Salem in 2005

World Events

• The Kyoto Protocol goes into effect, affirming climate change and committing the 192 signature nations to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. US does not ratify.
• Egypt holds its first multiparty presidential elections: Israel demolishes settlements on the West Bank and withdraws their army from Gaza Strip.
• North Korea announces it possesses nuclear weapons as  protection from the hostility of the US.
• Four Islamic suicide bombings in London target underground transportation.
• Pope Paul dies, succeeded by Benedict XVI, the 265th pope.
• Prince Charles marries Camilla Parker Bowles, his long-time companion, in a civil ceremony at Windsor.
• Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans and the Gulf Coast; killing over a 1000 people and causing $108 billion in property damage.
• The first YouTube video is uploaded, "Me at the Zoo".
• The most talked-about film this year was "Brokeback Mountain", but the Academy Award went to "Crash" (US) and "Tsotsl" (South Africa). Prize-winning books: Europe Central, William Vollmann and Gilead, Marilynne Robinson.

A Liberty Street view of our Historic Downtown

In Salem
In 2001 our downtown, with many heritage buildings in need of repair, was successfully nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. This honor focused attention on improving the commercial health of the city core: it encouraged owners and developers to work with the city to use available funding for renovations. In 2005, restoration continued on Liberty Street, assisted by the city's "Toolbox" Grant and Loan Program using tax-increment funding from the Riverfront Downtown Urban Renewal Area. (Renewal areas are able to bond by utilizing property tax dollars resulting from increases in assessed value within the urban renewal district.) These grants and loans rehabilitate older buildings in the district such as the Adolph Block on State Street (Wild Pear, tenant), the Reed Opera House (with multiple tenants on several floors) and neighboring buildings to the south on Liberty Street. These include the former Montgomery Ward Building and the Bishop Building. The Metropolitan Store (pictured above) had been vacant for many years, but now offers commercial space on the first floor with new apartments on upper floors. This program is administered by the city's Urban Renewal Agency. This year, a new citizen group is created to advise on these investments in our historic commercial district, the Downtown Advisory Board.

When you visit
For a preview of the Downtown Historic District, a slide show is offered on SHINE. The city has also published a booklet, based on this tour, which is available through the Community Development Department of the city (depending on supply). For casual walkers, many of the historic buildings have markers, identifying the original owners and past uses. The downtown district comprises a compact seven-block area with construction dates from 1878 to 1950 with the earliest along Commercial Street. In the early 1900s, local business and professional activity moved east to High Street to meet county and state offices. At Ferry Street, south of the business establishments, there were railroad tracks and industrial plants. Since the 1970s, our Civic Center and urban parks have replaced these. To the north, the mid-20th century Salem Center development at Center Street limits the historic district. Front Street, to the west, was also industrial until the 1998 creation of Riverfront Park, A. C. Gilbert's Discovery Village and the Union Street Bridge and Trestle. Our redeveloping downtown is truly the heart of the city for the residents and a growing potential for heritage tourism.

Other events

• The Salem Conference Center opens in February. The $32 million facility attracted events immediately and promises to add vitality to our city, particularly to downtown. It features 14 rooms, totaling almost 30,000 square feet that can be configured for any combination of convention, theater, banquet, trade show or classroom. Attached to the conference center is the Phoenix Grand Hotel (now Grand Hotel) that has 193 rooms, a restaurant and a dignified lobby that will add to the city's appeal for travelers.
• The Marion County Courthouse, on our historic High Street, is damaged by a Keizer resident who crashes his pick-up truck through the glass entrance doors and sets fires inside the building. Wounded by police officers, he is apprehended and will stand trial for numerous charges. The courthouse is closed for several months while repairs are made. (Inside the County Clerk's office, there are several photographs of the damage and reconstruction.)
• A man who has placed a rope around his neck stands on the outside of the Marion Street Bridge railing, threatening to jump. For 15 hours, traffic was disrupted, bringing downtown traffic to a standstill. Police are finally able to grab and pull him to safety. Questions about how to remedy traffic problems and protect public safety are subjects of heated community discussion after this incident.
• Sprague High School became the first Salem-Keizer team to win state championships in both football and baseball in the same year.

Meier and Frank retained its familiar logo for 50 years

• The downtown Meier and Frank department store, a feature since 1954, will lose its name in 2006. For many years owned by the May Company, it will soon carry the Macy's logo. Hundreds of past and present employees as well as city leaders gathered to celebrate the store's golden anniversary at the Elsinore Theatre. (In 2010, a plaque outside the store entrance outlined the history of the building.)
• Bill Frey Drive is completed off Portland Road as part of the urban renewal projects in the Northgate neighborhood. It will improve traffic flow and offer access to new development, including the possible future Kroc Center.
• Two new features are added to Riverfront Park. In April the new boat dock and overlook are completed; in October the Rotary Pavilion opens. This "front lawn" of our city continues to attract residents and visitors for casual strolling, Willamette Queen river tours and dining, children's Carousel entertainment and community cultural activities such as the annual Salem Multicultural Institute World Beat Festival.

Salem in 2004

World Events

• President George W. Bush is reelected; Barack Obama wins an Illinois Senate seat.
• Tsunami ravages the Indonesian coastline causing over 200,000 deaths.
• "Friendly fire" is discovered to have killed former professional football player, Pat Tillman, in Afghanistan.
• Facebook launches.
• Academy Awards: "Million Dollar Baby" (US), "The Sea Inside" (Spain). Prize-winning books: The News from Paraguay, Lily Tuck and The Known World, Edward P. Jones

In Salem
Anyone approaching A. C. Gilbert's Discovery Village or Riverfront Park from Water Street has to turn in at Union Street. As one makes the turn, this is the scene in 2004. The railroad bridge had not been used for many years and the city has an opportunity to buy it for $1. The three-year option is about to close and no action had been taken.
The bridge, originally designed for passenger service across the Willamette River, opened in 1913 to connect two north-south lines: one line ran through our Salem railway station on 12th Street, the other through a station in Gerlinger, just beyond West Salem. However, by the time the long-planned bridge and trestle were finished, the automobile was beginning to be an alternative to the train for travelers. The bridge was increasingly used for freight until the 1950s when trucking supplanted commercial rail transport. Even the track leading to the bridge, along 12th Street on the east, and 2nd Street in West Salem, became disconnected as city streets were improved.
This is the situation when the vote to buy the bridge is taken at city council this year. Only seven members are present that evening to hear Mayor Taylor make a passionate plea to save this potential asset. There is opposition because of the cost and doubt of its value. The vote is 4-3 in favor.

When you visit

The bridge and trestle renovation took five years with the result seen here. Cost was borne by federal and state grants, city urban renewal funds and private donations. It opened in 2009 and was instantly popular with residents for the beauty of the walk across the river and as a handy, and safe, bicycle path for recreation and transport between home and work. The final piece of the project was encapsulating the lead paint: federal stimulus funds to Oregon Department of Transportation were used for this purpose, causing the bridge to close for seven months, much to the disappointment of Salem users, until it reopened in May of 2010. The Union Street Bridge and Trestle has won state and national awards for its engineering, utility and value as a community asset. It is an excellent example of local cultural preservation providing a wholesome, family amenity for residents while promoting valuable heritage tourism.

Other events

• In January, Bob Wells was named Interim City Manager. He was officially appointed Manager as in September. In December, Linda Norris was hired as Assistant City Manager.

Ferry Street view of the Grand Hotel with Convention Center in background

• The Conference Center and adjoining Phoenix Grand Hotel ( Grand Hotel) opens this year providing another important asset to our city and the downtown area. The Conference Center stands on the site of the venerable Marion Hotel, a hundred-year old establishment that burned in 1971. The lobbies of the two buildings are connected by a corridor lined with historic photographs of the former hotel. On the glass-walled landing of the steps leading to the second floor of the Conference Center, an interpretive panel describes the historic buildings of the Ferry and Commercial Street intersection visible outside.
• A proposal to create a local Library District, elect a Board of Directors, and become independent from the on-going crisis of the city's general fund, gains enough support through petition to be placed on the ballot. Volunteers feel confident after addressing local service clubs and canvassing neighborhoods for support, however the proposal is soundly defeated in the November election.
• Salem has four charter schools this year: the alternative high school downtown, popular with 300 students applying for the 30 to 40 spaces open; the Jane Goodall Environmental Magnet School, within Waldo Middle School; the West Salem Language Academy; the Optimum Learning Environment; and the Howard Street Charter School.
• In October, flu shots were in short-supply and elderly or ill residents lined up at the Marion County Department of Health on Center Street, waiting for hours at one of the two clinics.
• Salem is competing for a multi-million dollar Salvation Army community center funded by the estate of the late Joan Kroc. The Salem proposal, judged best of the nine Oregon submissions, requests $70 million, half each for the construction and later maintenance. It may include swimming pools, library, gymnasium, classrooms, theater and other amenities.
• Another project moving forward is Keizer Station. The developer is obtaining permits for construction of Target and Lowe's, the two major tenants.
• Train deaths continue with four in the same number of weeks at the Union Pacific track near downtown. None were judged to be suicides, with unawareness or a rush to beat the approaching train as likely causes.
• Sixteen soldiers with Salem ties die in the Iraq war this year. More than 1,700 National Guard are serving there with other units deployed at Guantanamo Bay and Afghanistan. Other military personnel are scheduled to depart for overseas duty in 2005.

Salem in 2002

World Events

• British al-Quada convert, Richard Reid, the 2001 "Shoe Bomber", pleads guilty. (Subdued, the Miami-Paris flight had returned to Logan Airport in Boston.)
• When a vote is taken in Gibraltar, the citizens reject Spanish sovereignty to remain a British Overseas Territory.
• Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom celebrates her Golden Jubilee  in her 50th year on the throne.
• Homeland Security Act is established " to insure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards".
• "Sour Biscuit" fires rage in Oregon and California.
• Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City. Utah is the fifth state to host the Olympic games.
• Murder charges against Ward Weaver of Oregon City dominate national newspapers.
• Jimmy Carter is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for untiring efforts find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, advance democracy and human rights and promote economic and social development.
•  Academy Awards: "Chicago" (US). "Nowhere in Africa" (Germany). Prize-winning Books: Three Junes, Julia Glass and Empire Falls, Richard Russo.

In Salem
In this year, due to the declining use of industrial property and the age of residences in the Edgewater and Wallace Road areas, the West Salem Redevelopment Advisory Board is established as an eleven-member group advising the city's West Salem Urban Renewal Agency. The duties of the Board include considerations of conservation, rehabilitation, and redevelopment matters within the West Salem Urban Growth Renewal Area. The formerly prosperous canning industry, which brought business and residential growth to the Edgewater and Wallace Road areas, had declined to the extent that the neighborhood needed assistance in promoting new business, recovering property values and increasing public services.
Notice was already being taken of the historical value of some residential properties. The Historic Landmarks Commission had designated nine properties as West Salem Local Landmarks. The new Board could now work with the city agencies and departments to recognize both the residential needs and the potential for business improvement of the whole urban renewal area.

When you visit
Among the attractive residential areas of West Salem, Kingwood in the Edgewater area stands out. This house at 270 Kingwood Drive was featured on the cover of the Edgewater Walking Tour brochure of 2009. The neighborhood spans over a century of construction dates, beginning in 1900. The first plats were dated in the late 1800s and Kingwood Park in 1909. Homes were built by different builders or by homeowners themselves, giving the neighborhood a diversity of style and size not always reflected in newer residential areas. There are several large homes, but small cottages are really the heart of Edgewater, many built in the 1930s as jobs were created in the local canneries or the paper mill across the Willamette River.
A subject for discussion by the West Salem Redevelopment Advisory Board (2010) is the possibility of a future West Salem branch of the Polk County Museum. (See 2000 in this series.) To learn more about current activities of the Board, contact a city staff member at 503-588-6178.

Other events

• Janet Taylor is elected as mayor to take office in January of 2003. Mike Swaim gave up a run for a fourth term as mayor in a bid for Oregon's House of Representatives. He lost to Billy Dalto.
• The Statesman Journal reports the top story of the year is the opening of the West Salem High School in September, "a $49 million dream come true for residents on the other side of the Willamette River and Salem-Keizer's first new high school in 23 years. It immediately became home to more than 1,300 students and a center of activity for the area Friday night football games." At the same time, the state's ongoing budget crisis affected local schools as bus routes are longer and classroom programs cut or scaled back.
• As Superintendent of Public Instruction, Susan Costello is the first Hispanic woman to be elected to statewide office. She served until the 2012 reorganization of Oregon's public education.
• The City Council approves a downtown Conference Center facing Commercial Street on the former Marion Hotel site. The project will constructed in cooperation with VIPS, owner of Phoenix Inns. A hotel will be adjacent on the Liberty Street side of the block south of Ferry Street. Our newspaper reports, "Supporters see the conference center as the engine to pull downtown out of an economic rut."
• Property crime increases due to Salem being a hub for narcotics activity and budget problems causing jail capacity to dwindle as property thieves are released to make room for violent offenders.
• Section 62 of the City Charter adds Ethical Standards. The goal of the measure is to ensure public confidence in the impartiality of elected or appointed city officials. Each is required to disclose any past or present business or family relationships, any direct and indirect campaign contributions or gifts that might influence any decision.
• A Community Police Review Board is established to review unresolved complaints against members of the Salem Police Department.
• Former governor Bob Straub dies. The Statesman Journal reports, "He has been praised been for his many public contributions during 20 years in office, including the governorship 1975-79: protecting Oregon beaches and the Willamette River, defending land-use planning. He was also remembered for many personal acts during the three decades he and Pat lived in a farmhouse in West Salem: helping others less fortunate, donating land for a city park..."
• The Olympic torch passes through 8 miles of Salem, between lines of school children and state workers. A crowd of 2,500 converged on the State Capitol to celebrate the lighting of the cauldron.

Salem in 1971

World Events

• The Vietnam war extends into Laos; 7000 arrested for D.C. protest activities. The New York Times begins publishing the Pentagon Papers which gave evidence that the Johnson administration lied to Americans and Congress about the Vietnam policies and combat escalations.
• The Aswan High Dam opens in Egypt, helping to control flooding, increase agriculture and provide better water storage. The construction caused the relocation of 100,000 people, flooded a large area above the dam and demolished several ancient historic sites.
•  Greenpeace is founded in Vancouver, B.C. Canada.
• After hijacking a Northwest Orient Airline, D. B. Cooper parachutes out over Washington State with $200,000 in random money. He is never seen again, making this the only unsolved skyjacking in history. 
• Billie Jean King is the first female athlete to earn $100,000 in one year.
• The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts opens in Washington, D.C.  Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida.
• Amtrak begins operating US railroads.
• Oregon Forestry Practices Act requires the replanting of harvested trees.
• Academy Awards: "The French Connection" (US), The Garden of the Finzi Continis (Italy). Prize-winning Book: Mr. Sammler's Planet, Saul Bellow.

In Salem
On November 12, a fire in the historic old Marion Hotel left it in ruins. Another photograph, taken from the air during the fire, shows smoke rising from the gutted building: the sign for the Velvet Horse Lounge is still in place above the ruins. In 1870, when the doors of the Chemeketa House opened it brought Salem a new age of genteel luxury and elegance. On December 26, 1970, the Chemeketa Hotel, since renamed the Marion hotel, celebrated its centennial. The secrets of a century of back-stage politics and local social events were hidden inside the old building at Commercial and Ferry Streets SE. Traditional hotel hospitality was there in the old portion of the building: 50 of those high-ceiling rooms were furnished in antiques dating back over the 100-year history of the hotel.

When you visit
A typical, mid-century motel and restaurant was built on that site, but closed before 1999. After several years of municipal discussion, the present Conference Center, facing Commercial Street, and Grand Hotel on Liberty Street were completed in 2005. Since then, the city has added graphic historical information for the residents and visitors: on the Ferry and Commercial Street stair landing, there is an interpretive panel showing the importance of this intersection in the earliest years of statehood. It outlines the social and political importance of the hotel building that once stood here until the fire of 1971.

Other Events

• The urban renewal of the Hollywood district in North Salem begins. In June, the Hollywood Theater, which gave this suburban business neighborhood its name, was demolished. The Highland neighborhood has produced an excellent online history of Hollywood's transformation. The Hazel Avenue neighborhood was still farmland when, as an orphan, future president Herbert Hoover lived here as a boy. His uncle, Henry Minthorn, developed the Highland area and sponsored the building of the Friends Church that still stands (but with a different religious affiliation). The Miles Linen Mill, located at the intersection of Fairgrounds Road and Sunnyview Avenue, was later occupied by the Oregon Military Department. By 1971, this early Salem suburban work and commercial center, with its outdated intersection of Fairgrounds, Capitol, Myrtle and Tile streets, no longer served the transportation needs of the growing city. The Hollywood Theater, which gave the area its popular name, and Mootry's Pharmacy, are now only fond memories of senior citizens. This was the city's first Urban Renewal project.
• The Gideon Stoltz Company, the pioneer of our canning industry, a malt beverage distributor, moves to a modern building at 2445 North Liberty Street.

• The 1870 William Lincoln Wade house, one of our oldest residences still in use, is moved from its original location on the 800 block of Liberty Street (in the same block as Boon's Store) to 1305 John Street in South Salem. His son, Murray Wade, was a well-known newspaper cartoonist and publisher of the Oregon Magazine for 45 years. Soon after this year's move by its new owners, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Newman, it was photographed in its new location.
• The city purchases the 1894 Deepwood property. The five-acre estate was originally part of the circa 1889, 220-acre Yew Park subdivision; the Queen Anne styled house designed by William C. Knighton and built by Dr. Luke Port. He sold the home to George and Willie Bingham in 1895. They made Deepwood their home for 28 years developing the natural gardens with roses, an orchard, grape arbor and vegetable gardens. Alice Bingham, their daughter, sold the house to Clifford and Alice Brown in 1924. After his death, Alice lived in the home as a widow, commissioning landscape architects Elizabeth Lord and Edith Schryver to design the gardens. By 1930, Alice was calling the house and gardens “Deepwood” after the children’s book “The Hollow Tree and Deepwoods” Book by Albert Bigelow Paine, a favorite of her sons. In 1935, when the gardens were nearly complete, she had the name Deepwood formally registered as a legal farm name. The longest resident of Deepwood, Alice Brown married Keith Powell, widower of Alice Bingham, remaining in the house until their health required relocation in 1968. The city of Salem acquires the home in December of this year.
• An aerial view of the state fairgrounds this year shows the horse racing track, exhibition halls and carnival midway. The giant parking lots are surrounded by suburban residential neighborhoods. Buildings destroyed by the fire three years before have been replaced. Senator George McGovern of South Dakota visited our Oregon State Fair and shared opening day activities with Governor and Mrs. McCall. In the next year, he would lose the presidential election to Richard Nixon. The Watergate controversy began during this campaign and would lead to the resignation of President Nixon before his term ended.

• Construction for the Civic Center south of Pringle Creek between Commercial and Liberty Streets begins. This photograph shows the placing of the triangular concrete pieces that will surround the fountain in the plaza between the new library and city offices. In the distance, the old City Hall still stands.
• By June, the new Fire Station #1, adjacent to the Civic Center is complete and in use. In 2011, this central fire station was renovated.
• Roger Tofte, artist and draftsman with the state highway division, took his hobby and turned it into a career as the created the Enchanted Forest Amusement Park south of the city. In the next year, he quit his job and devoted his talents to creating family-friendly attractions and rides.

Photograph taken in 2007

• The Bush-Brey building is remodeled to include a bridge to an addition in the back and a garden courtyard for the Busick Court Restaurant on Court Street. The woodwork on the second floor is restored, the design of windows changed and the northern skylight that had served the former Cronise Photography Studio site for sixty years was removed.
• Cherry picking is still an important source of income for many Salem families and for migrants who come for seasonal work. Young people of all social classes make spending money in this summer activity.