Construction on the Eastern Oregon University Grand Staircase ensues during the late 1920s. The historic staircase for decades served as a physical and symbolic bridge between the campus and the La Grande community.

LA GRANDE — A treasured architecture feature in La Grande will be preserved for generations to come.

A $100 million rural infrastructure package passed by the Oregon Legislature in March granted $4 million to save Eastern Oregon University’s Grand Staircase, highlighting years of advocacy by the university, local individuals and regional organizations. Upon deteriorating into an unusable relic of the past, plans are now underway to renovate and protect the staircase as a critical element to Eastern’s campus.

“We’ve worked at a lot of different angles trying to find funding for it,” said Tim Seydel, Eastern’s vice president of university advancement. “It’s an incredibly beautiful piece of architecture that is one of a kind. We just kept working at it.”

Cause worth fighting for

The Eastern Oregon Normal School, a college for aspiring teachers at the time, opened its doors in 1929 after the construction of a campus in La Grande. The large staircase structure was created to provide pedestrian access from downtown to the campus, as well as a place for gatherings and events.

Architect John V. Bennes, who also headed the Hot Lake Hotel and Geiser Grand Hotel projects, designed the staircase in an Italian Renaissance Revival style, constructing the structure with 178 steps, 418 stone balusters and 17,470 square feet of concrete over five tiers. In 1980, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Many around the community share fond memories of the staircase, from growing up down the street to taking wedding photos on the scenic lookout. Among them are Anne Olson and Marcia Loney.

The sisters grew up down the street from the stairs and were enchanted with its grandeur, as both attended kindergarten at the Ackerman Lab School on campus and Olson later enrolled at Eastern for college. Decades later as the structure began to crumble, vandalism on the crumbling stairs in 2013 was the final straw as the duo decided to fight for the staircase’s future.

“I just remember being really struck by that,” Olson said. “I think that’s been a big issue all along. Here’s this incredible architectural treasure, but it’s in Eastern Oregon and at the end of a street that’s not used as much any more. It’s a hidden treasure.”

The sisters voiced a shared concern among alumni and community members, aligning with officials at Eastern to seek funding to restore the staircase.

“Anne’s and my memories are shared by generations and generations of kids and adults,” Loney said.

The Grand Staircase represented a symbolic connection between the town and the local university, creating a bridge for students and community members to be a part of the campus. The staircase also physically links the university to the community, allowing pedestrians easy access to and from the campus.

“It was a very symbolic, meaningful thing for many years,” Seydel said. “That changed with deterioration of the staircase to the point where we couldn’t use it.”

Pushing for funding

Local advocates worked with the city of La Grande, Main Street Downtown, Union County Chamber of Commerce, Eastern Oregon Visitor’s Association, Oregon Historic Preservation Office, Union County Commissioners, La Grande Landmarks Commission and other interested parties in the city.

“Having all those players lined up made it possible to show that this wasn’t just the university trying to get money for something that needed to be fixed or a bunch of sentimentalists — it was a community effort,” Olson said.

When Olson and Loney created a connection with Restore Oregon in 2014, pushing to find funding for a restoration project, the sisters were shocked to learn that few around the state knew of the staircase and its history.

“One of the things we’ve found is that outside of La Grande and Union County, nobody knows about the staircase,” Loney said.

Seydel and advocates for the Grand Staircase managed to drum up enough donations and funds to begin the planning and organizing stages of the restoration — Seydel noted that the funding efforts have extended close to 20 years. The project inched closer and closer to financial backing over the last decade, with the funding being close to consideration in state legislative sessions in the last several years.

“We were painfully close to getting it funded and trying to fix this incredible piece of architecture,” Seydel said. “Finally, we were able to push it over the finish line so to speak.”

In a groundbreaking decision, House Bill 5202 designated tens of millions of dollars for statewide projects, $4 million of which is allotted to restoring EOU’s Grand Staircase.

“I seriously think it took us a few days to actually believe it,” Loney said. “We were overjoyed. This is a gift to future generations, to La Grande and to Oregon. We’re beyond excited and we’re so grateful to EOU for all the work they’ve put into it.”

Lasting connection

With the new financial backing, the university is in the planning stages of starting the staircase’s restoration in 2023.

The project will involve working around the staircase, preparing the site, reconstruction and landscaping. The staircase has suffered from the effects of time, including running hillside water, concrete over 90 years old, broken balusters, vandalism and the freeze and thaw winter cycle.

According to Seydel, the restored staircase will provide an opportunity to bring back events and traditions that were an important part of the early years of the university. The stairs were most notably used for graduation and Evensong, a ceremony in which graduating seniors traversed the steps and symbolically left the campus and embraced the community as their post-college lives began.

“That was very symbolic of the connection between the university and the wider world,” Olson said.

Seydel noted that the Grand Staircase also will encourage tourism to the university and Union County, with visitors stopping in La Grande to admire the architectural feature. Seydel envisions the stairs again becoming a focal point for university and community gatherings and a place for wedding and graduation photos among other things.

In Olson and Loney’s years of advocating for the restoration of the staircase, positive community feedback from alumni and community members helped the cause gain substantial momentum. With the staircase set to return to its original glory, the sisters hope the nostalgic structure will create new memories.

“We really do hope that it is a seed for some really good things to happen for the university and for the city of La Grande and in the region,” Olson said.

The restoration project is set to bring back one of the city’s most historical gems. Originally built to link Eastern Oregon University with the La Grande community, the Grand Staircase will strengthen that bond in years to come.

“It supports not only the university, but it is the embodiment of the physical connection to the community,” Seydel said. “It drives tourism, it drives enrollment and it makes the entrance very symbolic from the university to the community.”