Vintage Buildings to be Rebuilt

Vintage Buildings to be Rebuilt

by Myke Gelhaus

    In 1979 Bonnie Morgan bought the Malmgren Garage at 111 Talent Ave for
her business, Southern Oregon Pottery & Supply. She also purchased Hanscom
Hall during this time.

    “We loved being in Talent.,” she tells us. “There was so little traffic on Talent
Avenue back then that the Chief of Police (Chuck Roberts) told us that when we
had deliveries, they could park in the middle of the street, and we could run the
forklift out into the street to unload.”

     After 30 years of serving the clay community, the business closed in 2008. Since then Jack Langford had his sculpture studio, and most recently Angela Blackwell had her Chinese Antique shop in the building.

     “I have always been attracted to old buildings, so there was not really a big “should we rebuild?” decision moment. It was more about looking at what was there and thinking how we could do this... Yes, we could save one or two of the buildings on the City of Talent Landmark list. The Malmgren Building has a large foot print with over 4000 sq. ft. I am exploring the idea of the front part being commercial maybe 1000 sq ft and the rest in apartments. I like the idea of live/workspaces and the energy they can bring to the downtown area. I think 111 has great bones. I love the rough poured concrete walls and classic false front design with the large garage door opening. The building started life in the mid 1920’s as a repair garage and I would want to keep that feeling to honor its past.”

    Bonnie will be working with George Kramer, of Kramer and Company, award winning historic building consult ants who have done other work in Talent and who are supporters of the Historical Museum.  “We need to confirm the condition of the concrete, have some discussions with Talent Community Development about our ideas and the possibilities, and then start the design process. Along the way we need to find a builder. Clean up was our first step on a long road.”