Waterleaf Architecture, in the person of associate William Bailey and freelance architect and former Waterleaf member Mike McCulloch, have vast enthusiasm for the Enterprise Mercantile and Milling (EM&M) building restoration project. The joint effort by Waterleaf and the Enterprise Hometown Improvement Group (EHIG) under the energetic leadership of Wendy Hansen is coming to, if not the beginning of the end, perhaps the end of the beginning.

Around 50 people attended a presentation by Waterleaf and EHIG April 22 at the Community Connection Hall in Enterprise to hear what the architects had come up with. The project, prefaced McCulloch, has to be seen as a stone tossed into a pool, generating ripple effects that will help energize the downtown area.

According to the architects (and plans provided by them) the project will totally renovate and repair the existing EM&M building, enclosing and reinforcing the two-story sixty-foot former atrium, rebuilding it as a modern, modular civic theater/multi-use space, surrounded on the ground floor by retail space, an area for a large restaurant, multiple live/work areas that extend into the second and third floors and a variety of support areas.

The second floor, horseshoe-shaped due to the mass of the theater’s upper half, will have continuations of the live/work spaces which will be accessible from the ones below and a variety of civic spaces, possibly including the city library – which would surrender its old location to City Hall – as well as classroom spaces, possible for use by the Community College or another such entity.

The third floor is designed to allow for the third stories of the live/work spaces – all of which will communicate with spaces below, each allowing for a three-story townhouse of sorts within the body of the building, and bearing price tags of $125,000 plus. It is also planned to contain six spacious condos, each expected to sell at up to $250,000. Despite the cost, Enterprise Mayor Susan Roberts expressed a belief that the condominiums and live/work spaces would be no problem to rent, given previous interest in high-end developments in the area.

The roof may potentially have a large deck area, around 3,350 square feet, possibly for use in conjunction with the restaurant space below, to which it would be directly connected by an elevator. The deck, overlooking the courthouse and facing the Wallowa mountains beyond, “…would have the best view in Enterprise,” said Bailey.

The performance arts space at the heart of the building drove the architects’ choices where the library, classrooms and other satellites were concerned, said McCulloch. When questioned as to the chances of the arts space paying its way, he said success would depend largely on the willingness of the artists to use the facility, but that discussions with groups such as Fishtrap have been very positive. Performing arts subsidies might provide help, he continued, “…but people have to step up and use it.”

The EM&M, built between 1916 and 1923, will cost nearly ten million dollars to renovate, modify and repair. Bailey and McCulloch have ideas of where the money will come from; a public-side/private-side consortium. The private side would have ownership, via the developer, of the retail and housing space within the building and they would potentially collect up to $3.4 million from housing sales within the building. Retail spaces should net another $825,000. On the public side, grants, federal ones through the USDA, are hoped to be in the $1.5 million to $1.75 million area. Public use grants and donors, both private and commercial, are expected to net another $2.5 million to $2.75 million. With luck, a Historical site tax credit might bring in another million.

There are ifs. The project is dependent upon grant writers netting the grants, the retail space selling, the restaurant space being leased, the condos and live/work spaces selling at expected prices and the developer and the citizens of Enterprise staying the course. In response to questions concerning what might happen if the private sector investors pulled out, should the project fail to be profitable, Bailey responded that finding a developer who is committed to the project, and then making sure they are invested financially and legally in it, is the key to avoiding a debacle.

The developer has not yet been chosen, though Bailey mentioned that at least three as yet unnamed developers had expressed interest in the project.

During the question and answer period following the presentation Mayor Roberts mentioned the costs associated with the move of the City Hall to the old library location, which would require renovations and the installation of handicap accessible modifications. The old City Hall would be demolished to provide upwards of 25 spaces for tenant parking in the EM&M building. The destruction of the City Hall building would also require the fire department to be moved to a new location.

Current residents in the building and businesses on the ground floor will have to relocate or negotiate new leases with whomever the new owner turns out to be. When asked about the fate of those currently residing in the apartments on the EM&M building’s third floor, McCulloch said that their research had shown plenty of low-income housing available in the Enterprise area, and that no problems were expected.

Other questions expressed a concern over parking in the downtown area if the EM&M project was a success, to which McCulloch responded with some humor. He doubts that merchants in the downtown area would be heartbroken to have the streets thronged with pedestrians and potential customers. “Parking difficulties are the sign of a healthy downtown area,” he said, explaining that the city would have to find ways to deal with the problem as it arose, as other cities have.