20
S moke S ignals
FEBRUARY 15, 2017
Outside of building will be clad in cedar
CONSTRUCTION continued
from front page
as part of the continuation of the
plan.”
Harrelson said the second phase
project had been placed on the
backburner in each of the last two
budget cycles.
“There was a lot of careful consid-
eration that went into this to even
see if it was going to be funded,”
said Harrelson.
Harrelson said the Phase II con-
struction was part of the initial
concept planning that went into the
project in 2012 and that although
the expansion project will be the
program’s “most visual” project, the
Cultural Resources Department
will continue to be involved in a
multitude of efforts.
Harrelson said the most visible
part of the project will be one of the
smaller parts of the overall expan-
sion construction.
“The outside of the building will
be clad in cedar that we got from
the Willamette National Forest,”
said Harrelson.
Harrelson said the cedar was
donated to the Tribe for the project
and that the department only had
to pay for transportation of the
lumber. He said the cost savings
to the Tribe were “huge” because
of the donation.
Much of the funding has come
from years of fundraising and do-
nations raised from various foun-
dations throughout Oregon.
The Meyer Memorial Trust con-
tributed $241,315 to the project
with $127,516 of that going to the
cedar siding. The Ford Family
Foundation contributed $200,000
and the Oregon Community Foun-
dation $19,740 toward the cedar
siding as well.
The Collins Foundation gave
$40,561 and the project received
$33,543 from the Oregon Cultural
Trust as well as $7,500 from the
Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower
Umpqua and Siuslaw Tribe’s Three
Rivers Foundation.
Engineering and Public Works
Manager Jesse White said expan-
sion plans also call for a larger
parking lot in front of the building
closer to the post office.
White said the front of the build-
ing also will have a bus stop and a
large vehicle turnaround.
“The main thing to remember is
Chachalu isn’t just a museum, it’s
a cultural center,” said White. “It’s
a place for Tribal members to come
and learn – take classes, talk about
the past and talk about the future.”
The space that will be created by
the expansion project that has Har-
relson most excited is the planned
research room.
“This is going to be available for
both Tribal members and research
scholars to come in and to work
at large tables,” said Harrelson.
“There will be a log-in work station
where they can get access to files
we have digitally through our laser
fiche software, but they will also
be able to look at a catalog of our
collection.”
Harrelson said if an artist, for ex-
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Cultural Collections Coordinator Veronica Montano removes Royalty
sashes from a display case at Chachalu Museum & Cultural Center in Grand
Ronde on Friday, Feb. 10, in preparation for construction of Phase II of the center.
ample, wanted to study a particular
style of basketry, this room would
be the place where the item would
be brought from the vault so that
it could be examined.
“They can make a request of the
collections staff and they will bring
these things into that space,” said
Harrelson. “One of my big hopes is
that the research room gets treated
as a place where there is always
a pot of coffee on and community
members always feel welcome. I
hope people do their own individual
research through getting interested
in what we’re doing.”
Harrelson said the project when
completed by the end of the year
will include a new conference room
that will be a multi-use space with
an accordion door.
“We will also have a curatorial
room where we will develop exhib-
its and interpretive content,” said
Harrelson. “We will be adding 10
new offices with doors and included
in that will be a receptionist’s office.
There will also be four drop-in work
stations, a new break room and
storage lockers.”
Harrelson said the biggest part
of the Phase II construction project
will be the new exhibit area that
will remain in its current location
at the front of the building.
“We are going to have a large,
5,000-square-foot exhibit hall,”
said Harrelson. “The exhibit hall is
going to allow us to do different pro-
gramming that changes over time.
There is going to be different ex-
hibits going on. Our intent behind
that is we want Tribal members
to keep coming back so we want to
add content and exhibits that are
relevant at the time.”
Harrelson said he knew the ex-
pansion was going to be extensive
and complicated so he tapped Trib-
al member and Cultural Exhibits
Supervisor Julie Brown to lead the
project.
“When I thought about who was
going to be able to lead us and take
us to this point of bringing Chacha-
lu to fruition Julie came to mind
and I asked her to fill that role be-
cause she has an outstanding pas-
sion and history and commitment
and dedication to the museum,”
said Harrelson.
“We’re developing a cultural
center with a gallery space,” said
Brown. “The reality of a cultural
center for the community is more
visible than it has ever been for
me.”
Brown said her late mother, An-
nabelle “Peachie” Hamm, was born
and raised in Grand Ronde and was
a proponent of the Tribe having a
cultural center when she was alive.
“She always praised our Tribal
leaders for all they have accom-
plished, but the one thing that
meant the most to her, other than
health care, was the museum and
cultural center,” said Brown. “She
wanted there to be a place where
people could bring their precious
items to be cared for. For me, it’s
not just a priority of meeting the
needs of all of our community. It’s
the one thing I can do that will
really honor my mother.”
Harrelson said the new, expand-
ed center will be an important place
to the community now and in the
future.
“The museum is telling the sto-
ry of our people in the past tense
and the cultural center is telling
the story of our people now,” said
Harrelson. “This is going to be a
facility that does both because not
only are our ancestors relevant
and important, but the people in
the recent history and the present
are also important because that is
how we are going to continue into
the future. We can’t just reflect on
the past.”
Tribal member and Cultural
Center Coordinator Rebecca Knight
said she works with everyone in the
Cultural Resources Department to
ensure that their needs are being
met during the construction proj-
ect. Knight also said she takes care
of the building, ensuring its proper
maintenance.
“I wear multiple hats,” said
Knight, whose first task related
to the Phase II construction was
to gather a needs list. “I have to
think outside the box and I try to
think about the things they hav-
en’t thought about. I have to think
about the whole picture needs.”
Knight said she is proud to play
a role in the preservation of the
Tribe’s history and that she is hon-
ored to be part of its present and
its future.
“The ultimate goal is to preserve
history, to interpret it and to ed-
ucate our Tribal members, our
descendants and our community,”
said Knight. “You don’t want the
stories to be forgotten. Working
here every day you see that people
care so much. They really make
an effort to do the best quality of
work overall because they have that
connection.”
Knight, who consults and works
with Brown daily, said she is thank-
ful to be in a position to see the
expansion come together this year
and down the road in future phases
of the museum/cultural center
project.
“We are excited about this build-
out and look forward to welcoming
the community into newly reno-
vated space within the year,” said
Knight. “Watching this whole thing
come together is going to be a pow-
erful and rewarding experience for
everybody.”
General Manager David Fuller-
ton said Chachalu will be even more
important to the overall efforts of
the Tribe and the Tribe’s Cultural
Resources Department when it is
completed.
Fullerton said the completed cen-
ter will raise the credibility level of
the Tribe when it comes to cultural
projects and collections.
“If you want to be at that level
you have to be at that level,” said
Fullerton. “It’s one more step in the
right direction.”
Fullerton said the full scope of
what the project means and will
mean to the Tribe will come in the
future when Tribal people look
back.
“In a 100 years from now some-
thing that seems very small could
be very significant to the people
who are in charge long after we’re
gone,” said Fullerton. “”You’re
creating a record. Everything that
you are doing today – you now have
a place to store it. We’re creating
history here every day.”
White said the timeline on the
project is ideally six to seven
months until completion.
“We are working right now on an
RFP for a contractor,” said White.
“We are going to put it out to bid
in February and hopefully have a
contractor on board in March.”
Brown said the most important
thing for everyone involved is to
honor the memories of those who
came before us – those people who
created the Tribe from the ashes of
Termination. She said it is those
memories of the people who were
dreaming of what they knew the
Tribe could be one day that fuel her.
“We had nothing,” said Brown.
“We just knew we were going to be
something. I’m hopeful that as we
create opportunities like this cul-
tural center that perhaps we will
be able to re-visit the passion and
the loyalty and the design that we
had back in the day.”