VOL. 44, ISSUE 5 FREE
CANNONBEACHGAZETTE.COM
March 6, 2020
City working to buy school property Kathleen Stinson
T
For The Gazette
he Cannon Beach City Council voted earlier this week to approve a contract for purchasing the Cannon Beach Elementary School property from the Seaside School District, according to city officials. The negotiated purchase price was $400,000, as stated in the agreement. “At this point, the primary purpose for the acquisition (is) for
uses that will enhance and promote a significant attraction for cultural and archeological interests, as well as for providing meeting space for those hospitality operations that are too small to accommodate meeting groups,” wrote City Manager Bruce St. Denis in a staff report. St. Denis later told The Gazette that by renovating the school gym, the city could provide enough meeting space for small conference groups.
Some hotels in Cannon Beach do not have sufficient meeting space to accommodate these groups, said St. Denis. “Renovations to the gym could create that opportunity.” Seaside School District Superintendent Sheilah Roley said, “We do not have students in that school and have no reason to use the property, so we are delighted that Cannon Beach is buying it and will have it to use with their community.” St. Denis said the city council
and the school district now will enter in to a “due-diligence phase” of information gathering regarding the purchase, after which the council will vote whether to complete the acquisition. He said the school, located “on the south shore of Ecola Creek at the Fir Street Bridge, is a Quonset hut that served as the gymnasium for the elementary school. There are also a series of classrooms located on the site.”
Glass Works
Laurie Sawrey, the city’s finance director, stated in a staff report: “Funding for the purchase will come from the Clatsop County (Transient Room Tax) Fund in the amount of $299,708.06, with the remainder from a loan, if approved by Council, from the Tourism and Arts Fund, in the amount of $102,000. “The attached resolution authorizes the City to make the capital loan over a three-year term at a zero-percent interest rate.”
A cannabis outlet, yes – ‘but much more’ Kathleen Stinson
O
Photos: Icefire Glassworks
Icefire Glassworks welcomes new electric glass furnace
Hilary Dorsey
I
For The Gazette
cefire Glassworks recently installed a new furnace, said artist Jim Kingwell - an electric glass one. “It’s incredibly more efficient than anything fired by natural gas or other fossil fuels,” Kingwell said. “Our old furnace was 18 years old and there had been some design improvements, so we decided to upgrade and install a new (glass) furnace. “In fact, it’s in a different location in the studio so customers can actually see us gathering the glass from the furnace.” In prior years, the studio had the furnace in a room around the corner out of sight, Kingwell said. The new location helps tell the narrative of the process of blowing glass. The first two electric furnaces were named Mother and Molly. “The name Molly was named for her electric heating elements, made out of molybdenum silicide. Not your common heating element,” Kingwell said.
The new furnace does not have a name yet, Kingwell said. They haven’t used her long enough to reveal her hidden identity, although Kingwell said he feels furnaces are female in gender because of their nurturing capabilities. Kingwell said it’s a 300-pound-capacity furnace, the same as the previous one. He said the new furnace comes with lower maintenance costs. The Portland company that built it had installed glass furnaces in the Maldives, Europe and numerous areas throughout Oregon. The gallery has two permanent resident glass blowers - Kingwell and Suzanne Kindland - plus Mark Gordon, another glass blower who began his career there in 2003. Joining them is Michelle Kaptur, who worked with Kingwell in the 1980s. Kingwell is educated as a potter, self-educated as a glass artist, and brings considerable experience to his classic forms. Colors range from the serenity of the “Northern Lights” pieces to the electric energy of his
“Bad Hair Day” series. The “Zingers” express all of the motion possible in glass. Kindland’s “Autumn Leaves” series evokes forests, grasslands and deserts. The “Brocades” feature complex applications of frits, powders and precious metal leaf, and the “ColorPlay” pieces use the different viscosities of the colors to form the vessels. Kingwell and Kindland blow glass Thursdays through Sundays. Their workspace is visible to anyone who walks into the shop, separated from the customers by a glass wall. Kingwell said the artists want to make creating glass pieces an active role with their visitors. What people see is in fact part of a glass worker’s life, Kingwell said. He hopes their work provides visitors with the reality of glass making, a real-life experience and not a fantasy or show. “It’s really nice, because often our best observers are kids,” Kingwell said. “They’re so used to taking in new information.”
The shop does have an assistant, who engages with visitors and offers perspective. Kingwell began blowing glass in July 1971, now completing his 49th year. He believes he will have another 18 years with the new furnace and has no thoughts of retirement. He said 49 years is just a good start for him. Icefire currently is offering one full-time, year-round position, and a two- to three-day part-time position seasonally through October of next year. “We have very long-term plans,” Kingwell said. Installing the new furnace Involved moving two major pieces of equipment and a third kiln. Every change has a ripple effect, Kingwell said. “It’s working pretty well so far, but we’re going to keep looking for ways to constantly improve.” There has been glass at the location since the summer of 1972, Kingwell said. The building was built in the 1980s by friends of his. “There has been a long continuity of glass in Cannon Beach.”
For The Gazette
regrown is a new business opening in Cannon Beach on March 13 on North Hemlock Street. Store general manager Beth Neuer said Oregrown is a “cannabis company” and that the store will become the second dispensary in Cannon Beach. But, she said, the store is much more than that. “We have a lot of different things we sell. We have a beautiful lifestyle clothing label.” Some of those items include hats, beanies, sweatshirts and jackets, she said. “All of our designs and graphics are done in-house. The clothing is … designed by our company in-house. “All of Oregrown’s cannabis is grown in Bend, Oregon at our facility,” said Neuer. “Oregrown does everything from start to finish. We like to consider our business farm-to-table. We keep everything organic and as clean as possible. “The Cannon Beach Oregrown store is our third retail location to open statewide since first launching our award-winning dispensary and lifestyle brand in Bend, Oregon, in 2015, and the new Portland flagship this January,” said Oregrown co-founder and CEO Aviv Hadar. “After 10 months of planning and development, the store opens to customers and patients across the area, while also attracting visitors traveling the Pacific Coast along Oregon’s coastal 101 highway.
“Our brand brings new customers to town and our exclusive products generate waves of interest,” said Hadar. “When we open our doors to serve our beloved customers and patients, neighboring businesses thrive and local commerce increases.” Hadar said, “Our founder and chief branding officer, Christina Hadar, was born and raised in Portland. She spent her years visiting and vacationing in Cannon Beach. This store holds an incredibly special place in her heart. “Oregrown views Cannon Beach as one of the most beautiful, immaculate and unique places in the world. The founding team learned to surf all up and down the Oregon coast, all around Cannon Beach.” According to a company press release, “Located on the main drag of Cannon Beach’s central hub, Oregrown’s Cannon Beach flagship takes much of its inspiration from the laid-back and often cloudcovered towns that sprinkle Oregon’s coast. “The design is approachable, appealing to the sensibilities of locals and visitors. It’s modern, yet down-toearth, surf-shop-style storefront (sits) genuinely at home among the many mom-andpop boutiques lining bustling Hemlock Street. “Fittingly, Oregrown is one of the few statewide cannabis groups that remains wholly owned by family and friends.” Said the company’s prepared statement: “The Can-
n See OREGROWN, Page 4
Courtesy Photo
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