COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL APRIL 19, 2017
5A
Cottage Grove Retrospective
A look back at Sentinel stories from 30 and 60 years ago
Hotel gets ready for tourists: Apri l '87 CAPITOL BEAT
With the fi nal touches of a quarter-mil-
lion dollar renovation project nearly com-
plete, the Village Green Motor Hotel is put-
ting its best foot forward for what offi cials
believe could be an excellent year for south
Lane County tourism. “We’re looking for a
good summer,” said Ken Erbes, manager of
the 96-room motel for Golden West Prop-
erty Management Corp. “Reservations are
coming in, and we should be ready.”
The Cottage Grove landmark, built as a
luxury motel in 1960, was purchased by an
investor group, the Zed Corp., from Wood-
ard Hotels, Inc. in February 1986. Golden
West operates and maintains the facility un-
der a management contract.
In the past 15 months, the motel has tried
to update its image and reestablish commu-
nity ties stretched during a period the motel
was on the selling block.
Each of the 86 general rooms and 10
suites received new carpet, drapes, bed-
spreads and wallpaper, Erbes said, and
the heating-cooling systems in each room
should be replaced by June.
The two-phase project will cost $200,000
to $250,000 before it’s fi nished, he said.
“The hard part of the renovation is over,”
Erbes said of the room decorating, which
closed some rooms during the year of work.
Erbes said the motel’s marks after fi ve
quarters under new management and own-
ership is favorable. He attributed the
success to a good summer season last
year, opening the dining room after an
18-month hiatus, increased advertising
and promotion, and a solid relationship
with community groups and local din-
ers.
Several service organizations, includ-
ing the Rotary Club and the Cottage
Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, re-
turned to the Village Green for meetings
and luncheons following the sale. Most
days fi nd the meeting and conference
rooms booked by local groups and those
outside the area,” he said.
Erbes said support of the “Cascadia”
dining room also has been good, and op-
timism of the coming season runs high
enough to add another day to the room’s
schedule beginning in May.
“We’ve had increases, both in occu-
pancy and in gross revenues, there’s no de-
nying that,” he said. “The rapport with the
area is more of a reason for increases than
general management style.
“And we want that good rapport with
the community. Without that local support,
the Village Green would survive, but it
wouldn’t survive as well on a year-round
basis.”
Survival, in some ways, meant breaking
some of the ties with the motel’s illustrious
News from the state legislature
and around Oregon
• House Bill 3350, introduced by repre-
sentative Mark Johnson, would create an
offi ce of outdoor recreation within the
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. The offi ce would
cost up to $250,000 per biennium and focus on luring out-
door activities for economic development.
From the legsilature
past.
Though luxurious in their day, the rooms
didn’t refl ect the needs of today’s traveler.
And the dining room, once regarded as one
of the tops in the industry with its French
cuisine and table side cooking, now serves
a more conventional menu.
“It’s not the same (as the Iron Maiden).
It’s not supposed to be,” Erbes said of the
dining room.
•
Senate Bill 634 passed the senate on Thursday, sponsored by
Ted Ferrioli. The bill would add woody biomass as a source
of green energy which would help reduce carbon emissions
and create jobs in rural Oregon. The bill passed with unani-
mous support.
•
State democrats fi led an ethics complaint against GOP
front-runner for the 2018 governor’s race, Knute Buehler for
allegedly failing to disclose the entirety of consultant pay-
ments he had received. Buehler reportedly did not include
his relationship with medical company Stryker Corp on his
economic statements, or the supposed $96,000 he received
from the company.
• A Gresham mother called 911
reporting that her children’s fa-
ther, Jaime Cortinas, was threaten-
ing to kill their two daughters and
himself. Cortinas had set his SUV on fi re, shot at responding
police offi cers and eventually shot both girls, 8 and 11, mul-
tiple times before taking his own life.
Cottage Grove Police Department 24-Hour Anonymous Tip Line: 767-0504
April 17
Cottage Grove Police received a call from
a woman who said a man had pulled behind
her residence and was taking photos of her
yard. When she asked why he was taking
photos he reportedly replied, "Don't worry
about it." and left the scene.
A caller reported a man standing in the
street near Birch Ave. yelling profanities to
himself. A welfare check was conducted.
A report of stolen soda cans came in from
the are of 22nd St. The caller noted it hap-
pened in the middle of the night.
Ash Ave. saw a call of a neighbor com-
plaining about multiple calls to police con-
cerning the abandoned vehicles on their
property. The caller said they felt threatened
and requested police contact.
A welfare check was conducted after po-
lice received reports of a man sitting on a
bench in the alley behind the armory with-
out moving for near-
ly two hours.
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A
complainant
noted that their
12-year-old
fos-
ter child was "out
of control" and re-
quested police con-
tact noting that all
weapons inside the
home had been se-
cured.
A Walmart em-
ployee informed po-
lice that a man was
using the sink the restroom as a shower and
refused to leave the property.
April 16
•
The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department announced it
would be opening 1,000 additional campsites in anticipation
of the total solar eclipse happening this summer. The event
had already booked hotels around the state and offi cials ex-
pect hundreds of thousands of star gazers to fl ood Oregon.
Police took a report from S. 4th street
which noted a woman was peering into win-
dows. When confronted by a neighbor the
woman said she was looking for a house for
her mother to purchase.
•
Oregon State Senator Herman Baertschiger’s wife was
struck and killed on Interstate-5 by a box trailer as she was
walking in the right lane of the southbound side of the inter-
state near Grants Pass. It is unknown why she was walking
in the road. She was 54.
A resident came into the police station to
note a heavy-set man was standing in the
parking lot of Dairy Mart smoking from a
pipe.
•
Willamette Week reports that a new study from think tank
Oregon Center for Public Policy reveals undocumented im-
migrants in the state of Oregon pay $81 million in taxes to
the state every year. The news comes as the legislature con-
tinues to try and plug the budget defi cit of nearly $2 billion.
A resident of Riverfront Way complained
that a vehicle has been parked across from
their home for weeks.
Police reported to Gateway for a domes-
tic violence call. A male and female were
shouting at each other in the parking lot of
the Chevron Market.
A man was reported for having purchased
cigarettes legally only to appear to have giv-
en them to alleged underage females across
the street near Scarpelli's.
541-517-7362
coverage4oregon@gmail.com
-day
Rep. Cedric Hayden, Republican
District 7 State Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 986-1407
Website: http://www.leg.state.or.us/ hayden
E-Mail : rep.cedrichayden@state.or.us
weather forecast
THURSDAY APRIL 20
FRIDAY APRIL 21
56° | 38°
70° | 46°
SHOWERS
PARTLY CLOUDY
SATURDAY APRIL 22
SUNDAY APRIL 23
61° | 44°
60° | 41°
Showers
Showers
MONDAY APRIL 24
TUESDAY APRIL 25
61° | 45°
56° | 44°
Showers
State
Representatives
Senator Floyd Prozanski
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, OR 97440
Phone: (541)342-2447
E-Mail : sen.fl oydprozanski@state.or.us
Paul Henrichs ~ Independent Agent
Showers
Oregon legislators will not take on GMOs this session. Sev-
eral bills that would have allowed local governments to reg-
ulate genetically engineered crops failed to make it out of
committee.
From around the state
POLICE BLOTTER
6
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1481 Gateway Blvd
Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Bus: 541-942-2623
www.bjornninsurance.com
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