The ultimate resurrection of the historic Granada Theater in The Dalles, built in 1929 as the first place to see a talkie west of the Mississippi, has been wobbly for many years. So after years of trying to find the right buyer for the theater, the city has bought the theater for $387,000 in a negotiated deal with a developer.
The old Bright Wood lumber mill in Bend is the latest former mill to be redeveloped into something completely different. Gone are the blue-collar jobs, replaced by a fitness studio, a salon and a coffee shop. It’s the third former mill site in Bend to be reinvented in this manner, and developers and public officials are entertaining similar plans all over Oregon.
The owners of Voodoo Doughnut took their quirky product to Eugene and found immediate success, but it might be due to summer, not sugar.
With a June unemployment rate at a staggering 14.4%, the recent news that Alcan Cable in Roseburg was shutting down was another unwelcome blow to Douglas County’s economy.
Commercial fishing in Oregon may be looking to its past to help sustain its future. Some Oregon fishermen increasingly are considering selling their catch directly to local consumers through a possible Community-Based Fishery Management program, similar to the popular Community Supported Agriculture programs.
A free-trade agreement with South Korea could help Oregon’s blueberry market bounce back from the depths of 2009.