The historic former hospital known as Valley Hospital for many years is soon to become vacant again. This Klamath County-owned building was a longstanding medical facility until 1965, when it closed and became office space. This building is in the National Register of Historic Places (visit it
here) and was responsible for delivering over 17,000 babies from its maternity ward.
A recent newspaper/online article from the local Herald and News reports on the latest development for this once-proud building:
Posted: Thursday, January 9, 2014 By SAMANTHA TIPLER H&N Staff Reporter
Nonprofits in the Klamath County owned Pine Street building are looking for a new home.
Klamath County plans to move its main tenant, Klamath County Public Health, from 403 Pine St. to the former mental health department building on Vandenberg Road. It does not have further plans for the Pine Street building, other than vacating it, commissioners said.
The county has sent letters to Klamath County CASA and Citizens for Safe Schools giving them until March to move out.
Representatives from CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and Citizens for Safe Schools said they were not surprised by the request to move, but they were surprised by the short timeline.
The letter from the county was dated Oct. 23, 2013.
“I’ve been hearing this story for two years,” said Debbie Vought, executive director of Citizens for Safe Schools Tuesday. “Then you get a letter and go, ‘Oh, OK, I guess it’s serious.’ ”
Klamath County officials said the building does not comply with modern codes and renovating would be too costly.
“We were notified by the fire marshal that the building no longer meets code,” said Jason Link, Klamath County treasurer and chief financial officer. There are issues with earthquake safety, electrical upgrades and meeting Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
“It needs a lot of work,” Link said.
Klamath County Commission Chairman Jim Bellet said there is no particular plan for the building, though commissioners Tom Mallams and Dennis Linthicum said an ideal situation would be for a private party to buy the building and renovate it.
Both Vought’s organization and CASA have been in the third floor of the Pine Street building rent free, because their occupancy was considered an in-kind donation from the county. CASA has been in Klamath County since 2001, though executive director Tasha Meyer was unsure if it has been in the Pine Street location all that time. Citizens for Safe Schools has been at Pine Street for about 10 years.
Both organizations are reaching out to the community, searching for a new location.
“We’re trying to do some outreach in the community and see if there is a place that will be a good partner for us,” said Kelley Minty Morris, communications and outreach manager for Citizens for Safe Schools. “In all we do, we focus on partnerships and relationships, and if there is an entity, agency, land board, building owner somewhere that thinks we would be a good partner with them, we want to get the word out so they have an opportunity to partner with us.”
Meyer said CASA would prefer a location near the Klamath County Courthouse to make it easy for volunteers going to and from courtrooms on CASA business. Vought said Citizens for Safe Schools also works with the courts for many of its youth.
Citizens for Safe Schools has five employees and nearly 100 volunteers mentoring nearly 100 children in the Klamath Basin. CASA has four employees and 55 volunteers serving about 160 children in the county.
The Pine Street building also is home to the Klamath Falls regional office of Legal Aid Services of Oregon. A call to the organization was not returned by press time.
This building becomes one of many buildings in the community to become vacant due to the stagnating economy.