Baker City Downtown awarded $400K for elevator installation project
By Logan Bagett on Monday, June 16th, 2025 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
BAKER CITY — It was recently reported that a $400,000 grant will be going to Baker City Downtown to support the revitalization and improvement of the Baker Loan & Trust Building. Baker City Downtown has issued a press release in regard to the grant award. Read it in full, below:
(Press Release from Baker City Downtown)
Baker City Downtown was awarded $400,000 of grant funding for the 2025 Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant funded by Oregon Main Street, State Historic Preservation Office, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. This grant will support the revitalization of the Baker Loan & Trust Building, owned by Tribe Fans LLC – Bob Moon and Kyra Rohner. The funds will be used to install an elevator that will service all three floors of the Baker Loan & Trust Building and allow for future development of the upper floors in the connected adjoining Bohn Building (Hatch and TEC Copier Systems) and Osborn Building (BELLA Main Street Market). This project supports the mission of Baker City Downtown to preserve and enhance the character and vitality of our community through the beautification, promotion, and development of downtown Baker City.
“BCD is incredibly excited to win this grant to support the continued revitalization of our community, especially for a project that will have the positive benefit of impacting not just one building downtown, but three,” said Ariel Reker, Executive Director, Baker City Downtown. The activation of upper floor spaces is a priority for the National Main Street Center, which BCD is Affiliated with, especially creating ADA-accessible upper floor living spaces that are within historic downtown commercial districts. “The Baker Loan and Trust Building, located in the center of downtown Baker City, has been a labor of love for our whole family since we purchased the building in 2018. We are excited about the new opportunities this Project will offer to this building as well as the Osborne and Bohn buildings,” said Bob Moon, Baker Loan & Trust Building co-owner.
The Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant is funded by lottery bond dollars authorized by the Oregon State Legislature. The purpose of the OMSRG grant program is to: acquire, rehabilitate, or construct buildings on properties in designated downtown areas statewide; and facilitate community revitalization that will lead to private investment, job creation or retention, establishing or expanding viable businesses, or creating a stronger tax base. The OMSRG was created in 2017 and is offered every other year through a competitive statewide application process. Since its creation, BCD has won the grant each time it was offered – today’s grant win is the fifth time BCD was awarded the grant. In past years, the maximum grant award was $200,000; in 2025 the amount was doubled to $400,000 to better support revitalization projects across the state.
The Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant is only open to groups participating in Oregon Main Street who are in good standing. BCD was recognized earlier this year for their commitment to the downtown Baker City community and dedication to historic preservation by reaching Designated status within Oregon Main Street. To select their applicant, BCD solicited letters of intent from downtown building and business owners from January 13 – February 14, 2025. Eleven letters of intent were submitted for consideration [totaling] $3,601,912 in potential revitalization projects – $2,564,220 in state grant dollars and $1,037,692 in matching private investment funds. The BCD Grants Committee then reviewed the LOIs and selected the top three to perform site visits. Following the site visits, the BCD Grants Committee unanimously voted to select the Baker Loan & Trust Building for their top applicant. BCD then worked with Tribe Fans LLC to complete the application by the May 7, 2025 deadline. The OMSRG review committee then reviewed 76 applications, selecting 35 projects for funding – [totaling] $10,600,000 in grant dollars awarded across the state. “We want to thank the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for selecting us,” said Kyra Rohner, Baker Loan & Trust Building co-owner.
The Baker Loan & Trust Building was built in 1911 to replace a previous bank building which burnt to the ground along with half the block. This, and the two adjoining buildings (Osborn and Bohn) were built to match and share a common stairwell and second floor hallway. The installation of an elevator in the Baker Loan & Trust Building will allow for economic activation across the upper floors of all three buildings. BCD and Tribe Fans LLC are excited to partner on this project to help fulfill our shared goals of historic preservation and economic activation of historic downtown Baker City.
“We are thankful for the help and support we received from Ariel Reker, Baker City Downtown, who did an amazing job writing the grant. Sid Johnson & Co. has been instrumental in the development of this Project, and we look forward to them bringing our vision to reality. We also are grateful for the letters of support from Carolyn Kulog, Loran Joseph, Beverly Calder and Barbara Sidway. We appreciate the research Gary Dielman did on the historic significance of the Baker Loan and Trust Building,” said Bob Moon and Kyra Rohner, Baker Loan & Trust Building owners.
