Salem in 2010

 World Events

• Natural disasters: earthquake in Haiti, floods in Pakistan, Chilean miners rescued after 69 days trapped in tunnel collapse, and December snow storms that disrupt holiday air travel.
• Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes causing massive environmental and economic losses in Gulf of Mexico and adjoining southern states.
• Health Care reform (Obamacare) passes in Congress.
• November Congressional elections give Republicans majority in House of representatives, Lame Duck session boosts President Obama's agenda with compromise tax-cut extensions, repeal of DADT in military, arms control treaty with Russia, medical care for 9/11 rescue workers and a food safety bill.
• Wikileaks, directed by Julian Assange, releases more than 250,000 American diplomatic cables, 100,000 marked "secret" or "confidential" in the goal of revealing or compromising actions by the U.S. government and influencing national elections.
• Technology: iPad introduced, popular Facebook inspires the movie (The Social Network), Twitter and YouTube redefine social communication and influence elections.
• Academy Awards: "The King's Speech" (US). "In a Better World"(Denmark).  Prize-winning books: Lord of Misrule, Jaimy Gordon and The Tinkers, Paul Harding.

In Salem
Courthouse Square, occupying an entire block of downtown Salem for the last ten years, has been the subject of both pride and debate: it provided a convenient hub for Sale-Keizer bus users and an office building for Marion County (across High Street from the courthouse itself). But leaking windows and uneven floors inside, along with paving irregularities in bus lanes caused increasing concern. In July, employees heard an internal explosion that engineers determined was probably the rupture of a steel cable within a concrete slab. Further investigations led to the entire area being evaluated as too dangerous for occupancy and so was evacuated. The $34 million facility is empty, enclosed by a chain-link fence. The construction responsibility and future for the property was debated until a solution was negotiated in 2012: the structure will be repaired with the bus parking and garage first on the list.  A nearby, temporary transit hub is being used and county offices have been relocated.

When You Visit

Residents acquainted with the history of downtown remember this as the site of the Senator Hotel, conveniently located across High Street from the former city hall. The photograph above is taken here. A closer view shows the early excavations in the bus lanes.
At the time of the closure, a walk following the fence around the property might begin south of this location on High Street where the you see the five-story office building behind the clock. Cross the street to see public art work has been placed in front of this Marion County Business Services Building. Turning onto Court Street, you pass the Chinese restaurant that was forced to close. Next you see the doors of the Marion County/Transit District office entrance. Looking back to the west, you see the historic Grand Theater. Turning north at Church Street you will see the office building on the left and pass the central structure that continues through the parking bays from the clock tower on High Street. As you completed the walk on Chemeketa Street, signs were posted to prohibit crossing the fence.
The loss of the property for public and county use had a negative effect on more than the one business that was on the site itself. However, the reclamation of Courthouse Square was completed in 2014 and the complex is again in use for bus transportation and county offices.

Other Local Events

• Anna Peterson was chosen as next mayor after a congenial and dignified campaign was conducted by her and rival candidate Chuck Bennett. Bennett will remain on City Council.
• National television zoomed in on our Oregon School for the Deaf as "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" rebuilt a boys' dormitory and the boosted school revenue with a new facility for their Haunted House site for Halloween events
• Yes, Trader Joe is coming to Salem ~ a building formerly occupied by Albertson Grocery on South Commercial is being refitted for a summer 2011 opening.
• Local supporters of the Oregon Ducks celebrated a winning season and a possible college football championship.
• Marion County Courthouse was the scene of two trials for murder after a failed bombing of a Woodburn bank caused the death of two police officers. The jury voted death as penalties for Bruce and Joshua Turnidge.

Although the majority of Boise Cascade buildings are gone, no new construction has begun in 2009.

Master Plan for Pringle Square

• The economic downturn effects downtown housing: many new condos remain vacant. Plans for development of Boise property also stalls. Access to the riverfront section of this new Pringle Square development is handicapped by the railroad tracks that run though the property.

• After tenure of 12 years, Willamette University President M. Lee Pelton accepts an offer at Boston's Emerson College. A native of Kansas, he held leadership roles at Colgate University and Dartmouth College before becoming the first African-American president of an independent college when he became Willamette president in 1998.
• Salem Art Association charges admission for the July Art Fair at Bush's Pasture Park, a city-owned property, citing increased expenses in producing the well-recognized event that is a prominent part of the cultural life of the city. It is also considered an economic boon to Salem as a tourist attraction.
• Former Governor Kitzhaber is re-elected. He previously served two terms from 1995 to 2003. First elected to the Oregon House of Representatives, Kitzhaber served in the Oregon State Senate for twelve years, eight of them as Senate President. In 1994, Kitzhaber ran for Governor, winning comfortably. He was re-elected in 1998 by a wide margin. After completing his second term, Kitzhaber returned to medicine and campaigned for better public access to health care. This year he defeated the Republican nominee, former NBA player Chris Dudley.
• Mexico extradites Salem fugitive accused in the 2009 murder of 21-year old Montez Bailey in Northgate Park.
• The year ends with a 9 p.m. celebration and lighted "ball drop" for hundreds of visitors to the A. C. Gilbert Discovery Village.

Salem in 2000

World Events

• The Supreme Court rules for George W. Bush, defeating Al Gore in the closest presidential election in history.
• Terrorists bomb USS Cole in Yemen.
• Pope John Paul II apologizes for wrongdoings of Catholic clergy throughout the ages.
• Federal authorities seize 6-year old refugee, Elian Gonzales, from relatives home in Miami to return him to his Cuban father.
• America Online purchases Time Warner for $162 billon, a largest-ever corporate merger. US v. Microsoft rules Microsoft violated US anti-trust laws by "keeping an oppressive thumb" on competitors. The computer "worm" ILOVEYOU infects tens of millions of Windows users.
• 250 million gallons of coal sludge spills in Martin County, Kentucky~ a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
• The Confederate submarine H. L.Hunley is raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor. The Russian submarine Kursk sinks in the Bering Sea resulting in the deaths of 118 men on board.
• Final "Peanuts" is published due to death of creator, Charles M. Schultz. Academy Awards:"Gladiator" (US), "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (Taiwan). Prize-winning Books: In America, Susan Sontag and Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri.
  

• In Salem

 Historic Salem and Eola were two Oregon towns separated not only by a river, but also by county lines. In Polk County, Eola was absorbed by West Salem and, in 1947, the residents voted to be incorporated into the city of Salem in Marion County. However, there are many towns in Polk County that have distinct characters of their own, and it is this historical preservation that concerned residents who organized the Polk County Historical Society in 1959. In 1995, that society merged with a community group interested in establishing a county museum. Fortunately, a large private donation was offered for the project and this inspired smaller matching contributions. A mortgage for the last one-third of the cost was paid off in 2005, five years after the construction. The all-volunteer staff is proud that the only government support has come from Polk County cooperation in use of a portion of fairgrounds property, as seen in the photograph above.
The 14,000 square-foot, 2-story museum has dozens of different exhibit areas including Native American artifacts, industry from farming to timber, an automobile and stagecoach, an old-fashioned doctor/dentist office and period room furnishings. Its charm is in introducing visitors to a "home town" atmosphere that makes historic preservation a pleasure to experience.
Of special interest on the second floor galley is an inter-active time line teaching young students about important events in history. For researchers, the archive has approximately 6,000 photographs. The library contains 50,000 files on Polk County.

When you visit

Since the museum opened in 2000, Hwy 22, west from Salem, has had major renovations. The museum is now an easy 11 miles west of the Marion Street Bridge on that highway, turning south on 99E to Rickreall.

The museum also maintains the historic Brunk House. Harrison Brunk and his wife Emily Waller lived in Missouri before making the overland trip to Oregon. They freed their slaves and packed their possessions into two prairie schooners with four oxen to pull each wagon for the seven-month journey west. Following the Barlow Road, they arrived in Polk County where they took a Donation Land Claim northwest of Rickreall. The couple lived in a log cabin until their home was completed (by a neighbor) at a cost of $844 in 1861. More information about Polk County history is found in Pioneer History to about 1900 Churches of Christ and Christian Churches in the Pacific Northwest. This National Register property is on Hwy 22 near the junction with Hwy 51, Eola. Hours are Tuesday, 9-noon. No admission, donations only.

Other Events

• Salem's population is 128,595.
• Larry Wacker retired as City Manager and Bob Wells is appointed in an interim position.
• Section 61 of city charter: annexations must be approved by a vote of the people. (Ballot Measure 24-34)

State of Oregon team keeping government computers working in 2000

• As the capital city of Oregon, Salem was in the midst of the predicted Y2K crisis for state government computers. Much of the alarm was hype, but some of it was real, and state agencies did a good job to fix things before it could occur. Dedicated State of Oregon employees kept the state government computers from crashing as the calendar turned over into the new century.

• A dedication ceremony for Courthouse Square was held on September 29. Dignitaries present included former U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield who acquired the federal funding for the transit portion of the project. Bus operations at the former on-street transfer facility on High Street ceased at the end of the day on Saturday, September 30 and began at the new R. G. Andersen-Wyckoff Transit Mall on Monday, October 2. The first phase move of county employees from the Customer Service, Operations Supervisors, and Security Offices at 183 High Street to the first floor of Courthouse Square coincided with the beginning of bus operations there. The second phase move of administrative employees from 3140 Del Webb Avenue to the new fifth floor offices at Courthouse Square was made the week prior to the opening of business there on Monday, November 6.
• Fairview Training Center closed this year. Established by the state in 1908 as the Oregon State Institute for the Feeble Minded, it opened on December 1st of that year with the transfer of 39 adults and children from the Insane Asylum, until that time the only state institution that could provide them with any professional care. Harry E. Bickers of Pendleton was appointed Superintendent of that first home and had supervised the construction of the first five buildings—dormitory, administration building, laundry, a brick powerhouse, and a barn. A reporter described the main buildings as resembling "…a magnificent southern mansion." Here were located the superintendent’s office, reception rooms, attending physician’s office (Dr. W. Carlton Smith was the first to serve in that capacity), and schoolrooms. Separate dormitories for male and female students were maintained, and later the children were grouped in families of 20 to 25 according to levels of intelligence. When it closed in 2000, the few remaining residents were transferred to group homes or returned to live with their families.
• A reprise of Salem Hospital's "Century of Service", written by John McMillan, is published online on the Public Library's Salemhistory website.

Salem in 1979

World Events

• The Islamic Republic of Ayatollah Khomeini replaces the Shah of Iran. Iranian radicals invade the US embassy in Tehran taking 90 hostages of whom 53 are American. They demand the U. S. send the former Shah beck to Iran for trial.
• Pope John Paul II vists his native Poland. This nine-day visit was one of the inspirations for the Solidarity Movement against Communist control.
• Saddam Hussein on becoming president of Iraq, arranges the execution of 70 members of his revolutionary Ba'ath Party. He nationalizes the oil resources and takes brutal control of all aspects of the government and social behavior.
• Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman elected as British Prime Minister.
• Lord Mountbatten and one of his grandsons are killed by a bomb placed on his fishing boat by members of the IRA.
• NASA's  Skylab Space Shuttle returns to earth after 6 years of orbit.
• Sony Walkman and the compact disk (CD) go on sale as well as McDonald's Happy Meal.
• Academy Awards: "Kramer vs. Kramer"(US), "The Tin Drum" (Germany). Prize-winning Books: Going After Cacciato, Tim O'Brien and The Stories of John Cheever, John Cheever.

Cherriot buses in Salem, 1976

In Salem
This year, by a 3 to 1 ratio, the voters within the Salem Urban Growth Boundary approved a ballot measure on November 6, 1979, creating the Salem Area Mass Transit District encompassing the City of Salem and unincorporated areas of Marion and Polk Counties. At this same election, 5 of the 9-member Board of Directors were also elected. Subsequently, the Salem City Council appointed 2 Directors from its membership and the Marion and Polk Boards of Commissioners each appointed 1 Commissioner to the Board.
Our buses are "Cherriots". This had been the name and logo for local Salem buses as early as 1966. According to Clarence Pugh, writing for Salemhistory, the name "Cherriots" was chosen from an entry by Kenneth Yost in a contest and he was awarded a $50 gift certificate. New buses were purchased and upgraded service was begun with A. R. Hampton as first Transit Superintendent for the City of Salem. However, the use of private cars had multiplied after World War II, suburbs had spread beyond established bus lines and gas prices were uncertain. Growth of bus service was slow in the 1970s with 22 buses and 3500 riders during the weekdays: adult fare was thirty cents. In order to serve the public better, the bus system needed to be a separate entity with its own funding. This came about through the creation of a Transit District this year through an Oregon legislative act.
Oregon Legislature passes Senate Bill 462 providing a procedure through which the voters could create transit districts with an outer boundary no greater than the Urban Growth Boundary of a city.

When you visit
Courlette Hiscocks wrote the second half of the online history of the transit system with events after 1979 and leading up to the acquisition of the property of the former Senator Hotel and the building of Courthouse Square. "In November 1995, the District introduced a proposed project, Courthouse Square, on the Senator Hotel block, downtown, as a joint project with Marion County to provide the County with a centralized County Service Center and to replace the District's current transit transfer facility on High Street and move its administrative offices into downtown. The $30 million project is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2000. The transit portion of the project is $9.844 million of which $7.675 million is from federal (FTA) grants."
Courthouse Square was completed in 2000 as planned, but suffered a number of other complaints. Construction for shops along the north side of the block did not occur as expected, the size and style of the structure seemed out-of-place to many citizens, and, most recently, the transit center closed because of unexplained faults in the foundation. Bus riders, who must make connections between various routes, were accommodated in a temporary on-street location. By 2014, Courthouse Square had been completely repaired and county offices were back in place as well as bus facilities.

Other Events

Gov. Atiyeh's Salem Home

• Victor Atiyeh is elected governor of Oregon and moves in to the Stiff House on Winter Street where he and his wife will live until 1987.
• Sue Miller is elected to the Salem Area Transit District Board at its formation this year. She found that not only did she appreciate the results of campaigning and setting public policy as an elected official, but she also enjoyed the campaign process.
• Scott McIntire designs the first commissioned Art Fair poster; the fair begins with a parade and ends with a bagpipe procession, which becomes a tradition.

• The site for the new shopping complex "anchor", the Nordstrom Mall building is being prepared for construction bounded by Center, Liberty and Chemeketa Streets. Later in the year, a photographer catches work on the interior of the second floor.

• North Capitol Mall is extending beyond Center Street and further north on Summer Street with the construction of the Revenue Building designed by BOORA Architects from Portland. It was constructed in two phases. The first phase included the underground parking, the front plaza, and the main building, which would be completed in 1981. The second phase included the “tower,” which is the smaller section of the building in the NE corner of the block, completed in 1984. The building originally housed most of the state’s major computer centers, but those have now been moved to the State Data Center on Airport Road. Before the building was constructed, the property housed a retail complex and houses that were torn down or moved.

• As Vietnamese refugees arrive in Salem in large numbers, the YWCA implements programs in cultural integration, employment, secondary wage-earner projects, case management, and other programs to help them assimilate into their new environment.
• One of the more amusing incidents in State Fair history occurred on opening day this year when a steer named Rufus escaped from his handlers, swam the Willamette River, and found his way to a cornfield, where he stayed for six weeks. Rufus became the fair's mascot, and was displayed, behind reinforced fencing, from 1980 through 1987. Sadly, Rufus died in early 1988 after he injured his leg.