Oregon Library Plans Front Door Replacement; City of Oregon Hesitates on TIF Funding

OREGON — The Oregon Public Library Board of Trustees is planning to replace the building’s front entrance doors but may have to do so without using City of Oregon TIF funds. The current wooden doors, believed to date to the 1960s, have expanded and contracted over the years, making them difficult to lock and harder for young children and older adults to open. The Library has looked into hiring a Grand Detour contractor to build custom oak double doors based on the library’s original 1908 architectural drawings by Allen and Irving Pond. The project includes new oak door slabs, special order glass inserts, and updated hardware. At the Oregon City Council meeting Tuesday night, the Tax Increment Financing proposal to fund the project was discussed, with members choosing not to act, due to the request coming from another taxing body, and not a local business, which they felt fell outside the intended purpose of the funds use. The project for the library is expected to cost over $26,000.