Scouts, Peace Meal organizers told renovations must be done before they can return
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
No groups or individuals will be allowed to use Pioneer Hall until the building is repaired, the city of Ashland said Friday.
In an email obtained by Ashland.news, Acting City Manager Sabrina Cotta informed Jason Houk and nonprofit Peace House on Friday that the hall would no longer be available for any use, including the Ashland Scout Troop. Cotta wrote that the city’s insurance provider had determined the building was too hazardous and the Scouts had been given the same message.
Houk, his wife Vanessa, and Karen Hill-Wagoner went ahead on Monday with a rally in the Ashland Plaza to bring attention to the lack of a warm space for community meals — a need previously filled by Pioneer Hall.
“We’re really out here for the two big issues — food and shelter,” Jason Houk said at the rally, which drew about 20 attendees.
Besides pressing the need for an indoor space to host the bi-weekly Peace Meal facilitated by the Houks and other volunteers, the rally hoped to draw attention to the city of Ashland’s proposal to lower the temperature threshold for the emergency weather shelter from 35 to 25 degrees, meaning it would be open much less often over the winter.
The change would be “the wrong direction to go,” and would be dangerous and hurt people, Jason Houk said.
While Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice — where Houk volunteers — has recently purchased an RV with grant funds to provide services as a community kitchen, that space won’t be enough to offer warm community meals, he said. Organizers of the Peace Meal are searching for alternative options to hold the meals, but as church populations age, churches are less available.
The group is also working with the Ashland Lions to search out a space, he said. He hoped the rally would lead to more attention and conversation about the closure of Pioneer Hall and the Community Center.
“We really would like to have an honest conversation and get an honest assessment of the condition of these buildings and what the community could do to help open up these buildings,” he said. In an email sent Friday, Houk invited people to “gather at Ashland Plaza on Mondays at 4 p.m. to raise awareness of this growing concern. Bring your own dinner, and we’ll stand outside and eat together in the cold weather, just like our hungry neighbors do.”
A request for comment and additional information from Cotta were not immediately answered on Monday. She has previously said that in February the city will put out to bid renovation of Pioneer Hall and the Community Center and construction could potentially begin by March. Both buildings are expected to be available after renovations are complete.
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at morganr@ashland.news.
