UPDATE: March 20, 2009

 

Hello Old Stone Church  Volunteers:
 
We will be having our first meeting on April 4, 2009 at the Old Stone Church.  This first meeting will begin with an orientation of project goals and the site. Next we’ll jump into designing some concept ideas for the master plan landscape.  John will provide base maps, a basic survey of the site, and drawing equipment.  We’ll see how far we can get, discuss options, and decide on the next steps.  Hope to see you there!  John will also provide some hot drinks and light refreshments. Please read John’s note below for important details.
 
Regards, 
Eileen Obermiller

 

 

 

Note from John Miller

 Dear Old Stone Visioneers,

I am fowarding some sketches by our friend Phil Hamilton in the interest of scheduling a design charette for the Old Stone.  I’d like to have an open meeting for brainstorming a vision for reshaping Old Stone in a way that it best serves the mission of building friendship and conscious community through music, education and spirituality.  I could go on and on about this, but here are some basic ideas for finding the sculpture within the unhewn rock that is the Old Stone today:
 - The Old Stone as a power center - a place to gather power
 - Playing artitectural aikido to honor the history of the building, but redirect its energy to celebrate spirituality as our essence, rather than a political tool or foundation for superstition
 - The mythical Old Stone that served and serves as a primordial community focal point
 - The fluid communication of indoor/outdoor space that facilitates gatherings
 - The notion of fractals and logarithmic spirals that facilitate real exchange and connection (groups of 5 of 8 or less - fibonacci numbers)
 - The juxtaposition of water, stone, air and fire
 - Highly functional spaces that work together for different uses: filmings, lectures, concerts, breakout discussion
 - High vibrational space that engenders transcendent healing, peace, harmony and the flow of grace
 - Serves basic needs - firepits, food and drink.

 

 

The primary focus of the charette is a functional landscape design for the site that integrates the building with its surroundings and reflects most, if not all, the foregoing.  To this end, the drawings attached are meant to be a visual stimulus for discussion and nothing more.  I would like to have a brainstorming session for two hours, beginning with a review of the foregoing, a brief presentation of the drawings, followed by an open discussion and drawing.  The basic rules of brainstorming apply:  no criticism -only ideas. 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

John Miller

Executive Director

 

What:  The Old Stone Church on Franklin Avenue is in the process of replacing the lawn in front of their building along Franklin Ave with xeriscaping featuring native plants.  They are looking for help to design, select plants, collect or purchase boulders, and to install.  They have a budget for materials and anticipate some of their volunteers to be available for the installation. 

Old Stone Church Update March 2, 2009  

John Miller, Phil Hamilton, and Eileen Obermiller met Saturday February 28, 2009 to discuss how the high desert chapter might help them develop a plan and install some native plants on the church property.  The Old Stone Church  (OSC) is focusing on building community consciousness through education, spirituality, and music.  Physically, it is a beautiful church building built in 1912 (it is the oldest church in Deschutes County) on the corner of Franklin and Harriman looking for some redevelopment to better serve the community. (More details about the OSC at http://www.osc.bend.com/)  Their idea is work with the existing building in a way that honors its history, but redirects its former identity as a church to one of a a hub of activities for raising consciousness.

 

John and Phil have been working on some initial architectural and site drawings for the property to express their thoughts on what direction the OSC might take.  They are looking at creating an indoor outdoor venue for community activities.  They are exploring ways to create a more welcoming entry from Franklin with outdoor features such as conversational seating, a labyrinth, fire pits, outdoor cooking facilities… whatever will create an environment that will support community interaction.  They want to utilize native plants as part of their developing the site in a green a fashion as possible.

 

Since several members expressed an interest in volunteering to help design and install the landscape, we thought it would be fun to have a mini design session at the church.  John and Phil are working on developing an outline of their vision and some base maps and concept drawings for us to work on.  Once they have that together, we will set a date for the design session.  If you want to participate and have not already told me, let me know.  We will send out a general notice of the meeting to those who have expressed interest and of course will have updates on the High Desert blog http://highdesert.npsoregon.org/blog/.

 

Where: Old Stone Church, 157 NW Franklin Ave, Bend, OR 97701
When:  Spring 2009 actual date to be determined.
Contact: Would you like to help?  For more information or to volunteer contact Eileen eileen@dappeldearth.com or John Miller, Executive Director, Old Stone Church Foundation, 157 NW Franklin Ave Bend, OR 97701 541-408-6831,or email John at info@oscbend.com.