Hundreds of thousands of people have passed through the gates of the Polk County Fairgrounds since it opened in 1953. Many of the fairgrounds’ buildings in Rickreall are 75 years old and need electric and water system maintenance as well as significant seismic upgrades that would cost millions of dollars.

Polk County is out of ways to pay for that maintenance, and this year’s fair could be the last. It’s a common situation among fairgrounds in Oregon because county governments typically subsidize those facilities with general fund dollars.

Polk County will ask voters in the Nov. 3 election to raise residents’ property taxes to pay for repairs and other fairgrounds expenses. If voters decline to approve the levy, the fairgrounds will close, according to officials.

“If fairs were a private business, all would go bankrupt,” Polk County Administrative Officer Greg Hansen said.

As Oregon county governments feel the squeeze in their budgets, their fairgrounds are often left to suffer.

“I’ve heard very clearly that Polk County is probably the canary in the coal mine, that there will be others that will sort of follow suit,” Oregon Fairs Association lobbyist JL Wilson said. “I know that there’s a lot of eyes on this particular election because it will have implications for other counties.”

Tim Ray, the dean of the agriculture science and technology department at Chemeketa Community College, has been involved with the Polk County Fair since 2004 and is the fair board president. Over the past few decades, he’s seen how the fairgrounds has attracted people of all walks of life and financial means.

“There’s a cultural aspect to county fairs as well too, right?” Ray said. “It’s a way of life and not having that social aspect is scary, right?”

But Polk County officials say financial losses have been mounting at the fairgrounds in Rickreall. The facility operated at a $348,000 deficit last year and that number is growing.

Most of the buildings at the Polk County Fairgrounds were built in the 1950s. All need significant improvements. In some instances, there’s no way to source the parts necessary to repair older equipment.

Polk County officials say they can no longer subsidize the facility from the general fund.

“There is a breaking point for anybody,” Polk County Commissioner Craig Pope said.

Polk County’s November operations levy proposes to use $3.4 million for overdue building improvements, including floors, heating and cooling systems, electrical infrastructure and roofs.

The county says the levy is the last opportunity to save the fairgrounds, which hosts 700 events each year.

“Almost every fair in Oregon generates several hundred thousand dollars, if not millions of dollars, for youth through the livestock auction that occurs at the fairgrounds,” Ray said. “The fairgrounds gets zero from that.”

Polk County has invested $1.7 million in the fairgrounds in the past five or six years but would need to do much more to keep the facility operational.

“I think we can close the gap,” Polk County Commissioner Lyle Mordhorst said. “It takes a building that we can attract RV shows and sports shows. Those are bigger dollars. Those will close that gap some.”

Many fairgrounds in Oregon are in similar fiscal circumstances as Polk County, but none is in such a dire situation.

Property tax revenue has not kept pace with increasing expenses and most general fund dollars go to public safety, so fairgrounds budgets are often the easiest to trim.

“I happen to believe at this point until we fix our fundamental problems with taxation, we’re basically all trying to figure out ways to kick the can down the curb,” said state Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth.

For years, counties have received some state money via an Oregon law that allocates 1 percent of lottery funds. That law, however, caps support at $1.53 million. Last year, each county received about $53,000 for its fairgrounds from that fund, Wilson said.

The fund is expected to have an additional $12.9 million in the 2027-2029 biennium. That means that starting in 2027, counties could receive about $200,000 more per year for their fairgrounds’ operations.

“But again, we’ve had that promise before and they’ve taken that away in the next session,” Hansen said. “It’s always supposed to have been 1 percent.”

Wilson said some counties such as Washington, Jackson and Deschutes are better off financially than others because they have invested significantly in their buildings.

But Yamhill County officials are among those closely watching what happens in Polk County, Wilson said. Yamhill County commissioners have discussed selling the current fairgrounds in McMinnville and moving to another location. That’s because maintaining the facility’s aged buildings is difficult and expensive.

Most counties, like Polk and Yamhill, don’t have the money or a way to raise the money to pay for those kinds of improvements.

“Unfortunately, I’m fearful if we’re the first, we won’t be the last,” Ray said.

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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By Bill Poehler
Salem Statesman Journal

For decades, a half-built hulk of urban blight and broken dreams has sat unfinished in the heart of Independence.

Even after the millions of dollars invested into the three stories of concrete and other building materials at 203 Monmouth St. referred to by some locals as “Skeletor,” the building’s only residents have been wild animals.

The newest property owners recently shared their vision and plans for turning the most difficult-to-build location in Polk County into a $39 million, five-story, 78-unit affordable housing complex.

It’s an ambitious plan for a building that hasn’t had a tenant since construction started in 2005. The plan will require the state to allocate millions of dollars and it would open in 2029 at the earliest.

The plans are the development’s most promising path in decades.

“Everybody’s been kind of cautiously optimistic about even having somebody say anything about this project because this is probably the fourth time I’ve seen something about, oh, this project’s coming forward, and then nothing,” said Christian Edelblute, executive director of West Valley Housing Authority.

The agency provides affordable housing for people in Polk County outside of the Salem urban growth boundary. The WVHA likely will be the building’s eventual owner.

“We’re kind of cautious to be exposed in that way, like, oh, another failure. But somebody’s got to take the baton and run it to the finish line,” Edelblute said.

The project is currently being referred to by the developers as Independence Apartments, which likely won’t be the final name. It’s had many colorful names, including that of the primary antagonist from the “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” cartoons.

The one thing it has never been called: completed.

The property developers have applied for housing adjustments that would let them raise the height of the building, change the location of bicycle parking, window area, materials on the facade and reduce the number of required parking spaces.

It’s the first of many city approvals they need.

The building needs a lot of work and development won’t be quick, but it shows promise.

“The community is so ready for anything,” Independence Mayor Kate Schwarzler said. “And there’s lots of running jokes in the community about it.

“A lot of conversations that I have with neighbors and other people are like, ‘Why don’t you got to force them to do this?’ We don’t own it, and that’s not how this works. So, we’re excited about it, and very optimistic — cautiously optimistic.”

Initial plans for environmentally efficient building stalled decades ago

The original developers intended the $10 million, three-story building to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly when they started working on it in 2004. It would have been powered with biodiesel — the tugboat engine that was going to burn it is still in the basement — and solar panels. It was designed to be the “World’s Greenest Building.”

Construction started in 2005 and stalled a year later. It’s been the focus of lawsuits and repeated attempts behind the scenes to finish development.

The most recent vision in 2021 was a ground floor of retail units and 28 apartments on four stories.

That plan never materialized and the property went up for sale in 2023. The loan fell into default and was acquired by Crossfire Enterprizes in December 2024. Castle Greyskull LLC purchased it for $1,550,00 in March 2025.

Castle Greyskull, another nod to the “He-Man” series, is owned by Clutch Industries, a local property developer that has taken on many large projects in the Salem area.

“I don’t know if you guys know this, but there’s been a couple of false starts,” Clutch Industries CEO Chris Blackburn said.

Salem-based developers purchased 203 Monmouth Street in 2025

Clutch Industries has built many large multi-family residential properties in the area, including the 42-unit Shepherds Crossing in Salem, the 128-unit Verda Crossing Apartments in Keizer and the 31-unit Pleasant View Apartments as well as the North Lancaster Business Park in Salem.

Blackburn said Clutch has shifted toward building developments for other companies in the past year.

Independence Assistant City Manager Shawn Irvine said the city had engineers evaluate the building and determined the concrete structure was solid, especially on the second and third floors. That is despite the structure’s decades-long exposure to the elements.

“It’s all concrete, and apparently there’s supposed to be a pool on the roof,” Irvine said. “So the advantage there is it still meets seismic certification and everything else because it was overbuilt for the pool.”

All that’s usable is the concrete, Blackburn said.

Because the initial development already took place and the property owners paid system development charges of around $600,000, the city is rolling those fees forward to this development.

“It was instrumental in us even approaching this or even buying it,” Blackburn said. “I wouldn’t be here if that wasn’t the case.”

Filling need for affordable housing in Polk County

When Edelblute moved to Polk County about 10 years ago, he noticed the skeleton of the building and wondered, like many people, what its story was.

What he found was all of the failed attempts to finish the building.

“I thought it was a commercial building, intended to be commercial because it’s right there in the city core,” Edelblute said.

“Well, come to find out, it was originally planned to have residential units in it, which kind of prompted me to think, gosh, if we could get our hands on it somehow and make it into affordable housing, that would be like just a dream.”

It wasn’t until Clutch Industries purchased the building that the idea of turning into affordable housing took off.

The agency has put up $10 million of its own money. Home First, an Oregon-based affordable housing developer, has applied for $15 million in state grants from the Oregon Legislature and another $14 million in tax credits.

The project is on the waitlist for both of those funds, Home First CEO Ben Pray said. The project will have to wait until the 2027 state legislative session to know if it’s fully funded.

“It’s going to require that investment by the state,” Pray said. “If there’s no investment from the state, then it ceases to be a viable affordable housing project.”

Edelblute said West Valley plans to commit 20 Housing Choice Vouchers to the building.

He pointed to people working at restaurants and in manufacturing who could qualify for an apartment at Independence Apartments.

“Since we’re applying for tax credits, it’s going to be limited to 60 percent of area median income for any applicant family,” Edelblute said. “For a single person, that’s like $42,780. That’s not chump change.

“I mean, somebody working as a receptionist at the doctor’s office is making around that. So we’re not talking about low, low-income individuals.”

Plans call for 78 apartments on five floors to open in 2029

Edelblute said the plans for the 78 units include four 4-bedroom units, 12 two-bedroom units, 58 one-bedroom units and four studio apartments.

The ground floor apartments could be live-work units, partly because the ceilings are high enough that they could have lofts. That means people can operate small businesses where they live.

The basement would include tenant storage units, a room to store bicycles, a large gathering room, an exercise facility and a pickleball court.

The plans call for 31 parking spaces. Irvine said the city is negotiating with the developers to use parking spaces at the neighboring Independence Public Library and nearby Independence Cinema.

“And from our perspective, also, it helps with the downtown revitalization, not just getting the building done, but now you’ve got a lot of people living in the downtown,” Irvine said.

Blackburn said if everything lines up perfectly, the earliest the building could be open is 2029.

If the state and federal money never comes to pass and the deal falls apart, Blackburn said his company could still go forward with the project as a private development.

“I’ve got to get it to the finish line of fully something we can actually build, and this gets us far enough,” Blackburn said. “We’ll make a few tweaks if we build it market rate, and it will go market rate if it’s not the other one.”

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Century-old Oak Knoll Golf Course, 6 miles west of Salem, has closed after being purchased by Wandering In Time Holdings LLC.

The future of the 58-acre property, zoned for public amusement and recreation, is unclear. Officials with Wandering In Time Holdings did not respond to inquiries about the site.

In addition to an 18-hole golf course, the property at 6335 Highway 22 features a driving range and a 5,000-square-foot building with a restaurant, bar and commercial kitchen. The $6.2 million acquisition also included 71 adjacent acres zoned for exclusive farm use.

Wandering In Time Holdings has a mailing address in Burley, Washington listed in Polk County property records, and a Portland mailing address listed in articles of incorporation filed with the Oregon Secretary of State’s office.

The company’s Theresa Nietupski is one of the founders of Wandering In Time Productions, which stages immersive historical fantasy events in the Pacific Northwest, including the annual Oregon Renaissance Faire in Canby.

The entrance to Oak Knoll was partially blocked April 15 — exactly two weeks after the sale was finalized — with a steel barricade and a “CLOSED” sign.

Another sign confirmed the demise of the property as generations have known it: “This property has been sold. Oak Knoll will no longer be a golf course. This property is private property. Please vacate! No trespassing!”

The closure leaves two remaining destinations for golfers in Polk County: Cross Creek Golf Course and Dallas Golf Club.

Oak Knoll opened in 1926 on the north side of Oregon Route 22. The first nine holes were laid out on agricultural land with a granary. E.A. Jones developed the course with fairways running north to south, so golfers would never have to play directly in the sun.

The driving range was added in 1989, and the second nine holes, with water features, were completed the following year, according to Statesman Journal archives.

The course had a reputation for being an affordable place to play golf and a good one for beginners. It is flat with wide fairways and small greens.

Over the years, Oak Knoll has had multiple owners, including Karla Hicks since 2018. She and her husband, Scott, purchased it from a bank holding company. Val Barnes had previously been involved in ownership for more than three decades.

“We bought it as an investment property,” Karla Hicks said.

As they launch new business ventures and plan to spend time in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where they previously lived, they are thankful for the connections made at Oak Knoll, beyond golf.

Oak Knoll has been a cross-country venue for high school and college meets, for example, and the new property owners told Karla Hicks they plan to continue those relationships.

Hicks said the golf course relied on volunteers, including retirees who ran the pro shop. The only paid staff were bartenders.

“It was such a great group because they loved being out here,” she said of the volunteers. “It made them feel youthful, and they became family.”

Hicks said she refunded dues to 47 members after the sale was finalized.

“It was tough telling them,” she said. “Many of them have been with us since Day 1.”

The Oak Knoll property was intermittently on the market for nearly two years. It was advertised as a golfer’s paradise and a unique investment opportunity.

A YouTube video posted a year ago by Keller Williams Realty showcased the course’s beauty with dramatic aerial footage, including fairways lined with 60-foot-tall sequoia trees.

A LoopNet listing can still be found in an online search, promoting the versatility of the property: “Whether you’re considering an RV park, amusement park, stadium, fairground, music venue, or winery/brewery, this site offers a versatile foundation for a range of projects. The property comes with valuable senior water rights and features a currently operational Golf Course business, or you have the option to start fresh. This unique property is ready for its next visionary project.”

Hicks said three parties showed simultaneous interest at one point during the process. An undisclosed Realtor managed the sale, not Keller Williams.

“I love this property; it has a part of my heart,” Hicks said. “I’m happy with who’s getting the property.”

Wandering In Time Productions has over 30 years of experience staging Renaissance fairs, music festivals, corporate events, and more, according to its website. It is best known locally for presenting the Oregon Renaissance Faire, which is set in a fictional Scottish village and features jousting, artisan vendors, comedy, and music.

“Our mission is to bring history, fantasy, and community together through immersive events that captivate the senses and ignite the spirit of adventure,” the website states.

Since 2016, the Oregon Renaissance Faire has taken place at the Clackamas County Fair and Event Center in Canby, starting with one weekend in the summer and eventually expanding to every weekend in June.

The 2025 event sold out six of eight days and drew more than 70,000 attendees over the four weekends, according to a report in the Herald Pioneer, Canby’s weekly newspaper.

The opening weekend of the 2026 Oregon Renaissance Faire is scheduled for June 6-7 at the Clackamas County fairgrounds.

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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In 1971, Grace Rye moved with her husband, Jack, to a home about half a mile outside of Monmouth when he took a job as an administrator at Western Oregon University.

Rye, 92, and now a widow, discovered in February that the city was proposing to swap 90 acres of land within its urban growth boundary with a 75-acre parcel that nearly borders her country home. The prospect of hundreds of new houses and apartments rising nearby doesn’t appeal to Rye.

“It’s not a good idea,” she said.

Numerous people who live in and around Monmouth voiced their displeasure of the proposed land swap to the city council during its regular meeting on April 7. Nevertheless, the council voted 4-2 to approve the proposal and adopt a legislative amendment. Councilors John Oberst, Carol McKiel, Jon Carey and Christopher Lopez voted yes, and Roxanne Beltz and Jason Ridgeway voted no.

The approval still needs to come back before the council in the form of an ordinance for adoption, Monmouth Community Development Director Suzanne Dufner said. The land swap would then have to be approved by Polk County and the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.

When House Bill 2647, which was sponsored by Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, and Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem, became law in 2025, it gave Monmouth an expedited process to swap the 90 acres southwest of the city for the 75 acres to the west of the city.

Though there are other processes for cities to expand, UGB swaps through the state legislature have become increasingly common.

Portland State University projects Monmouth to gain 3,400 new residents by 2040 and the need for 1,200 new housing units to accommodate that growth. If so, the city would add nearly one-third of its current population of 11,651, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2025 American Community Survey estimates.

The city applied strategies to allow growth, including increasing density and allowing housing downtown, Carey said.

“The city is doing a lot of things to solve the problem,” he said. “Many of those are applicable to new development. Not all, but most. The city’s been doing a lot of work. We’re still constrained by the land.”

Monmouth has fewer than a dozen developable properties within current city limits, Dufner said.

“All the easy properties to develop have been developed,” she said.

So, Monmouth looked at ways it could incorporate more land into the city.

City staffers project the swap could result in Monmouth gaining 525 to 1,050 new housing units.

The 90 acres the city will remove was owned by people not interested in selling, contains wetlands (making development difficult), and is prone to flooding because of its proximity to the south fork of Ash Creek.

The 75 acres on the west side of town, however, is mostly flat and would be easier to develop with city utilities like water, sewer and power. Also, the property owners want to sell.

Monmouth Public Works Director David Karr Jr. said the parcel that is leaving the UGB could be connected to utilities but would require infrastructure like a pump station for sewer services — something the incoming parcel won’t need.

The city held two planning commission meetings about the proposal, and the city council held a public hearing about it in February, Dufner said.

“The public participation part has been happening,” Monmouth Mayor Cec Koontz said.

But some people, including Rye, said they never received notice about the planned swap or any new development on the land.

In a staff report, the city officials say they posted signs visible from the street 10 days before the first public hearing, a mailer was sent to property owners that would be directly impacted, a notice was published in a newspaper and on the city’s website, and notices were sent to other affected public agencies like fire districts and school districts.

One person asked the people in the packed council chambers if they felt they had been heard during the public process. One person raised a hand. When he asked if they felt they had not been represented, most people in the crowd raised a hand.

“We have to acknowledge a real tension in growing communities,” Beltz said.

People also brought up potential problems including traffic and infrastructure issues, environmental concerns, the impact on Western Oregon University, the potential loss of farmland, and the city’s ability to bring in utilities like water and power.

Land use conservation group 1000 Friends of Oregon argued in a letter to the city council that the 75 acres being swapped into the urban growth boundary is not contiguous to the city limits and therefore does not comply with House Bill 2647.

John Moore, who lives on Mistletoe Road, said new development would produce multiple three-story buildings mere feet from his rural home.

“If I want to live in a city, I’d live in a city,” he said. “We like to live in the country.”

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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Since the Ella Curran Food Bank was founded in 1978, it has moved about nine times between rented spaces in Independence.

After the nonprofit was forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to improvise by handing out boxes of food in the Independence Cinema parking lot in 2020 and 2021, officials recognized the need for a permanent location.

Now the food bank is engaged in a campaign to raise more than $4 million so that a new building can be constructed.

The need for food assistance in Polk County has increased in recent years as more of its residents qualify for and enroll in federal assistance programs. The food bank has done what it can to meet the growing need but can do only so much in its current space.

With timely funding and smooth construction, the Ella Curran Food Bank’s new home could be completed in a year, according to the organization’s director, Patty Nevue. In the meantime, a record number of people are offering help.

“Our emphasis is having a lot of food for people,” she said. “So, our emphasis is when recurring donations are coming in and people are donating and it’s not designated, it’s going to food.

“When somebody designates it for the new building, it goes there.”

The food bank, which is located at 870 N. Main St. in Independence, is open 9 to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and 4 to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The food bank was founded in memory of Ella Curran in 1978. She moved to Independence in about 1967 and worked as a counselor for Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action until her death in 1977. She was 48. She kept food in her car trunk to give to people who requested assistance.

The current food bank occupies about 2,500 square feet of the former Amador’s Alley restaurant. There is only enough space to let a few clients enter at one time. Others must stand outside the large windows in front and direct volunteers inside to what they want by pointing. The food they select is then brought out to them.

“If we had people come in here it would get pretty crowded,” Nevue said. “We go out and visit with people, too.”

Ella Curran Food Bank, like most others in the area, receives shipments from Marion Polk Food Share. The limited space makes it difficult for the food bank to serve the increasing number of people in need. The need for a larger, permanent location has never been greater, volunteers said.

“Of course, if we’re renting, donated dollars are paying our rent and the rest goes to food,” Nevue said.

The need for food assistance in Polk County has grown in recent years. The Ella Curran Food Bank had over 12,000 visits in 2025. In 2021, it had slightly more than 3,000 visits, according to statistics compiled by food bank leaders. The food bank primarily serves people from Independence or Monmouth (64 percent), but others (29 percent) who are undefined.

While the poverty rate has remained consistent during the past four years, according to U.S. Census data, enrollment in the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has steadily increased in that time. About 17 percent of the county’s residents received those benefits in 2020 while nearly 20 percent did in 2024.

In 2025, the food bank gave 552 families complete supplies for a Thanksgiving dinner at a drive-thru giveaway in Riverview Park in Independence. The organization also provides food to pantries at schools and other locations. And it provides bags of food for families when schools are closed.

“We’re just trying to minimize any barriers to getting food,” Nevue said.

The plan is for the food bank to relocate to the corner of Hoffman Road and Airport Road in Independence. As designed, the 7,000-square-foot building would include a supermarket-style shopping area, a meeting room with a demonstration kitchen, an outdoor (covered) market area, a staff room, a large delivery and sorting area, and a walk-in freezer and refrigerator.

The 2.1-acre lot was donated by Judith and Jack Fox to the Oregon Community Foundation. That land was donated to the Ella Curran Food Bank in 2024.

The food bank in 2023 received $775,000 from the federal government to pay for site work.

“We’ve had to do all the water and the electrical and the gas lines and put in a water retention swale,” Nevue said.

The Ella Curran Food Bank received its first grant of $100,000 from Neighbors Helping Neighbors in 2022. The nonprofit has since received $1 million from the state Legislature in 2022 and then $690,000 more in 2023.

Nevue said the food bank also received donations from the Central Lions Club ($100,000), Willamette Health Council ($100,000), the Lee H. and Marion B. Thompson Foundation ($500,000), the Maps Community Foundation ($50,000), the Marcia H. Randall Charitable Trust ($50,000), and the Ford Family Foundation ($20,000). Community members and others have contributed around $277,000, Nevue said.

“We’re really close,” she said. “This adds up. We have money available, but we’re committed to not breaking ground until we’ve funded the whole thing. I feel nervous; I don’t want to break ground and be still asking for donations. I don’t feel that’s appropriate.”

Individuals and organizations can donate to the project by visiting .

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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Polk Community Development Corporation (Polk CDC) has been a key player in revitalizing communities across Polk County, with a focus on strategic and sustainable development. Established in 1989, the nonprofit is dedicated to providing affordable housing and supporting local businesses, fostering economic growth and stability in the region.

Polk CDC collaborates with residents, municipalities, and local organizations to identify and address community needs. It develops affordable rental housing for low- to moderate-income residents, including underserved populations such as working families, seniors, and people of color. The organization also offers low-interest housing rehabilitation loans and grants to assist homeowners with essential repairs.

Additionally, Polk CDC partners with Polk County and local municipalities to provide loan and grant programs aimed at improving rental properties and enhancing living conditions for families. Beyond housing, Polk CDC fosters economic development by promoting business expansion and job creation in key sectors such as agriculture and tourism. Through community-driven projects, the corporation helps transform underutilized properties into vibrant spaces supporting residential and commercial growth.

By combining thoughtful development with active community involvement, Polk CDC continues to create lasting opportunities, building a more resilient Polk County for future generations.

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