Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center
| Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center | |
|---|---|
Southeast corner
|
|
| Former names | Trinity Lutheran Church |
| General information | |
| Type | Arts center |
| Location | Hillsboro, Oregon, United States |
| Coordinates | 45°31′22″N 122°58′55″W / 45.52278°N 122.98194°WCoordinates: 45°31′22″N 122°58′55″W / 45.52278°N 122.98194°W |
| Construction started | 1947 |
| Completed | 1949 |
| Owner | City of Hillsboro |
| Landlord | Hillsboro Parks & Recreation Department |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 3 |
| Floor area | 15,664 square feet (1,455.2 m2) |
The Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Arts Center is a multi-use arts and performance venue in downtown Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Opened in 2004, it is housed in a red-colored stone building completed in 1949 as a Lutheran church. Hillsboro, a city on the west side of Portland, owns the three-level facility and operates it through their Parks and Recreation Department.
Walters Cultural Arts Center includes gallery space, classroom space, and a 200-seat performance hall. With two above ground floors and one below ground level, the center has a total of 15,664 square feet (1,455.2 m2) of space. Located on East Main Street, the Washington County Courthouse and the Hillsboro Civic Center are just to the west and the Edward Schulmerich House one block to the east on Main. The center is named in honor of a local couple who donated $1 million towards the project which included purchasing the property and US$2.4 million worth of renovations.
The Trinity Lutheran Church congregation was founded in 1917 and acquired their first church in 1923. By the 1940s the congregation needed a larger place to worship and bought a lot on the corner of Fifth Avenue and East Main Street in downtown Hillsboro in 1941. A Camas, Washington, rock quarry offered the church an unlimited amount of red colored rock for $1,000 as a long as the church transported the rock back to Hillsboro. Construction began in 1947 and the new church was completed in 1949. By the late 1990s Trinity Lutheran had again outgrown their church and began building a new campus in the southeast part of the city.
The church did not want to sell its former home to just anyone, or for it to be torn down. At this time the city was looking for a space to use as an arts center. Plans for an arts and culture center in Hillsboro were made in the city’s Hillsboro 2020 Vision. This community plan was finalized in 2000 and designed to improve the livability of the city located in the Portland metropolitan area. Hillsboro purchased the property from the church for $1.325 million in November 2000.
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