WEDNESDAY EDITION | APRIL 17, 2019 | $1.00
CGSENTINEL.COM
3
S entinel
C ottage G rove
Est. 1889
VOL. 131, NO. 16
S ERVING
THE COMMUNITIES OF
C OTTAGE G ROVE ,
D ORENA , D RAIN , E LKTON
AND Y ONCALLA
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Back to its roots: Bank Building gets rejuvenation
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BENEFITS | SURETY
(541) 942-0555
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WEATHER
Paryly cloudy with a
high of 69 and a low
tonight of 48.
Full forecast on A5
COURTESY PHOTO
COMMUNITY
COURTESY PHOTO
COURTESY ILLUSTRATION
From left to right: the Bank Building’s pre-1911 appearance, its modern condition and the planned future transition resembling its original state.
By Damien Sherwood
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
Calvary Church
celebrates 20 years
A3
SPORTS — B
Len Blackstone has a vision for
downtown. But perhaps more impor-
tantly, he has the zeal to realize it.
Blackstone — owner, general con-
tractor and landlord of the Bank
Building on the corner of Main
and Sixth streets — has made the
115-year-old structure his most re-
cent pet project.
By Damien Sherwood
• RECORDS
Obituaries
Police Logs
Births
A2
• LORANE NEWS
A5
• CLASSIFIEDS
Built in 1904, the two-story build-
ing was originally the site of the Cot-
tage Grove Bank, hence the promi-
nent type “Bank Building” displayed
on its façade. When the institution
failed and moved out in 1929, busi-
nesses began claiming space and a
hodgepodge of changes contributed
to the building falling out of recog-
nition.
Decades of patchwork modifica-
tions have stripped the building of
much of its original aesthetic, caus-
ing a lack of architectural continuity
between its ground floor businesses
while leaving the second floor’s face
to weather and crack due to inatten-
tion.
“It looks like three different build-
ings,” Blackstone said.
Citing advice he’d received on ur-
ban revitalization, he said, “You pick
See BANK 7A
Community, Aprovecho meet over potluck to share ideas for future
dsherwood@cgsentinel.com
Cottage Grove
High School’s Gary
Roberts heads to
Marshfield
B1
“I find myself going to bed and
waking up thinking about my com-
munity and this building,” Blackstone
said. As a living philosophy, Black-
stone takes to heart the importance
of a tightly-knit community and what
factors are at play in its growth and
progress.
“My favorite idea, which isn’t orig-
inal to me, is that Main Street really
is the living room of the community,”
he said.
Sustainability is the name
of the game for local non-
profit Aprovecho. In an iron-
ic twist, its own sustainability
as an organization became
the topic of discussion Satur-
day as community members
gathered to brainstorm and
break bread over consider-
ation of the group’s trajectory.
Established in 1981 by a
group of people seeking to
create a sustainable human
settlement, Aprovecho has a
stated mission of “inspiring
equitable solutions to create
a sustainable future” through
research, education and
workshops focused on sus-
tainable living practices.
On the nonprofit’s 40 acres
of forest about five miles
northwest of Cottage Grove,
sustainable concepts em-
ployed include renewable en-
ergy, natural building, green
designs and permaculture,
the latter a wholistic philoso-
phy of working with land and
labor.
In the past, the organi-
zation has offered various
workshops, agricultural proj-
ects and living quarters for
those who could contribute
work to the site. Much of that
has slowed or shut down,
however, as the nonprofit
weaves through a strategic
planning process regarding
its future goals and viability.
Currently there are report-
edly only about five residents
housed there, though event
rentals are still available at
the facility.
Following
Saturday’s
brainstorming session, hopes
are that educational opportu-
nities and tours will open up
later this year as Aprovecho’s
DAMIEN SHERWOOD/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
An attendee at Saturday’s meeting and potluck offers
input during a brainstorm session over the future direc-
tion of Aprovecho.
trajectory becomes more re-
fined.
“We want to continue to
do educational events and be
a resource for the commu-
nity in terms of sustainable
and regenerative living,” said
board treasurer Tao Orion.
“We’re really just looking for-
ward to gearing our offerings
to the community here.”
Nearly 40 years of oper-
ating in the Cottage Grove
area has generated a legacy
for the forested community.
Among its claims to success,
Aprovecho boasts the de-
velopment and worldwide
distribution of fuel-efficient
cookstove technology, grad-
uation of thousands of stu-
dents from its programs and
the first straw bale building
erected in Western Oregon,
built with the help of the Uni-
versity of Oregon.
Locally, the group has also
helped develop landscape
designs for Habitat for Hu-
manity and been involved
in teaching a sustainabil-
ity-themed class for an
all-women’s engineering and
technology class at the Cot-
tage Grove High School.
See IDEAS 9A
Listings and public
notices
B6-B7
Suicide among Oregon vets is twice national average
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Latest study shows that older veterans are at highest risk among state’s veteran population.
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P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424
Editor’s note: This is the third in
a four-part special collaboration be-
tween the Cottage Grove Sentinel,
The Creswell Chronicle, Siuslaw
News and Newport News-Times fo-
cusing on the rising suicide rate in Or-
egon. Each Wednesday through April,
the four newspapers in this collabora-
tion will each be contributing a part to
the series and will be publishing them
together. The hope is that, by sharing
our resources and readerships, we can
begin establishing a dialogue within
each of our communities about this
important subject.
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Cottage Grove, OR 97424
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By Mark Brennan
Siuslaw News
“I think about killing myself ev-
ery day, I just haven’t decided that
today is the day.”
— Anonymous Florence veteran
S
uicide committed by veter-
ans is a major problem across
America and in Oregon, and
it is a problem that, according to
recent statistics, is getting worse
rather than better. Because of this,
See VETS 7A
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