A6 The BulleTin • Friday, March 26, 2021
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin file
Karla Toms, a RN with St. Charles, administers a vaccine in the arm of
Suzi Smith of Bend on Jan. 20 at the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Cen-
ter in Redmond.
Vaccines
Continued from A1
Ryan Brennecke/Bulletin photos
The front entrance of Amity Creek Magnet at Thompson School in Bend.
Amity Creek
Continued from A1
Bowers said the technol-
ogy upgrades in particular are
useful.
“We were operating off of
roller-cart projectors; it had to
be in the middle of the room;
it was ugly, cords were every-
where,” she said. “Now, we
have these top of the line Ap-
ple TVs and projectors. I use it
all the time.”
Principal Andy Slavin says
this balance of classic and
modern is what makes the
Amity Creek renovation a
success.
“The architects really pre-
served the feel of this build-
ing,” he said. “It just has that
warmth that this school has
always had.”
Amity Creek’s modern-clas-
sic look is easily apparent to
anyone who walks through
the school, located off Wall
Street in the Old Bend neigh-
borhood. In the same hall-
way as new light fixtures and
flooring are patches of wood
paneling preserved from 1949.
It feels fresh, while not re-
sembling the sleeker design
of newer Bend elementary
schools like North Star and
Silver Rail.
The windows are another
example of this balancing act.
Wood paneling was salvaged during the remodel of Amity Creek
Magnet at Thompson School in Bend.
The original wooden frames
were preserved and refinished,
while the glass and hinges
were replaced, Slavin said.
Before the renovation, most
classrooms only had one win-
dow that actually opened —
now, they all do, he said.
The hallway is just as col-
orful and filled with student
artwork as before. But the art-
work isn’t attached to bulletin
boards — the hallway walls
are entirely wrapped in cork-
board, providing much more
space for drawings and doo-
dles.
During the weekend before
it opened, Amity Creek staff
took their students’ art from
North Star Elementary —
where the school was tempo-
rarily based this winter during
construction — and canvassed
the hallway with it.
“It just felt homey, rather
than have (students) walk into
these empty hallways,” Slavin
said.
There are also some Amity
Creek upgrades that are less
eye-catching. The roof is new,
and the building has been re-
inforced with steel to better
protect it from earthquakes,
Slavin said.
Although construction
crews were able to start work
on Amity Creek earlier than
planned, since there were no
students in the building last
spring due to COVID-19, the
pandemic caused delays in the
supply chain, Slavin said.
“When supplies weren’t
here, subcontractors couldn’t
do their work and went on to
other things,” he said. “And
they weren’t always available
when supplies did arrive.”
These delays did not in-
crease the cost of the reno-
vation, according to Mike
Tiller, director of facilities for
Bend-La Pine.
The one group that might
not be quite as enthusiastic
about the remodel? Students.
Slavin said the school’s
nearly 130 students have a
range of feelings about the
new Amity Creek. Younger
students don’t really remem-
ber the pre-renovation build-
ing, while older students al-
ready feel nostalgia for their
older digs.
“For some, it doesn’t feel
like the old Amity building,
so they’re mourning the loss,”
Slavin said. “But at the same
time, I think they’re enjoying
the newness and freshness.”
But after more than a year
of being outside Amity Creek,
due to COVID-19 and con-
struction, school staff said it
was great to return back to a
fresh update of their home.
“It’s beautiful, thoughtful,
well-designed,” Bowers said.
“I’m grateful.”
e e
Reporter: 541-617-7854, jhogan@
bendbulletin.com
The pilot program is en-
abling the community to have
yet another avenue for vaccines
and doesn’t take away from
other vaccine channels into
the community, said Morgan
Emerson, Deschutes County
Health Services spokeswoman.
“This will help expedite our
capacity to vaccinate residents,”
Emerson said. “It doesn’t take
away from other vaccine chan-
nels coming into Deschutes
County.”
The county is among a group
of counties with approval from
Gov. Kate Brown to move be-
yond the state scheduling for
vaccines to front-line workers
and people 45 to 64 with qual-
ifying health conditions. On
Monday, Deschutes County
began vaccinating those 45 to
64 with underlying health con-
ditions, those working as front-
line workers and the homeless
as provided by the Phase 1B,
group 6.
As of Wednesday, Deschutes
County had vaccinated 80%
of eligible residents age 65 and
older, Emerson said. Any-
one interested in receiving a
vaccine should pre-register
by going online at www.cen-
traloregncovidvaccine.com or
calling 541-699-5109 Monday
to Friday.
The state reached 1 mil-
lion vaccinations against
COVID-19 this week since the
first dose was issued on Dec.
14.
Mosaic and La Pine are part
of a federal pilot program de-
signed to expand vaccination
efforts to communities most
disproportionately affected by
COVID-19.
The current guidelines to ac-
cess the vaccine at Mosaic are:
• Mosaic patients age 45 or
older;
• Mosaic patients eligible un-
der Oregon Health Authority
guidance (Phases 1a and 1b);
• Mosaic patients age 16 and
older who meet at least one
of the following conditions,
homeless, a resident of public
housing, a migrant/seasonal
agricultural worker, having
limited English proficiency or
low-income as defined by fed-
eral guidelines;
• A Mosaic patient 45 years
or older scheduling an ap-
pointment for a spouse/care-
giver.
e e
Reporter: 541-633-2117,
sroig@bendbulletin.com
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WILDFIRE AREAS
Forest Service plans ‘hazard trees’ removal
BY ZACH URNESS
Salem Statesman Journal
The U.S. Forest Service has
proposed a sweeping plan
to remove trees burned and
killed along roads within the
scar of the Beachie Creek, Li-
onshead and Holiday Farm
fires, but some are asking the
federal agency to delay un-
til the issue can be studied in
more detail.
There are roughly 550 miles
of road within the trio of fires
and about 390 are proposed
for “treatment” — meaning
cutting dead trees that might
fall onto the road in the future.
Some conservation groups
and locals are asking the For-
est Service to take more time
and include more public par-
ticipation into what areas are
targeted for tree removal.
They point to the Breiten-
bush and Little North Fork ar-
Madras
Continued from A1
Madras has a Starbucks in-
side Safeway on the north end
of the city, but no free-stand-
ing location with a drive-thru.
Starbucks estimates about
150,000 customers would visit
the new location each year, ac-
cording to the development
proposal.
Ertle said he expects to reach
a sales agreement with the
county by next week.
“I would like to see this get
going sooner rather than later,”
Ertle said Thursday. “I wanted
to start a year ago.”
Ertle has experience devel-
oping properties in Central
Oregon. His company is build-
ing a Starbucks in the former
Platypus Pub location on Third
Inciweb, file
The Lionshead Fire, caused by lightning in August 2020 on the Warm
Springs Reservation, burns in early September.
eas as locations where swaths
of forest, including trees that
still appeared to be green,
were cut in the name of safety,
as a reason this much wider
project deserves greater scru-
tiny.
“We’re not against removing
danger trees where it makes
Street in Bend. And the com-
pany built the Redmond Town
Center at the corner of U.S.
Highway 97 and Veterans Way.
The visibility of the Madras
property as a southern gateway
along Highway 97 drew Ertle
to the property, he said. The
38,000-square-foot property,
which includes a 2,000-square-
foot building, is the first sight
of the city from the south for
more than 15,000 travelers each
day, according to city data.
The site at 813 SW Highway
97 has been vacant for about
six years since ODOT used the
property for a highway realign-
ment project. Before ODOT
owned the property, it was an
administration office for the
Crooked River National Grass-
land.
“I think it’s an excellent
sense,” said Dwayne Canfield,
executive director of the Opal
Creek Ancient Forest Center.
“We’re just asking them to
take more care and be more
transparent about this pro-
cess,” Canfield said. “After see-
ing some of the work they’ve
already done to remove haz-
piece of property,” Ertle said.
“It’s arguably the best piece of
property that is left in Madras.
From a real estate perspective,
it checks a lot of boxes that de-
velopers look for.”
Kelly Simmelink, Jefferson
County commissioner, said he
was disappointed the county
did not receive any other pro-
posals for the “South Y” prop-
erty when it put out a request
earlier this year.
But he is excited to work
with a developer that plans
to build immediately and not
leave the property empty.
“To me, it is just a wonder-
ful location,” Simmelink said.
“I think it has a lot of potential
with the current person that
has put in a request.”
e e
Reporter: 541-617-7820,
kspurr@bendbulletin.com
ard trees, especially around
Breitenbush, it’s clear that ap-
plying blind trust here is risky.
Left unmanaged, we worry
this process will result in ex-
cessive tree removal.”
The Forest Service asked
for public comments to come
in by Monday. However, they
can be sent later and will still
be considered, officials said.
Comments can be emailed to
elspeth.gustavson@usda.gov.
If the proposal goes ahead,
a final decision would come in
May and work to remove dan-
gerous trees would begin this
summer and be completed
sometime in 2022.
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