Chuck Newport wears many hats in Sisters

Chuck Newport has worn his share of hats since he came to Central Oregon in the 1970s.

He's been a contractor since 1974 and was a volunteer EMT and firefighter for the Camp Sherman Fire Department. He's led his string of pack horses to deliver equipment for high school classes and partnered with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to build a fish ladder to Blue Lake. Recently, he became a board member for the Camp Sherman/Sisters Fire District.

Through it all, he's worked hard to better his community and the surrounding habitats.

Newport's first construction job was a personal one. He built one of the first homes in Black Butte Ranch for his parents. Some of the people he worked with on that project would prove to be life-long friends and colleagues.

Newport worked with local wood carver, Skip Armstrong.

"I believe the first door Skip carved was for my parents," said Newport. "I built a 3-by-8-foot door, three inches thick, made of solid Alaskan yellow cedar and then Skip carved a beautiful landscape mural on it."

Fast forward 35 years and Chuck was working with Skip again, this time on one of the most unusual and challenging projects of Newport's career.

"Before he left for Belize to do the rough carving, Skip Armstrong approached me about hanging doors he was carving for St. Mary's Catholic Church in Boise, Idaho," said Newport.

Father Thomas Faucher, former pastor of St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church in Sisters, had hired Armstrong to create massive doors for his church in Boise. Once Armstrong finished the rough carving and had the doors shipped to Oregon, Newport had the task of creating a system for hanging them.

Newport's skills at coordinating complicated projects would be put to the test. He met the train carrying the doors when it arrived in Prineville. He and a contractor from CM Construction began the design process for hanging the doors.

"It was no easy task," said Newport. "The doors were five feet wide, 16 feet high and over two inches thick in some places. They weighed in at 2,200 pounds each."

Newport obtained a very dense species of mahogany from the Philippines called Yacal, a full two inches thick and eight inches wide to use for the jambs. The wood was reclaimed from schools and orphanages built by the Japanese in the Philippines during their occupation in World War II.

Newport enlisted the expertise of several Sisters colleagues, including Doug Hermans, to true-up the doors, mill the jamb stock and route the hinges in the doors and jambs. Sisters contractor Glenn Miller provided a heavy-duty trailer to haul the doors to Boise. Newport built an A-frame structure on the trailer to protect the heavily carved doors.

Jeff Wester had large, custom screw-eyes fabricated to pick the doors off of the trailer and lay flat to move them inside the church.

When Newport hauled the doors to Boise, Newport's son, Nick, helped with driving and installing the doors.

"The weather was clear and we hauled the doors uncovered to avoid tarps flapping in the wind and damaging any of the fragile carvings," said Newport. "We created quite a show when we stopped for fuel or food. Traffic even began to back up on Interstate 84 when people slowed down to view the doors on the trailer."

The doors now hang in their new home.

Another project that he's especially proud of typifies many of the most important things in Newport's life. In the 1990s Newport began doing more high-end construction and got involved with a project at Blue Lake. Purchased to provide a camp for high-risk youth, Portland advertising executive Dan Wieden hired Newport to build him and his wife, Bonnie, a home on the property.

The couple founded Caldera, a youth program providing underserved Oregon children with year-round, long-term mentoring through arts and nature projects. In the winter months, Caldera's adult program offers month-long residencies to professional artists. Located on 90 acres of mountain and forest land at the edge of a volcanic lake west of Sisters, the site was beautiful and had many challenges. The Wieden home alone was a three-year project.

Newport did all the new construction and remodeled some old A-frames on the property. He was charged with making the entire site more environmentally friendly.

What Newport didn't know, he learned.

"We took classes to be licensed to install new, more eco-friendly sewer treatment equipment and materials," he said.

There was one unique problem that really caught Newport's attention. There were culverts from Blue Lake to Suttle Lake. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) was planning to re-do an old hydro-turbine plant on the property. The culverts were bad for the fish so they were taken out and a bridge was put in. A fish ladder had to be built from Link Creek to Blue Lake.

"The ODFW historical requirements were destructive to riparian areas, so we looked at other alternatives," said Newport.

A team of engineers and a Portland sculptor, Lee Kelly, were hired with Newport doing the installation of the fish ladder.

"It took four years to get the low-impact stainless steel structure with over an eight-foot drop approved," said Newport.

When the Caldera Fish Ladder was complete, it won engineering awards and it worked great.

"The fish ladder was a worthwhile thing to do to help fish passage," said Newport. "I am an avid fly fisherman and love the idea of helping fish. In addition, the project was a great lesson for the kids who go to the camp and, it's a work of art. For me, architecture is an art form."

Newport built the main building at Caldera, the Hearth Building. Recycled materials were used for the sprung dance floors. The old reclaimed timbers are from the Fort Bragg barracks in California from the turn of the century. The Hearth building has a common roof connecting separate areas. The roof is 30,000 square feet. The glulam beams came from Ducolam in Drain, Oregon and are 106 feet long. Newport had to use a 50-ton crane for two months to set the beams in place. The posts were made out of solid turned logs from a company that makes masts for tall ships.

Although his construction business keeps him busy, Newport still makes time to sit on the Community Action Team of Sisters (CATS) board and serve as their Treasurer.

He's been instrumental in programs developed by CATS to encourage and teach leadership skills in Sisters. He's also the Vice Chair for the Camp Sisters-Sherman Fire District Board of Directors. Reaching back to his early years as an EMT and firefighter in Camp Sherman, Newport took a big role in the building of the new fire hall in Sisters.

Another favorite cause for Newport is getting kids out of the classroom to learn in new ways. Since its inception, he has been involved with Sisters High School's Interdisciplinary Environmental Expedition (IEE) class. The class gives students the opportunity to study and learn about the natural environment through hands-on learning.

Newport packs in all the supplies for the fall program to the base camp in the Three Creeks Wilderness area.

"It takes two trips with four or five pack horses. One year it snowed 18 inches and it was tough getting back to the camp," said Newport.

The roundtrip begins at Pole Creek and covers six miles to the base camp. Newport makes the trip in and out in one day.

"The kids never see how the equipment gets there. They don't even know I exist," said Newport.

An avid horseman, Newport enjoys horse camping with family and friends in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area. He also helps out during roundups, and enjoys using his horses in a variety of ways.

"I've never sold one," he said.

Once a horse arrives at the Newport's place it's got a home for life; a testimony to a man who lives life with a big heart.