Have you noticed the gorgeous tile mural on the entry at 101 S. Front Street? This is the entry to the brick building on the corner of 8th and Front Streets that now houses RVTD’s Administrative Staff.
The building was purchased from Rogue Community College in December 2021. It sits across Front Street from Front Street Station, which houses RVTD’s Customer Service Department where people can get questions answered and purchase bus tickets and passes. Buses line up going both ways on Front Street making it a real transportation corridor.
RVTD hired ORW Architecture to help design the interior renovations of the 12,340 square foot building, and hired Adroit Construction to do the remodel, transforming the space into offices for RVTD’s Executive Management, Finance, IT, and Planning Departments.
Renovations also include a new Community Meeting room, an additional driver break room, a reception area, and ADA modifications. The Community Meeting room will be used by RVTD’s Board of Directors, who meet the fourth Wednesday of each month at 5:30pm, and can also be used by other groups for meetings.
The tile mural, which depicts some of the buildings that are downtown with an added mountain background, was designed locally by Rick Moir’s Paper & String Marketing and Advertising Agency. A company in Massachusetts cut the glass tiles and shipped them out, and a local company installed the mural.
Part of the funding for the building and remodel came from a federal grant, which required that some of the grant money be put toward art. “We wanted to put the art on the outside of the building,” explained Julie Brown, RVTD General Manager.
This move to downtown is part of RVTD’s ongoing effort to accommodate major growth occurring at the main campus at 3200 Crater Lake Ave. where RVTD’s bus fleet has grown from 33 to 45 vehicles and service has added 5 routes recent years. It’s also a show of commitment to downtown and its future.
RVTD General Manager Julie Brown, who was the featured speaker at DMA’s September Power Hour, shared her vision of downtown: “My vision of the downtown is people can live there, work there, and shop and have entertainment there and get around without a car. What we need is housing that is affordable.”
