & Breakfast 309 S. 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Joseph, OR 97846 YOUR BUSINESS HERE: Call Today & Donate! 800-522-0255 For more information on the NIE Program, visit Wallowa.com/nie. To make a donation, call 541-426-4567.
