Fall 2023 News
We hope you had a wonderful summer season visiting the many heritage events that took place through the region and that you are looking forward to a festive fall. The Coalition has made great progress towards accomplishing some of our long-term goals, has expanded our understanding of Chinese history in Oregon, and has begun developing some new programming.
In the spring of 2023, we began sharing a new draft of our legislation that will officially designate our 56-river mile region as a National Heritage Area. We are excited about this draft and enthusiastic that it will be ready for Congress to adopt in 2025 and result in Oregon’s first National Heritage Area.
We’ve also made great progress with our Historic City Hall project in partnership with the City of West Linn. The West Linn City Council approved plans to move forward with the renovation of the city’s Historic City Hall building in April. Since then, construction documents have been completed, permits have been acquired, and a parking agreement finalized. The project should be out to bid in the coming weeks with construction beginning before the end of the year. We are so excited to see the project come to fruition and are looking forward to opening the building as our new headquarters and as a cultural center where people can begin their explorations of the Heritage Area.
We have some exciting new programming in the works as well. On October 18 we will be partnering with the Oregon History Club to host a History Happy Hour at the Tumwater Ballroom. You can learn more about the event and purchase tickets here. For those of you interested in volunteering, we will be hosting a Volunteer Meet and Greet event in early 2024 so check our website and social media regularly for more details. We’ll be showcasing our Old Oregon Photos collection at various holiday markets this season. Check our Facebook page for the most up to date information on where to find us! More public programming will be available in the late winter and early spring as we are preparing to launch a speaker series in partnership with a number of historical societies from throughout the Heritage Area. Dates and time of these events will be released soon.
As always, thank you for your support and contributions to our efforts. We hope you’re inspired to explore our Heritage Area and experience the heritage all around you.