ASTORIA — Astoria’s iconic Odd Fellows Building will be undergoing much needed restoration work on its 4,000-square-foot ballroom, thanks to a trio of grants totaling $90,000. Jessamyn Grace West, co-owner of the building and executive director of the Astoria Arts and Movement Center housed there, announced the grants this week.

Money from the Kinsman Foundation’s Historic Preservation Grant, the Oregon Cultural Trust’s Cultural Development Grant and Oregon Community Foundation’s Community Grant will pay to repair original trim and tilework and paint the Grecian Deco-inspired ballroom. The dance space takes up the entire second floor of the 9,000-square-foot building. It was the first building rebuilt after a fire in 1922 destroyed much of the town.

“It was really the Kinsman Foundation preservation grant that got this ball rolling,” said West. “They were the first, over a year ago, to say, ‘Here is money for your project,’ which I couldn’t believe. Foundations rarely like to be the only contributor to a project; Kinsman took a risk.” The $25,000 grant required West to secure a matching grant, which came from the Oregon Cultural Trust with a third, for $40,000, following from the Oregon Community Foundation.

“We really needed all three of those pieces to make this project happen in a way that would honor the ballroom’s historic integrity,” West said. “The fact that these foundations supported our project tells me that they care about small towns in rural areas — the art we produce in Astoria is hugely important to our community and it means a lot to me that they recognized that.”

The 1923 Odd Fellows building sustained severe damage when it lost a portion of its roof in the Great Coastal Gale of 2007, a series of three powerful storms. The ballroom “suffered considerable water damage, which is still visible today,” West said.

Work on the ballroom is expected to begin in February and continue through March with local contractors Simo Ranta and Scott Stills. Ranta, who will paint the ballroom interior, also painted the building exterior in 2020, a project made possible by funding from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Stills, a historic preservation contractor, recently restored the original double oak doors on the Odd Fellows building’s 10^th Street archway. Stills will do the trim restoration, including trim on the Grecian arches and windows.

“The fact that these two agreed to do this project is huge,” West said. “It’s just another piece of the puzzle that fell into place that is extraordinary. These are professionals that are booked out indefinitely, and grant timelines are not flexible, but they love this building. When we sat in the ballroom together and they agreed to take on the project, I cried. I can’t imagine anybody else doing the ballroom interior.”

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The new interior colors will be similar to the existing palette of earth tones but lighter, and “all work will follow the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Preservation.”

The recent grants bring the funds West has secured to restore the old building to a total of $300,000. She said one of the reasons organizations are willing to help with the restoration is not only in support of historic structures, but also the center’s grassroots and community-centered history of offering dance classes at all levels and to all ages.

In a May 2024 Oregon ArtsWatch story, dance student and massage therapist Cameron Wagner said, “I see the Movement Center as being a place of inclusivity where it is welcoming to everyone and that includes all ages and identities and physicalities. It’s a place where we can all go to express ourselves. And it’s affordable … accessible to all incomes.”