Dennis Morgan, left, president of the Civic Auditorium board of directors, stands outside the Civic with Matt Hammel of Griffin Construction, The Dalles office. The Civic and Griffin have partnered in a project to restore and seal the outside of the Civic, where much of the woodwork, like the door pictured, has deteriorated and will be pressure watched, sealed and repainted. The brick work will also be washed and sealed.
Dennis Morgan, left, president of the Civic Auditorium board of directors, stands outside the Civic with Matt Hammel of Griffin Construction, The Dalles office. The Civic and Griffin have partnered in a project to restore and seal the outside of the Civic, where much of the woodwork, like the door pictured, has deteriorated and will be pressure watched, sealed and repainted. The brick work will also be washed and sealed.
Funded by a matching grant sponsored by Nancy Fath, work will begin soon on restoration of the facade of the Civic Auditorium in the coming weeks.
Fath issued a challenge grant last year, offering up to $100,000 to match community donations to the Civic dollar for dollar. The challenge grant was fulfillment of the stated wish of her late husband Jerry McKay. So far, $70,000 in matching funds have been raised and about $105,000 of the combined funds — $52,500 from Fath and $52,500 raised by the Civic — will be used to restore the outside of the historical building on Fourth Street in The Dalles this fall.
Jerry McKay was deeply invested in the community of The Dalles, having graduated from The Dalles High School in 1959. He was an advocate for area youth, and in the early 1970s opened the Attention House for troubled youth, a sort of halfway house located near The Dalles-Wasco County Library on Seventh Street.
“He was always a booster for the Civic as well, contributing throughout his lifetime,” said Dennis Morgan, president of the Civic board of directors. McKay played a key role, for example, in the restoration of the catering kitchen located off the upstairs ball room.
The Civic is undergoing restoration on the outside of the building, including the brickwork, which will be washed and sealed.
Contributed photo
The restoration work on the outside of the building will include pressure washing and cleaning, sealing the brick and painting the wood, and cleaning of the windows. Spot repairs of the stucco at the back of the building will also be undertaken.
Work is anticipated to begin in October, and will take about a month to complete, said Matt Hammel of Griffin Construction.
Morgan noted Griffin Construction has been working with restoration of the Civic since 2017.
“They help us leverage our money, they’ve been a great community partner,” Morgan said.
Prior projects, costing about $1.3 million, have included the full renovation of the theater, Americans with Disabilities Act upgrades, energy efficiency improvements including heating and cooling system changes and overall restoration, inside and out.
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