LA GRANDE — It’s appropriate that the rehabilitation of Eastern Oregon University’s Grand Staircase is being handled one step at a time.

The vintage architectural edifice was granted a new lease on life when the Oregon Legislature earmarked $4 million — part of a $100 million rural infrastructure package — for its renovation.

The state money was the culmination of years of advocacy by the university, local individuals and regional organizations. Now, with the funding in place, school officials are busy shoring up final details before the first shovel of earth is turned on the project.

“As far as the design goes, we’re at what would be considered 90% (complete). We’re really close to getting our drawings ready for submission for permit,” EOU’s Capital Projects Manager Sarah Hollenbeck said. “We still have a couple of meetings and things like that with the city of La Grande. There’s just a permit process that you go through.”

Hollenbeck said the school anticipates construction should begin in late spring 2023 and finish in October 2023.

“That includes removing and replacing and reinstalling,” said John Garlitz, Eastern’s director of planning and facilities.

The staircase was built in 1929 and has been in disrepair for a number of years. The staircase, which was listed as one of Oregon’s most endangered places in 2017, was built to furnish pedestrian access from downtown to the EOU campus as well as a place for gatherings and events.

The university worked toward securing funding for the staircase’s restoration since 2001.

“The staircase project has been one of the longest-term projects I have been a part of,” said EOU Vice President for University Advancement Tim Seydel. “Thanks to the dedication of a small group of persistent and encouraging volunteers who kept the dream alive, we have been able to make the stairs a reality.”

The college has already received some of the state money, Seydel said.

“But we didn’t wait for that,” he said. “We started mapping out the next steps for the project, and that is going to include a lot of pre-planning so we can get into construction phase next year.”

The refurbished staircase, once complete, will look much like the original one, but with 21st century advancements.

“Because of seismic changes, we have to redo a lot of structural work just to meet current codes,” Garlitz said. “The foundations have to be larger, wider, deeper to withhold the seismic loads, and retaining walls need to be built to current standards.”

Garlitz also said the backfill behind the staircase must be placed in lifts.

“It’s just whole new construction standard codes to adhere to,” he said. “It’ll increase the longevity, and when it’s back in place, it’ll look like it was built in 1929. It’ll just be built to current standards.”

Three different type of concrete will be used in the reconstruction, said Hollenbeck.

“We have structural concrete that you can’t see,” she said. “We have cast stone and then we have precast.”

Hollenbeck said no bids have been sent out yet on the project.

“There’s interest in the historical restoration communities. Contractors that specialize in that tend to not necessarily be from this area,” she said.

Garlitiz said the college will utilize a formal bid process when the time comes and that some area contractors have “expressed interest.”

“We are developing the plans and specs to allow that type of process to move forward,” he said. “We anticipate a whole width and breadth of different contractors to formally bid on the project.”

Renovating the staircase has been talked about for decades, said Garlitz.

“This has been studied extensively, probably, since 2000,” he said.

Shifts in the soils impacted the viability of the staircase, and it hasn’t been safe to use for many years.

Architect John V. Bennes, who also headed the Hot Lake Hotel and Geiser Grand Hotel projects, designed the staircase in an Italian Renaissance Revival style, constructing the structure with 178 steps, 418 stone balusters and 17,470 square feet of concrete over five tiers. In 1980, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.