Representatives from seven of Oregon’s nine federally recognized Native American tribes reflected on the past and expressed hope for the future during a May 26 dedication ceremony for the Oregon State Capitol Plaza, where the words of their ancestors are engraved into the new landscape.

Eleven giant, natural boulders are scattered throughout the revamped plaza and chiseled with inspiration from tribal leaders, elders and culture bearers. The installation is titled “Oregon Voices.”

“We are the landscape,” one boulder reads.

“We help each other. We will live well,” reads another.

Dr. Phillip Cash Cash (Cayuse, Nez Perce) selected the collection of words and worked on the project in collaboration with landscape architecture firm Mayer/Reed. A total of 50 texts were chosen; the other 39 will eventually be presented in a digital exhibition.

The dedication celebrated the completion of the plaza and works commissioned through Oregon’s Percent for Art in Public Places Program, managed by the Oregon Arts Commission. The program was established by the Oregon Legislature in 1975, setting aside 1 percent of state construction budgets for the commission and acquisition of art.

Artists for indigenous installations in the courtyards and concourse stairwells also attended the event.

“Land, Air, Sea” is a set of two cast bronze paddle groupings displayed in new courtyards on the main floor of the Capitol that will be open to the public. Artists Shirod Younker (Coquille/Miluk Coos/Umpqua) and Tony A. Johnson (Chinook) worked with master carver and fabricator Adam McIsaac on the pieces.

Etched glass by Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) and Oliver Casillas decorate the two main stairwells on the main floor.

“Oregon’s tribes are a foundation of Oregon’s identity,” Oregon Arts Commissioner David Harrelson (Grand Ronde-Kalapuya) said. “This work helps this symbolic building of our state reflect the values and creativity of Oregon’s diverse first peoples.”

Some plaza features were relocated, while others remained in place.

Passersby have had a welcome unobscured view of the building for nearly a month while finishing touches were added to the plaza, which is the Capitol’s ceremonial front yard on Court Street.

The paved and landscaped area had been at least partially fenced off since January 2020 during the second and third phases of the Capitol Accessibility, Maintenance and Safety construction project.

The new plaza was designed to better host and manage civic gatherings, public protests and official ceremonies. The space is larger following the removal of a vehicle lane that was previously in front of the Capitol steps.

The Oregon Veterans Medal of Honor Memorial was relocated to a more prominent place, with a semi-circle of granite pillars for recipients on each side of the plaza surrounding flagpoles.

Still anchoring the space are the two large rectangular marble sculptures, one featuring Lewis and Clark on horseback and led by Sacagawea, and the other a pioneer family with a covered wagon. They flank each side of the steps leading up to what was once the Capitol’s main entrance.

Capitol officials say the trio of revolving doors at the front, north side of the Capitol are now exit-only due to new security protocols. The central doors on the building’s State Street side have served as the main entrance during the CAMS project and will continue to do so.

Officials weighed the option of installing security screening equipment inside the revolving doors, but the equipment would have spilled into the rotunda and obscured views of people entering that space.

Visitors can still enter from Court Street through a door around the corner and to the right of the revolving doors when facing the Capitol. The left side is restricted to badge-only access. Security screening is conducted inside both.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Statesman Journal and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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The Dallas Police Department will get more space, but not the new station that city officials hoped for; that plan fizzled when voters rejected a multimillion-dollar bond in May 2025.

On April 6, the city council approved plans to reduce monthly stormwater charges by $5 and add a new $5 facility and equipment fee that will pay for the renovation of the city-owned ex-Polk County Itemizer-Observer building into a new city hall.

That means Dallas residents won’t pay more than they already are to fund the work.

The new fee structure will allow the police department to take over the current 22,000-square-foot city hall. That 90-year-old building will eventually be remodeled.

The $2.5 million that will be raised over 10 years from the fee is significantly less than the proposed bond’s $17.2 million that failed to gain voters’ approval. But it will help the city meet its goal of giving the police department more space in an updated building.

“The net effect on the bill payer would be zero dollars,” Dallas City Manager Brian Latta told the city council. “Because voters said ‘no,’ it required everybody to look and say, what’s next?’ There are immediate positive impacts for the police department.”

City Councilor Carlos Barrientos expressed concern that the city would remodel city hall before addressing the problems with the police station. The police department currently operates out of about 4,000 square feet, has no private interview room for victims, and has run out of storage space for evidence (it sits in stacks on the floor).

“The reason we got here in the first place is we wanted to do something to support our police officers by giving them a new police station with more room,” said Barrientos, who voted for the fee. “To me, it seems that the priority here is being put on a new city hall.”

Latta said the new fee will raise enough money for conceptual work to transform the current city hall into a police station and for security upgrades like lockable doors.

City Councilor Kim Fitzgerald said she supported the improvements but voted against the fee because it was not sent to voters.

She was the lone dissenting vote in the council’s 8-1 decision to enact the new fee.

“I know that we just reduced one fee, but to create a new fee, I have a little bit of a problem with that,” Fitzgerald said. “I think it’s a creative solution, but it’s still a fee. It’s still a tax.”

The approximately 12,000-square-foot Itemizer-Observer building is next to city hall on Court Street. The city purchased it for $660,000 in 2023.

Estimates from contractors for the work on the Itemizer-Observer building range between $1.2 million and $1.4 million.

When the renovation of that building is completed, 20 city employees will move into it. And there will be enough room to accommodate more.

The city will borrow about $2 million from its stormwater fund for work on the Itemizer-Observer building. It will repay that money with interest, meaning that fund will receive about $400,000 more than it already has.

“It does take some of those six- to 20-year projects and pushes them out a little bit longer,” Latta said.

The new city hall could be ready as soon as November, Latta said.

The city does not have either a timeline for converting the current city hall into a police station or a plan to secure funding for the project.

Latta said the city hopes to receive a grant from Business Oregon for seismic rehabilitation of the aged city hall. That state agency gives grants for up to $3 million for such work.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Statesman Journal and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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