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Building
fees down, budget may be cut
Venturing to Scotland, but not to golf
Wine country hotel dispute heads to appeals
court
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Amphitheater progresses toward completion |
Crews continue work on outdoor facility nestled on
the banks of Hess Creek; project's end expected June 15 |
By Amanda
Newman, Newberg Graphic intern
E-mail Amanda at
anewman@eaglenewspapers.com
|
Although students have used George Fox University’s amphitheater for
chapel services and movie nights since last fall, there was
something missing, that vital part of any theater — the stage.
However, that is soon to change.
Robert Gray
Partners Inc., a Tualatin-based commercial contracting company hired
to complete the job, has been working on the stage portion of the
amphitheater project for about two months, according to Laura
Alexander, the company’s project assistant.
Cement curbs were poured in late May and the pad for the stage is
being poured this week, Alexander said, adding that the project
should be completed by June 15, in time for a wedding scheduled to
take place at the amphitheater.
Robert Gray Partners has managed several other construction,
expansion and remodeling projects for the university. However, the
amphitheater is the first project to involve a stage, rather than a
concrete buildup.
“We are part of George Fox’s history and there will be nothing more
beautiful than to go to a play (at the amphitheater) and know we
were part of that,” Alexander said.
Construction of the amphitheater began in 2005, although the idea
“had been around for decades,” said Dan Schutter, the school’s
associate director of plant services and amphitheater project
manager. Phase 1 of the project, the stageless theater, was
completed in summer 2006 and the amphitheater opened Sept. 1 for a
campus showing of the movie “Click.”
The amphitheater, a natural, semicircular bowl located on the
western slope of Hess Creek Canyon, seats 500. Much of the funding
for Phase 1 was provided by George Fox students through the
Associated Student Council (ASC.)
“We’re always looking for a good venue for students to gather
together, and this gives them an outdoor venue,” Schutter said. “The
students think it’s cool and here at the college, the students are
our customers.”
Other George Fox projects contracted by Robert Gray Partners
include construction of the Edward F. Stevens Center, the remodeling
of Wood-Mar Hall, expansion and remodeling of the Herbert Hoover
Academic Building and, currently, renovation of the Villa Academic
Complex, formerly Providence Newberg Hospital. |
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From
June 9, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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