News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
More false-front western-style buildings will go up in Sisters if the city council approves changes to the city's architectural theme.
Buildings will be required to be of the style found in Sisters in its pioneer days - in the early 1900s. Exceptions will be allowed only if a builder provides a photograph or plans of a different style existing at the turn of the century east of the Cascades in Oregon.
The changes mean scrapping the 1880s time frame in the architectural theme, since Sisters' days as an "old west" town didn't occur till the early 20th century.
"We were stumbling over the 1880s as a date," city planner Neil Thompson told the council on Thursday, March 25.
That period was characterized by a variety of styles, ranging from basic false-front wood buildings to ornate brick Victorian styles, depending on a western town's economy and level of development.
In fact, as Michael Houser of the Deschutes County Historical Society told planners, western towns went through the phases of development at different times. Some had false-front architecture in the 1860s and solid brick architecture by the 1880s.
Sisters' classic building, the Hotel Sisters, was built in 1912. The Palace was built in 1919, then moved, and a second story added after the 1923 fire.
To clear up the issue, planners propose calling the theme the "Sisters 'False Front' Western Frontier Architectural Design Theme."
To make design approval easier on developers and planners, photos from the Deschutes County Historical Society collection are provided as a guideline in the zoning ordinance's appendix.
"We realized we had to get away from the date and get back to the surviving pictures of what our town looked like," Mayor Steve Wilson explained.
Wilson has no worries that the tighter requirement will stifle architectural diversity.
"We've had so much deviation from the false front that the false front is becoming the endangered species," he said.
Councilor Maggie Hughes would like to see an even tighter requirement, making all new buildings conform to a historical photograph.
Gary Frazee noted that "that would be kind of tough to do with a service station or a car wash that wasn't around" at the turn of the century.
The city council will hold a public hearing on the proposed changes at its next meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 8.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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