Through the 1989 vision of Dr. Martin Morse, Salem opened a wonderful children’s museum in the childhood home of A.C. Gilbert located on the Salem’s riverfront.  As the museum expanded, adding additional historic buildings to the site, our office began to assist with the planned growth.  The most significant plan was the addition of the Discovery Village to the site.  The massive 10,000 sf outdoor park included music pavilions, dinosaur sand pits, and other teaching stations, all anchored by an iconic erector-set like structure complete with slides.  The plan also included a new entry structure, new restrooms, the reconstruction of the Wilson-Durbin House, the City of Salem’s oldest house, on its original foundation, as well as the relocation of Salem’s famous little candy store.  This was Salem’s single largest volunteer project to date.  Over 6000 volunteers worked for 28+ days to construct what is now known as, the Gilbert House Children’s Museum.

Awards
1999 People’s Choice Award, American Institute of Architects, Salem Chapter
1999 Honorable Mention Award, American Institute of Architects, Salem Chapter

This project involved the design of a complete city block on the northern edge of downtown Salem.  The project has three major components: first is the five-story mixed-use apartment building which has commercial space at the street level, the second portion occupies the complete west side of the site was designed as a small neighborhood of two-story townhouses, and the third portion is Salem Cinema, a three screen “arts” theatre that provides unique entertainment opportunities in the expanding portion of Broadway Street.

SALEM, OREGON

In 1999, our firm designed a completely new baseball stadium for Oregon State University, upgrading Coleman Field, which is the oldest active baseball field on a college campus in the United States.  Goss Stadium is a state-of-the-art college baseball facility with seating for 1,460 people. When the Beavers’ baseball program won their first NCAA World Series Championship in 2006, the University decided to expand the baseball facilities to seat approximately 3,000 spectators and provide other amenities.

Completed in November 2008, the stadium expansion provides a seamless continuation of the original stadium façade which fits into the context of the college campus with the use of brick and arches. The expansion bends towards the diamond to provide better viewing opportunities while maintaining campus pedestrian and vehicular service accesses. For cost considerations, the design avoided conflicts with the existing field light standards and one existing bullpen.

The design includes additional seating along the right and left field baselines, a new sky box viewing area with covered exterior box seats for booster club supporters of the program, an academic center for baseball athletes, and a reception/display area for baseball memorabilia of the fine history of Oregon State Baseball, including the NCAA World Series Championship trophies. The expanded facility also provides additional handicap accessible restrooms, expanded concourse viewing areas, storage areas for university athletics, sitework, and new technological infrastructure for the outfield scoreboard and television production trucks.  The new seating brings spectators down to field level providing optimal views and maintains the intimacy of the college game.

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, located on Baxter Hill in Salem, involved approximately 38,000 s.f. and includes a small 400-seat sanctuary, 600 seat multi-purpose room for worship, recreation and fellowship, and an education/administration wing providing space for a preschool program and comprehensive Christian education program. Our Savior Lutheran Church has since used the planned space to expand their preschool to include kindergarten, first and second grades.  The 10 acre site has provided space for further expansion of their Faith House Community Hall and proposes an 800-seat future sanctuary, playground and ballfields.

SALEM, OREGON

AC + Co assisted the City Council and City Administration on all design issues with this complex public/private partnership.  The scope of work included communications with the Owner, facilitation of all community forums, and ultimately, leadership on the final design solutions ranging from the look of the building to the interior finishes.  In a separate contract, the City of Salem engaged our firm to complete the LEED Silver Certification.

This new baseball field and stadium, built in 1997 for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, includes seating for 4,000 in several classifications: 13 luxury skyboxes, box seating, reserved seating, and general admission, with a picnic area along the third base line available to all fans. Concession facilities are evenly distributed throughout the stadium and allow for visibility of the playing field. Public restrooms and the ticket booth are ADA accessible and there is parking for 1,800 vehicles.

Separate clubhouses, dugouts, and bullpens are provided for home and visiting teams and there are team training areas and several team administrative offices. For media coverage there is one main press box and three radio broadcast booths, in addition to designated areas for television and print media at the field level.

Awards
1999 Honorable Mention Award, American Institute of Architects, Salem Chapter
***Ranked #1 baseball stadium west of the Mississippi and 4th in the nation
by Baseball America Class A Short Season Ranking, 2004

While still a relatively recent addition to Salem, the Riverfront Carousel has become one of the community’s most iconic buildings.  AC + Co designed a facility that houses a carousel of 36 hand-carved horses and other animals. The building, located at the South end of beautiful Riverfront Park in Salem, is 5,000 square feet and includes a gift shop, office, repair and maintenance area, and meeting room/rental space.  Large sliding doors adjacent to the carousel allow for wonderful natural ventilation and also for the organ music to be heard throughout the park and along the edge of Salem’s neighboring downtown historic district.

The Rotary Centennial Pavilion, the tangible result of years of lobbying by Rotarian Mark Wulf, is a complex timber roof structure with almost entirely compound joinery. Mark proved himself adept at corralling local support for this event, as evidenced by the number of names that are on the sign at the site. The Timber Framing Guild laid out, cut and assembled a large free-span roof as guests of the Rotary Club in Salem. Timber framers with expertise in scribing and square rule timber framing were recruited from the United States and the United Kingdom, making this an impressive international effort. This highly visible public structure is located downtown on the newly reclaimed waterfront. The pavilion is 42’ from pier to pier, making it an impressive structure. The roof was raised via cranes onto the existing masonry piers.This structure depends upon four masonry columns to resolve outward forces, making it possible to create an airy and open roof system without major tie beams from corner to corner. This evokes the earliest uses of heavy timber construction in the great cathedrals of Europe, with their masonry walls supporting and resolving the thrust of lofty roof systems.

Awards
2001 People’s Choice Award, American Institute of Architects, Salem Chapter
2001 Hammurabi Special Artistic Award (recognition of excellence in masonry and/or tile)

SALEM, OREGON

This project included an addition to a 1960’s church. The addition of new restrooms, an office area, and an expanded narthex to complement social activities paid special attention to the 60’s modern architecture. The project also addressed the church entrance and a more efficient and slightly expanded parking area.  The new barrel-vaulted sanctuary provides beautiful opportunities for natural light and is a unique visual landmark for this long time Stayton church.