Parks & Recreation Department mulling fees for groups to rent facilities

By Julia Sommer for Ashland.news

The long-awaited refurbishment and structural upgrade of Ashland’s historic Pioneer Hall is complete, while work on the Ashland Community Center continues.

Ryan De Mello of Outlier Construction of Medford, project manager for both buildings, said work on the the community center should be complete by fall. Work on both structures included asbestos abatement, new foundations, walls, flooring, ADA compliance, finishes, water and electrical systems, and new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Insulation was added.

“Outlier Construction is honored to have partnered with the city of Ashland and ZCS Engineering on this meaningful community project,” De Mello said. “We appreciate the collaboration and perseverance of all involved.”

The original budget for both buildings was $1.7 million, including $250,000 for contingencies. When additional structural problems became apparent in both buildings, the project was paused in November. The City Council then directed staff to convene a Management Advisory Committee (MAC) to develop a recommendation on either continuing with the rehabilitation or building a completely new community center, according to Public Works Director Scott Fleury.

The MAC, which included Mark Knox, Steve Ennis, and Dale Shostrom, recommended the project go forward rather than demolishing the buildings. The council then OK’d an additional $410,000 toward completion of the projects. 

Parks & Recreation is now getting quotes for furnishings and acoustic ceiling panels for both venues and is looking into adding a small room for rent in the Community Center.

With the $2.1 million project to update both buildings nearing completion, Parks & Recreation is now mulling rental fees, which, according to Rocky Houston, director of the Parks & Recreation Department, need to be established by the Parks & Recreation Commission and then approved by the Ashland City Council.

Parks & Recreation Commissioner Mike Gardiner said the commission came up with revised rates at its July meeting, but after hearing public comments, decided to look at the rates again at its August meetings.  “It’s complicated,” he said.

The commission will take up the rates at its study session on Wednesday, Aug. 6, and business meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 13. Both meetings start at 6 p.m. in the City Council chamber at 1175 East Main St. For more on the proposed rates, click here.

One group that cannot wait to get back to Pioneer Hall is Ashland Scout Troop 112. The group, until the facility was closed, had been meeting at Pioneer Hall since 1927.

“Pioneer Hall is home to Troop 112,” says John Ourant, past Troop 112 scoutmaster and current troop committee member, “and we are very much interested in doing our part to keep the building in good shape, as well as having use of it.”

The history

In 1921, the city of Ashland leased a parcel of land for 60 years to Gwin S. Butler, who built Pioneer Hall for use by the pioneers of Jackson County and “Native Sons and Daughters.”  American Legion Post 14 assumed care and maintenance of the building until 1986, expanding the hall and re-roofing it, according to John Engelhardt, former Troop 112 Scoutmaster.

In 1986, the Legion decided it could no longer afford to maintain Pioneer Hall.  The city and the Legion negotiated a memorandum of understanding, turning over care and maintenance of the property to the city in exchange for free use of the hall by the Legion and Troop 112 for 20 years.  (The American Legion’s support of scouting dates from its inception in 1919.)  Troop 112 had its office at Pioneer Hall as well as gear storage.

The Community Center, originally the Ashland Women’s Civic Improvement Club clubhouse, was built in 1922 and served as a hub for community activities, including USO headquarters during World War II. Later it became the home for the Ashland Parks & Recreation Department. 

Gwin S. Butler

Born in 1854 (likely the first birth of a European in Jackson County), Butler had a distinguished career in Ashland as a merchant, real estate developer, and philanthropist. He served as mayor of Ashland and president of the State Bank of Ashland. With Domingo Perozzi, Butler purchased an Italian marble fountain from the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair and installed it in Lithia Park.  He also funded Lithia Park’s Lincoln statue (in storage due to repeated vandalism), the bandshell, and the children’s playground. 

A lifelong Ashland resident, Butler died in 1947 at the age of 94.  With no children of his own, he divided his estate equally between the Shriner’s Hospital for Crippled Children in Portland and The Gwin S. Butler Memorial Trust Fund, to be administered by Ashland Elks Lodge #944. He specified that income from the trust be used to alleviate the sufferings of mankind, with the needs of children living in the Ashland-Talent area being the first priority. 

Butler was on the first board of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association in 1935.  He is buried in Mountain View Cemetery.

Reach freelance writer Julia Sommer at [email protected].