[OMS_MANAGERS] Good news to share

Thu Sep 7 15:01:22 PDT 2017

·        Congratulations to Port Orford Main Street Revitalization Association!: AARP awarded the Port Orford Main Street Revitalization Association a challenge grant of $ 6,080 to build benches with attached planters for trees and flowers.   This AARP grant is one of 89 grants awarded nationwide for projects that make places more livable for all ages and only one of two grants awarded to a project in Oregon. The benches/planters will help Port Orford have places for people to stop, rest, and enjoy the surroundings - a pleasant place to sit down while walking a dog or tie a shoe.  These additional benches/planters help provide a healthy, pedestrian friendly Main Street - the heart and soul of a community.

·        Early-bird deadline to register for Oregon Main Street Conference is fast approaching! Don't forget to register for the conference by Sept. 15 for the early bird conference rate - ticket prices will go up after this date. You can register for the conference here<https://omsconference.ticketleap.com/2017/>. One of the highlights of our conference is the opportunity for walking tours to learn more about our host communities (register on-site at conference registration, first come first serve). This year promises to be equally entertaining - here's what our conference partner, Downtown Oregon City Association, has lined up:

o   Willamette Falls Legacy Project Tour

Join Willamette Falls Legacy Project representatives for a walk through the abandoned Blue Heron Paper Mill and out onto the PGE damn to experience Willamette Falls. Willamette Falls is the second most powerful waterfall in North America and an important Oregon historical and cultural treasure. For more than 150 years, the awe-inspiring beauty of Willamette Falls has been closed to the public. Soon, it won't be. The tour will bring to life the preferred concept design that is the result of a years-long public input process and the creativity and expertise of world renowned architecture firm Snøhetta.

o   Oregon City Ghost Tour

The history of Downtown Oregon City is told through ghost stories. Tour guide Rocky Smith, a lifelong resident of Oregon City has become well known as a local historian and paranormal investigator. Rocky has documented close to 100 haunted places within the city. Rocky teaches art at Oregon City High School and is the director of the growing Oregon Ghost Conference which is hosted annually in Seaside, Oregon. The tour appeals to believers and non-believers, exploring architectural and Oregon City history since many of the sites attribute their paranormal activity to prior uses, buildings, and even cemeteries that used to be located in downtown.

o   Nine Years of Revitalization of Downtown Oregon City

Led by DOCA executive director Jonathan Stone and Denyse McGriff, local resident and board member of the Bosco-Milligan Foundation. This tour will highlight major investments that have been made including the 2012 streetscape project and revitalization of our historic arch bridge, the painting and upgrades to the Oregon City Municipal Elevator, a chat with SuperGenius CEO Paul Culp about creative industry in Downtown, a visit with Andy Busch about his family's ongoing adaptive reuse of the historic Weinhard building, and other notable sites. The tour will also talk about DOCA's work with tourism development and current efforts to bolster the retail base.

We will be having some great conversations at the conference this year and we hope you will all join us! You can view the preliminary schedule here<http://www.oregon.gov/oprd/HCD/SHPO/docs/2017OMSConference/Schedule_at_a_Glance%202017.pdf> to see the topics being discussed and to begin to plan your conference experience. For more information and details on the conference, visit http://www.oregon.gov/oprd/HCD/SHPO/Pages/2017-Oregon-Main-Street-Conference.aspx, or contact Sheri Stuart at Sheri. Stuart at oregon.gov<mailto:Stuart at oregon.gov>.

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