COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • FEBRUARY 13, 2019 • 9A
Armory
from A1
In the grand scheme of resto-
ration for the nearly 90-year-
old building, new upstairs
bathrooms are fi nancially
a drop in the bucket, but a
boon for a structure that the
city would like to market as a
community hub.
“It’s a big leap forward,”
said Meyers. “It’s one we’ve
struggled with, but it made
sense to go ahead and do it.”
Th e current bathroom con-
tains only a single toilet fi x-
ture and sink with outdated
plumbing, ill-equipped for
the demands of large social
events.
While the drill hall cur-
rently rents out for around
$250 a day, upgraded re-
stroom facilities are likely to
increase rates and, the city
hopes, demand.
Th e Armory was con-
structed to serve as a center
Latham
from A1
going to go," said Bridgens at
last week’s meeting. “Again, we
want the kids in those neigh-
borhoods all kind of going and
having an opportunity to go to
the same school.”
According to the “Latham
School Report” that the district
put out before the school’s an-
damage to the nervous sys-
tem, gastrointestinal prob-
lems and reduction of mental
faculties.
Th ough the substance was
banned in the United States
for use in residential proper-
ties and public buildings in
1977, many years and layers
of lead-based paint in the Ar-
mory preceded the ban.
Before the city’s acquisition
of the building, the Oregon
Military Department ran a
test to assess lead toxicity.
DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL Some fl oor samples came
Instructions for the Armory’s upstairs restroom hint at the new
back positive, prompting the
vision for the area.
city to clean out those areas.
Soon, though, the lead
that could host a range of ac- of its internal structure badly
came
back. More lead test-
tivities including communi- needed attention.
ing
revealed
that lead-based
“To renovate, it’s some-
ty events and military drills.
paint from the front entrance
Shortly aft er the National where around 3, 4, 5 million
steps had been tracking on
Guard consolidated its units dollars,” said Meyers. “If we
people’s shoes and so had to
in Springfi eld in 2009, the va- wanted to build a new one, be dealt with by hiring clean-
cated building was purchased it’d be even more than that.”
ing specialists.
Th e discovery of lead also
by the City of Cottage Grove.
Since then, Meyers says the
Time had eff ectively worn slowed the restoration pro- Armory has been clean and
down many of the building’s cess. Exposure to toxic lev- kept under constant mon-
features, however, and much els of lead is associated with itoring. Even so, its known
that lead still exists in much
of the paint in the building.
Th ough generally consid-
ered safe as long as the paint
is undisturbed, construction
projects like the bathroom
installation require the city to
address the issue again.
“Th is company’s coming
in, stripping the walls, haul-
ing it all away, then we’ll put
new stuff on,” said Meyers.
“Th at may be the approach
we take on several of the oth-
er rooms. … We’re going to
try to remove as much of it as
we can.”
One viable method of deal-
ing with lead-based paint is
to seal it with an encapsulant
which prevents the release of
paint chips or dust.
“Some of the walls will be
painted,” Meyers said. “Th e
concrete walls, we’ll just seal
it in. And if you seal in the
lead paint, you’re fi ne.”
Future modifi cation of
a sealed area, however, re-
quires again hiring certifi ed
workers to properly dispose
of the toxic material and will
likely be an issue raised again
before restoration is complet-
ed.
“If we ever do cut a new
door or something, some-
body professional is going to
come in and do that for us,”
said Meyers. “Once we get it
cleaned out — either sealed
in or walls removed — then
we’re done,” he said.
Next on the city’s agenda for
the Armory is exterior resto-
ration work on the front en-
trance portion of the façade.
Th e Ford Family Foundation
has recently awarded the city
with a $125,000 grant to be-
gin the work.
Future projects include en-
larging the lower fl oor kitch-
en, installing a service eleva-
tor, upgrading the building’s
electrical load, constructing
a tower on the northeast cor-
ner and adapting the entire
Armory to make it ADA ac-
cessible.
send their children out of their
boundary provided the school
has enough room.
Bridgens noted that in the
coming week the district will
be meeting with principals
from around the district to set
up open house visits at the ele-
mentary schools.
“Th ere are a lot of questions
that parents have so we are cre-
ating a document of frequent-
ly asked questions that will go
home to parents and we’ll have
posted on our website that ad-
dresses all of their questions,”
said Bridgens.
SLSD Director of Human
Resources Brian McCasline
will be working with certifi ed
staff and teachers this week.
“I will outline the process
with them…and then we’ll
give you more information
on the process that we’ll go
through at the next board
meeting,” McCasline told the
board.
Th e district is also in the
process of planning a pair of
celebrations of the school. One
will feature community and
alumni while the other will be
for the current staff and stu-
dents at Latham as they close
out the fi nal year.
nounced closure, the current
Latham School district bound-
ary would be redistributed to
send students to Bohemia and
Harrison. In the hypothetical
model, the new distribution
line would be split at Hwy. 99.
Th e hypothetical boundary
would send 22 current Latham
students to Harrison and 21 to
Bohemia. When parents were
asked by the district where
they would send their students
if Latham were to close, 21 of
the 49 responders said Harri-
son.
Notably, 15 parents said
London – a school of simi-
lar size to Latham. However,
according to the hypotheti-
cal boundary, seven students
would be in that school’s
boundary. SLSD has open en-
rollment that allows parents to
Healthy
teeth
start early
Do you know the most common chronic disease that
faces young children today?
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Fortunately, this common health problem can be
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CRITICAL TO HEALTH
For children, cavities are about more than mouth
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GOOD HABITS
One of the most important aspects of good oral health
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It’s another reason why regular dental visits are so
important for young people.
When children go to the dentist, they’re not only
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Aft er all, the habits they pick up now will likely stick
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BABY TEETH
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541
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942-9171 1551
E. MAIN ST. COTTAGE