History of The Barn .jpg)
A Bandon Legend...........
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The Barn Bandon,Oregon 2010
In 1941 the area where the Community Center now stands, you can imagine the landscape as sand, gorse, and berry vines. The streets as such were not to be seen nor were there any buildings to be seen. Anywhere........Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor. The world was changed forever, including the small town of Bandon. In order to ensure our safety on the west coast, a plan was devised to patrol the Oregon coastline by mounting Coast Guardsmen on horses to roam and protect the beaches from possible invasion or infiltration by the Japanese.
This plan included the building of a barn to house 22 horses. So in late 1942 the barn was built in the City Park area - and so started the Legend of The Barn.
The Coast Guard had as many as 118 men stationed in Bandon during WWll. Most of those riding the horses for the C.G. were recruits from the farms on temporary assignment, as horse riding was not ordinarily a duty taken upon by the Guard. Needless to say these”cowboys” weren't too inclined to Coast Guard protocall either. They hated the button flaps of the sailor pants and preferred their cowboy boots and hats as stated by Chief Art Dobney who was in command from 1943 until the base was closed in July 1946. Art Dobney retired at this time and spent the rest of his years in Bandon.
There were a number of these barns built on the Oregon coast including one across the Coquille River at what is now Bullards State Park. All of the barns were ordered dismantled at the end of the war. All but one. The Bandon Barn. The City of Bandon and it's townfolk convinced the Feds to leave it where it stands.
And so it began.........
After the horses were removed to Myrtle Point to be auctioned off, the task of renovating the barn for human use began, a happening that occurred many times over the years.
One can only imagine what the appearance of this building looked like at this time. Being raised on a farm myself, I am familiar with what barns are.
This barn, I understand, had an extraordinary floor made of wood to withstand the many tons of horses it had to hold. The rest was strictly old barn architecture. With the floor of sound structure, it would make sense this would be the starting point of making this into
a place to hold dances or other large gatherings.
In 1984 the City (Ray Kelley was Mayor) decided to expand the facilities by moving an
existing building from the Bandon Shopping Center location and add it to the barn. This was the beginning of the Community Center also to become the home of the Senior Center. The senior group gave $10,000 towards the project. With the addition of the East/West rooms, it became a very functional complex, being used by many local organizations and individuals.
Lions involvement
The Bandon Lions Club was chartered in 1951 and had been involved with the repair and maintenance of this structure until the Chamber of Commerce began it's tenure of doing so in 2003.(a short time later it was turned over to the city) Prior to that time the Lions Club not only was responsible for the maintenance but the managing of rentals. All of this was done on a volunteer basis as a gratis service to the community of Bandon.The hours contributed to this project by Lion members would prove to be over 1200 per year. Over the contractual or official period of management of the Barn, this would amount to well over 23,000 hrs. Because of the physical aspect of managing the facilities, repairs, painting etc. it became to much for an aging group to accomplish. The Chamber of Commerce had visions of creating a convention center at this location but was later passed on to the city.
Monument - a Lions project
July 4th 2005 the Coast Guard memorial was dedicated by Pastor John Hubbard & Lou Franyi. Earl Miller was project chairman.
The widow, daughter and son in law of Chief Art Dobney were in attendance.
July 4th 2006 an addition to the monument was dedicated to then Lt. Eddie Waldrop and the Army contingent stationed in Bandon during WWll as well. This moument is resting on the original slab of one of the out buildings, thought to be a utility structure for rest, showers and perhaps a sometimes office. It is located near 11th st and the south parking lot.
A convention center? Hardly-but more than 1 million dollars later, we have a pretty fancy building with a state of the art kitchen, a senior center room with not enough use and a dining room where the Lions meet. This room is used for the senior meals program and other small meetings. The large rooms are also available for rent for such things as weddings, receptions and business meetings.
No matter how many renovations or attempts to rename it – the barn will always remain THE BARN! E.Miller-
