By Madeline Lau
I still remember when I found out that my family had been part of Stayton since the very beginning of the town’s existence. One beautiful summer day I was having lunch with my friend, Olivia, at the Gardner House checking out some photos of A.D. Gardner and the early foundation of what would become Stayton, Ore. Knowing that the Laus have been floating around Stayton bringing eccentricity and general funkiness to the community for as long as anyone can remember, I wondered if the family had been back in the A.D. days (that’s not anno domini, folks). I walked home and asked my dad who answered, nonchalantly, “Oh yeah, Gardner’s your great-great-grandfather or something like that.”
Imagine my shock when I realized that, love it or hate it, Stayton was in my blood and our connection was, most likely, not going anywhere, like a dynastic legacy of Laus in the Willamette Valley for ages to come. I felt like a Rockefeller or a Vanderbilt, just minus the fortune, exceedingly luxurious lifestyle and penchant for croquet. Stayton was a part of me, inextricably and unavoidably, and we were stuck together, like the two staple foods of the community: mashed potatoes and burritos.
Knowing that Stayton and I are connected like Quasimodo to his hunchback made me begin to examine things about the town that I felt were not living up to decent standards. Ignoring unemployment rates and a dearth of old men wearing sombreros and rolling around in electric carts (this was a common feature of my childhood) Stayton’s biggest problem nowadays seemed to be its impressive number of abandoned buildings.
After one of my regular father-daughter chats with ol’ Moe Lau he reminded me that, sad as it is, both Karsten and Phillips Industries were going out of business and Stayton would be left with two big warts, smack dab on its face, with which we were unlikely to do anything productive.
I’d like to stop here and remind everyone that it’s not that I don’t have faith in Stayton’s ability to gentrify itself, it’s just that I’m realistic and know that, as a community, money is not necessarily floating by in the air (if I’m wrong and it is, please let me know, I will be there in two hours). The fact of the matter is Stayton’s list of empty buildings seems to get longer with each passing year. I propose that we, as the small but mighty town that we are, founded on good German principles and hard work, rally together to fill the building voids.
But first I would like to offer a huge “Way to go!” to business owners who have already tackled the empty building conundrum, like the Mexicos with the Star Cinema downtown, the owners of Red Apple restaurant and lounge and, of course, the insanely creative former gas station-transformers who built something out of, essentially, nothing with Stayton’s new tanning salon and neighboring teriyaki restaurant. Impressive.
And now my list of empty buildings that should be recycled to benefit the community: anyone looking to buy 10,000 square feet commercial real estate?
Phillips Industries and Karsten Homes: as sad as it is that they are shuttered, let’s creatively re-use the spaces as one, Stayton’s new community and convention center and two, a permanent weekly craft fair exhibition center! We need the extra room and updated space. Sorry, community center, but your weird orange fabric walls just aren’t cutting it, and this could bring large quantities of artists to the area which would, at the very least, be an interesting social experiment.
The old Chevron station on First Street: I will confess I am not as creative as those awesome people who already recycled some of the gas stations in town, but I think a good way of recycling the Chevron space would be to make a kitschy and very serious drive-in (like, drive in to the garage space) with good milkshakes (really hard to find in Stayton) and people on roller skates. You know, give those high school kids some jobs.
The old pharmacy building last used as a printing shop on Third Street: this is, by far, the best available space we have in Stayton. Clean, really cute, and super huge I’m wondering why no one is using it already?! My plan for this building would be to make it a more younger-people-oriented boutique where people in my age group could shop instead of driving to Salem. I’ve been waiting for this development for approximately 20 years and am fine to keep waiting but pleasant surprises are never discouraged!
Last but not least, and of course I would not exclude my own family from this list, the former Porter and Lau building on Third and Marion that has seriously been sitting, untouched, for at least two decades. Throughout my life I’ve had many visions for this enormous space still filled with boxes of “new” 1980s appliances.
I would break in and auction of all of those boxes to collectors and weird old stuff enthusiasts (who, if my dad has taught me anything, are in large supply) and then I would deep, deep clean the space ensuring sanitation had been restored to what is now probably the home of many, many vermin.
After clearing things out I would turn Porter and Lau into a hang-out for people who need a place to kick it in a town that does not cater to its youth. We would have large squishy couches and stay open really late with lots of good, home-cooked food and a nice chilled-out vibe. With the amazing windows and large amount of space to work with there’s no telling what Porter and Lau could become! If given the chance.
Maybe when I’m older and in the position to spend large amounts of money on projects that may have absolutely no pay off I will come back to Stayton and execute my dream renovation of Porter and Lau, if not more buildings, in an effort to revamp the community and fill the abandoned structures.
For now all I can do is hope that more productive people, with incredible enthusiasm and hardcore work ethic, will come to Stayton and beat me to it.
