Glass House Coffee Bar can feel more like a greenhouse at times. Huge windows make up about 60 percent of the plant-filled coffee shop, where pothos vines cascade down from the ceilings and succulents bloom in seemingly every corner. Indie hits play softly over hidden speakers, and the smell of espresso beans is sharp in the air, adding to the cozy atmosphere.

It’s hard to imagine the space used to be the Whiteaker Police Station. A Register-Guard article from 2002 paints a picture of a Whiteaker neighborhood filled with “[h]ookers, drug dealers, and assorted small-time thugs” ruling the streets. This situation caused some residents to plead for more police presence in the area.

The police station, with a staff of two full-time patrol officers, two community service officers and two agents from the Lane County parole and probation office, was said to have decreased drug crimes in the area.

The address 530 Blair Blvd. was first listed in The Register-Guard in 1948 as a three-bedroom home in “a dandy location” available to rent. It later appeared as General Sign Co. in the 1960s, a Peterbilt manufacturing and selling location in the 1980s, and as the aforementioned police station in the 1990s. Now it holds a Tacovore restaurant; Glass House Coffee Bar operates next door, at 520 Blair Blvd.

“There’s a picture in Tacovore from the 1950s that looks like these two buildings used to be a tire shop,” Glass House owner and operator Alex Newton said. “Other people who have been in the neighborhood for over 30 years say they remember when this was a cop shop.”

Newton joined the business in 2019 and took over in 2020. He had worked in coffee before he came to Glass House but hated how corporate the business could be. He grew up in the suburbs of Houston, where locally owned businesses were rare. His first visit to Glass House as a customer kindled his love for small, local coffee shops. He decided to apply for a job as a barista.

“I was working on the producer side of food service at the time, on small local farms like Camas Swale and Dake Family Farms,” Newton said. “But when I decided that I wanted to dedicate myself to Glass House, I knew I wanted to do the business right.”

When Newton took over Glass House, he started using the Tacovore kitchen to make breakfast and pastries for the coffee shop. He loved the community that Glass House had already built and wanted to offer more to his customers. He also began sourcing his coffee from farmers directly.

Glass House is small for a coffee shop, around 500 square feet, which creates unique problems for Newton and his team. There is little space to work, especially when three baristas are crammed behind the bar during a rush. If Glass House didn’t have access to the Tacovore prep kitchen, staffers wouldn’t be able to bake anything in-house.

“A lot of times when people come in and see our pastries, they don’t believe that we bake them here,” Newton said. “But we do — it just doesn’t happen in this building … we barely have enough room to prep coffee!”

On a busy weekend, sometimes Newton has a hard time keeping up with a stream of customers. There are only 12 seats in the shop, so people can struggle to find a place to sit on rainy days when they don’t want to be outside.

“We don’t really even have a space in here where you can get in line,” Newton said. “You’re either blocking the cream station or squishing someone sitting on a stool.”

Another problem arises primarily in summertime. When windows let in sunlight on hot days, Newton said it’s a challenge to keep temperatures in the shop below 90 degrees Fahrenheit. He’s installed two fans, but when temperatures start to climb, he closes the doors and blasts the air conditioning.

But without the windows, Glass House wouldn’t have its signature and healthy collection of plants. Customers love the atmosphere, Newton said, even in the middle of winter.

“Jeffery, our huge pothos, definitely pulls his weight in the space,” he said. “He’s one of the most treasured staff members.”

Yet a tiny shop does have advantages. The smaller space is more manageable and takes less time to clean. Regular customers seem to like the laid-back nature of the bar seating, which can lead to more conversations with strangers and a general community feel.

“On a Saturday, when it’s busy in here, it feels like New York City or something,” Newton said. “It’s loud, people are crammed together, talking, and there’s a certain energy that’s very cool that I think people come here for.”

That energy is something Newton tries to foster. He and his employees prioritize serving people well at Glass House and making them feel welcome in the space, even though it’s small.

“Our mission statement is to foster community through intentional actions and care-oriented service,” Newton said. “I want this to be a place where people can come, meet, talk, share ideas, make friends, and bring friends and family when they’re in town.”

Glass House is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Register-Guard and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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MONTREAL — On a Friday night, families danced under pink and purple neon lights to the beat of an African band playing where the altar used to stand at a Catholic church in Montreal.

Notre-Dame-du-Perpetuel-Secours, built from 1914 to 1920, was renovated in 2014 to become Theatre Paradox. The concert hall has hosted meditation, Zumba lessons, and even a fetish party that organizers touted as “Montreal’s most kinky, freaky and sexy Halloween event.”

In the once Catholic-dominated province of Quebec, that ex-church is just one of many that have been deconsecrated and transformed into everything from gyms, restaurants and museums to luxury apartments, auction houses and a university reading room.

For most of Quebec’s history, the Catholic Church was the most powerful force in the French-speaking province, with a firm grip over schools, health care and politics. But its influence faded during the so-called Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, when the provincial government took control as part of a campaign to reduce the church’s power.

The rate of regular church attendance among Quebec’s Catholics plunged from one of the highest in Canada to the one of the lowest. That happened to Notre-Dame-du-Perpetuel-Secours.

Over the course of a century, thousands of worshippers filled its pews. But attendance had dwindled to a few when the event management company Groupe Paradoxe bought it in 2010, said its director, Gérald St-Georges. He believes that even in a deconsecrated secular setting, the former church continues what he describes as a sacred mission.

Today, it offers training and paid work for young adults, including those with prior addiction issues and juvenile records, in theater and stage management to help them land jobs in the entertainment industry.

“When I started the project, I said to myself, ‘That’s the kind of work the church should do, not only Mass,’” said St-Georges, who is a Catholic. “I practice my faith with what I do every day — helping people.”

Wood from the pews was used to build a bar. On a recent summer day, concertgoers ordered cold beers in front of stained glass illuminated by neon lights under a silver disco ball that hung from its soaring ceilings.

In the historic neighborhood of Old Montreal, tourists formed a snaking line outside the Gothic-style Notre-Dame Basilica — Montreal’s still-active mother church that also hosts secular events — to attend a popular show that uses projectors and lasers to illuminate the building.

Mateus Vassalo, a Brazilian tourist who visited the show with his family, said it’s an incredible opportunity for believers and nonbelievers to gather in such a setting outside of worship services.

“You see people from other religions — Muslims, people who sometimes don’t even believe in God — coming here to the church,” he said in Portuguese.

“Even if they come specifically for the show, they end up having a contact,” he said. “And who knows? Maybe there’s a door for God to enter. There’s curiosity. There’s questioning.”

Just a few miles north, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighborhood, the sky is dotted with crosses atop church steeples, many of them unused or repurposed.

For decades, factory and port workers worshipped at Saint-Mathias-Apotre Church. Today it’s a restaurant that serves affordable meals daily for up to 600 residents.

The manager of Le Chic Resto Pop also grew up Catholic and, like many of his staff, now identifies as religiously unaffiliated. But he still feels close to core values of Catholicism that he tries to extol at the nonprofit restaurant that keeps the original wooden doors and even the confessional booths.

“There’s less faith, but the values are really much the same,” Marc-André Simard said during a lunch break, sitting near what used to be the altar. “It’s values of respect, values of well-being, of wanting to help each other.

“There’s still space to be together, to have some sort of communion, but it’s around food, not around faith.”

“I vote for you!” Marie-Frédérik Gagnon, one of the restaurant employees, said laughingly next to him. She also grew up Catholic but is now part of the so-called “nones” — people who are religiously unaffiliated.

Today, she values how Quebec grants people the right to live free from religious impositions, while protecting the right to religious freedom.

“In the restaurant, we have a bunch of people that are Spanish speakers, that come from African countries, and they’re still big believers, and everybody sits at the same tables,” Gagnon said. “There’s a big acceptance of all.

“It’s such a beautiful place. People are very calm and quiet when they come here. The environment, all the lights, all the open space, I think it’s helping people to feel good. So, it’s nice to have the chance to work in an open-space environment like this.”

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Project name: Redmond Library

Location: Redmond

Completion: September 2024

Size: 40,000 square feet

Cost: $31.5 million

Owner: Deschutes Public Library

Owner’s Representative: Redpoint Construction Management

Architect: The Miller Hull Partnership, Steele Associates Architects

Interior Designer: The Miller Hull Partnership

Engineers: KPFF, HWA, Interface Engineering

General Contractor: Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.

Submitting Company: Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co.

Other Associates/Key Consultants: Blanca Lighting Design, Mayer Reed, Morrison Hershfield, Plus and Greater Than, Studio Pacifica, Tenor Engineering Group, Walker Macy

Subcontractors: Advance Cabinet Designs, Advanced Technology Group, Andres Landscape, Apollo Sheet Metal, Beacon Roofing Supply, BrandSafway Services, Building Material Specialties, Ceniga Masonry, Central Oregon Garage Door, Central Oregon Roofing, Deschutes Concrete Construction, Deschutes Painting, Energy Conservation Insulation, Fabulous Floors, Hickman Williams & Associates, Interior Technology, Joni’s Construction Cleaning, Max Manufacturing, Metro Tint, Mike’s Fence Center, Mt. Hood Corps., Northwest Framing Systems, Pacific Decorative Concrete, Phoenix Fire Protection, Rixir Systems, Simple Safety Solutions, Skyline Sheet Metal, SouthTown Glass, StructureCraft Builders, Summers Wood Floor, Sunlight Solar Energy, Terminix, TK Elevator, Tomco Electric, Western Partitions

The new Redmond Library offers residents a state-of-the-art facility that nearly doubles the size of its predecessor while incorporating cutting-edge sustainable design elements.

The two-story, 40,000-square-foot structure stands on the same site as the original library following approval of a Deschutes Public Library bond measure by county voters. The project is part of a larger initiative to renovate existing libraries and construct two new facilities throughout the county.

Designed through a partnership between Seattle-based The Miller Hull Partnership and local firm Steele Associates Architects, the building features an innovative mass timber framework that provides both structural integrity and aesthetic appeal. The use of acoustic dowel-laminated timber sets the project apart. It reduces the need for additional acoustical elements while maintaining the open nature of the spaces.

Brick buildings are a theme throughout the city of Redmond, so the new library is brick-clad but in a darker tone and laid out in a stacked-bond style to set it apart as a modern building.

The library’s distinctive design includes a feature staircase fabricated by Bend’s Max Manufacturing and a large custom sculpture by renowned Pacific Northwest artist John Grade, inspired by Central Oregon sagebrush.

Beyond traditional library services, the facility offers multiple community-focused amenities including multi-purpose spaces, a children’s discovery area, and maker spaces for activities like sewing and 3D printing. Adults and teens can utilize collaborative areas designed for studying and co-working.

For user convenience, the building includes a drive-up window for materials pickup and drop-off during or after library hours.

Sustainability was prioritized throughout construction, with photovoltaic solar panels installed on the roof and over parking areas to help the building achieve net-zero energy consumption. The facility is on track for LEED Gold certification, with Platinum certification possible. Additional eco-friendly features include electric vehicle charging stations, ample natural lighting through skylights and clearstory windows, and the elimination of PVC materials outside of mechanical and electrical systems.

Located adjacent to community parks, schools and residential areas, the library is positioned to become a central hub for Redmond residents.

The construction was completed by Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co. in coordination with Redpoint Construction Management and the architectural firms, with all parties citing the high degree of communication and collaboration as key to the project’s success. There was significant local participation on the project, with 60 percent of trade partners from the area.

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