$250,000 grant gives big boost to opera house renovation

ELGIN — The capital committee for the renovation of the Elgin Opera House announced Tuesday it was awarded a $250,000 grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program from the Oregon Department of Energy.

“I feel really good about this,” said Mayor John Stover, committee chairman. “After working for two years on this project, the committee is going to get something going that’s big.”

The Oregon Department of Energy announced Jan. 29 that $6.5 million in federal funds have been awarded to support 66 energy efficiency and renewable projects in Oregon city and county buildings. The Elgin Opera House renovation project is one of two projects funded in Union County by the program.

“Evelyn Spikes did all the work on the grant,” said Stover. “Thanks to her great work we received it.”

The mayor stated that the city has to move quickly over the next six weeks to meet ARRA-related terms and conditions. By March 15, the city must submit the signed ARRA contract and enclose with it the contractor’s bid, time lines, budget information, a concurrence from the State Historic Preservation Office and a monthly energy usage study for the year prior to the project start date.

“Right now our architect, Mark Seder, is going over the plans for this phase of the renovation so we can get it out to bid,” Stover said.

The ARRA funds will pay for work performed on the doors, windows and repointing of the masonry on the building. It’s a major phase of the overall renovation plan, and the work will start as early as possible and continue through the summer until completed.