The historic Gem Theatre, located in Athena, Oregon, was constructed in 1901, but had fallen into disrepair and been closed for decades. In 2005, the community initiated efforts to restore the beloved structure on Athena’s Main Street, aiming to create a combined performing arts space and museum for the community. According to their website “After seventeen years of perseverance, Athena’s gem is wrapping up the renovation of this sacred space for the arts in rural Northeast Oregon. “In-kind” donated labor valued at $750K, over half of that work being provided by students age 12-18 has been leveraged to garner nearly 1.8M in grant funding.”
With assistance from PARC Resources, the group received nearly $700,000 ($686,450) in grant funding to complete the exterior and most of the interior restoration work.
“The story of the Athena’s Gem Theatre restoration has been a long one. Our group, Athena’s Gem, Inc., first contracted with the Weston PARC office in 2007 as we were assembling our ‘feasibility study.’ The relationship with the PARC team has continued since that time as we struggled to put legs under the project. There have been many twists and turns in the story of saving this 114-year-old facility. PARC has worked with the Gem every step of the way to this point and written every major foundation grant application. It is now apparent that the campaign will be a success and that the story of our effort will have a happy ending.”
– Rob McIntyre, Athena’s Gem, Inc.