A Redmond City Council public hearing is scheduled for 6:30 pm, Tuesday, January 28, 2014, to discuss the future of the Old Redmond Schoolhouse as part of the regular Redmond City Council meeting at 777 SW Deschutes Avenue. Redmond City Council is seeking proposals for financing and future use of the Old Redmond Schoolhouse building located at 1429 Antler Avenue in the Dry Canyon park.
The Redmond City Council held a public hearing on November 12, 2013, to consider proposals on the structure at which time they only received one proposal. The proposal was from a private citizen who was interested in purchasing the structure for $1.00, relocating it back to its original historic residential neighborhood in Redmond, preserving the historic integrity of the structure and restoring it as a private residence.
At that public hearing, Council determined additional time should be granted to determine whether there was another potential future use for the structure that would retain it in public ownership.
The City of Redmond held a public open house on December 11, 2013, to let people know about the logistics surrounding the structure. At that time a deadline of January 28, 2014 was established for additional proposals to be considered by the Redmond City Council.
On Wednesday, January 15, 2013, the City of Redmond received a proposal from a private citizen group, Save Our Schoolhouse. This group requested the City allow them time to privately raise the funds necessary to rehabilitate the structure through a membership based nonprofit organization.
The City of Redmond has not budgeted resources for the estimated $125,000 in renovation costs; nor does it have any monthly operational funds budgeted.
Background:
The Old Redmond Schoolhouse is a boarded up building in the City of Redmond’s Dry Canyon park located at the Dog Park off of Black Butte Avenue, 1429 Antler Avenue. Owned by the City of Redmond since 2007, the City has been in dialogue about what to do with the structure for over six years. In 2011, it was identified to be demolished or relocated. Recently it was discovered that it was built in 1905 and either is the oldest building in Redmond or one of the oldest buildings in Redmond.
Recognizing the historic significance of the structure, the Redmond Historic Landmarks Commission asked the Redmond City Council for time to research alternative options for the structure prior to demolition.
The landmarks commission did some research and discovered its age and original use as a schoolhouse for homesteaders in the area. Frank Redmond served on the board of directors. Although it has not been verified, it is expected that the structure was only a schoolhouse for one year and then was converted to an office and dwelling unit for the rest of its occupancy, almost 100 years.
Originally located on the corner of F (Forest) Avenue and 7th Street, it was relocated to its present location in the Redmond Dry Canyon in 1976 to preserve it from demolition. It was used as a dwelling until the City of Redmond purchased it in 2007. An architectural assessment in 2012 indicated that it would cost approximately $125,000 to preserve the 1000 s.f. building for future use. With no public funds set aside for the preservation of the building, the Redmond Historic Landmarks Commission struggled to find an interested party in saving the structure.
In May 2013, after several articles in the newspaper, a private citizen offered to buy it for $1.00, relocate it back to its original neighborhood, preserve it as a house, maintain it as a Site of Historical Significance for the City of Redmond, putting it on the Historic Homes Walking Tour Brochure and hosting a public open house after its restoration. This citizen has a demonstrated success of relocating and restoring historic homes throughout Central and Eastern Oregon, and recently relocated and restored the Gibbs House in Redmond, locating it in Canyon Rim Village and designating it as a Site of Historical Significance.
The Redmond Historic Landmarks Commission recommended this proposal to the Redmond City Council based on the premise that it would preserve the structure, relocate it back to its original residential neighborhood, maintain it as a historic landmark in Redmond and restore it back to housing which was its primary use.
