By James Day
The City of Silverton has contributed more than $26,000 to assist the new owners of the Palace Theatre with their renovation work.
The council, acting in its capacity as the city’s Urban Renewal Agency, voted at its Aug. 21 meeting to contribute $26,443 in urban renewal funds to bolster the Palace’s work on both internal remodeling and the theater’s facade.
The vote was a unanimous 7-0 on awarding $15,000 to assist with the work on enlarging the restrooms and making them ADA-accessible as well as the relocation of the concession counter. The grant requires a $60,000 match from owners Thomas and Erika Baham for the $75,000 project.
The interior renovations will end the perpetual clog of patrons, concessions purchasers and restroom visitors near the front door in the previous set-up.
The agency voted 4-3 to award $11,443 for the facade. This grant provides half of the $22,885 in funding needed for the project, with the Bahams responsible for the remainder.
Baham told Our Town at the meeting that repairs and upgrades of the Palace continue to be a slow work in progress. Included in the challenges has been the discovery of out-of-date plumbing fixtures. No word was available on when the theater will re-open. It has been closed since January.
City Manager: The council also discussed its recruitment for a new city manager during a lengthy executive session. The council is looking to replace Ron Chandler, who left in May for retirement in Utah.
According to a Facebook post by Mayor Jason Freilinger councilors spent four hours reducing an initial batch of 27 applicants down to a group that participated in Zoom interview sessions after Our Town’s presstime.
Ultimately, Freilinger wrote, “there will be phase three which will be a public process with multiple in-person interviews during the day and a public meet-and-greet in the evening.”
