Cultural Center gets  $50,000 grant from Collins Foundation 

Story by: David Sale

10/29/2008

Collins Foundation funds close fund-raising gap, may lead to opening an area of the building Cultural center receives $50,000 grantCollins Foundation funds close fund-raising gap, may lead to opening an area of the building The Chehalem Cultural Center received a $50,000 grant from the Collins Foundation which will help fund the next step in renovating the former Central School.

"With this grant we've raised $2.2 million of the $2.6 million budgeted for Phase One," said Mary Somerset, development director for the Chehalem Center Association. "Our plan is to finish the main entryway with a 20-foot ceiling, leading into an art gallery and four classrooms plus office space in the central area of the building."

The new facilities will include a ceramics and glass studio, Somerset added. This phase of the renovation will also include new electrical and mechanical systems for the entire building. Phases 2 and 3 of the Cultural Center project will focus on renovating the wings of the building and the second floor.

The $2.6 million fund-raising goal of the association is in addition to the $4.4 million raised by the Chehalem Park and Recreation Association. The park district took over ownership of the school in 1996 after it was closed by the school district and its students enrolled at Antonia Crater Elementary.

The park district attempted two unsuccessful bond measures in the 1990s to fund renovation of the building, but received some grants to help fund seismic upgrades and undertake other structural work. Much of the demolition work on the building was done by inmates from the Yamhill County jail.

Construction on the next phase of the Cultural Center is scheduled to begin in February, for completion in November 2009.