FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, September 14, 2021 Salem, Ore. -- At approximately 9:25 AM The Salem Fire Department responded to a fire at Cherry City Metals on Kanz CT NE. Upon arrival units found a metal pile on fire, emitting a large dark plume of smoke. Crews utilized aerial attack to control the fire and are continuing to fight the fire. The cause of the fire is currently unknown, and no injuries have been reported at this time.
Join Greg Walsh, Salem's Emergency Preparedness Manager, as the City of Salem resumes its free Zoom lunchtime series about steps you can take to prepare for disaster, starting Wednesday, September 8, at noon with Home Hazard Hunt.
Every other week, Greg will present 30 minutes on a different topic that can help residents be better prepared. All presentations start at noon on Zoom and YouTube. Topics:
- Emergency Communications, September 22
- Pets, October 6
- Car Kits, October 20
- Shelter, November 3
Join Walsh on Zoom. We'll use the same link for every meeting and you'll be able to ask questions in the chat. We'll also live stream to the City's YouTube Channel.
During a major natural disaster, or regional emergency, emergency response teams may not be able to reach individual households for as much as two weeks. If Salem was affected by another major natural disaster, could your family survive for at least two weeks without assistance?
From earthquakes to floods, wildfires to personal financial crises, emergencies come in many forms, and often when you least expect it. Being prepared brings peace of mind, knowing your loved ones will be OK.
View past discussion topics here.
Learn more about Emergencies and Disaster Preparedness.
Salem, Ore. — Salem Public Libraries and Center 50+ will not hold reopening events in September, as was originally planned, due to concerns about the soaring number of COVID-19 infections in Oregon.
The planned reopening celebrations of these facilities have been postponed until further notice. Opening of both Salem Public Libraries at Main and West Salem to the public has also been postponed until new COVID-safe strategies can be developed.
“COVID-19 infection rates continue to be significantly high in the Salem area, impacting the hospital and our community,” said Steve Powers, Salem City Manager. “To do our part, we are discouraging large groups from gathering.
“We’ll celebrate the renovated Library when it is safe to do so - and re-open in-person Library services when there is confidence that, when we reopen, we will be able to stay open. We are also postponing the reopening celebration for Center 50+.”
Virtual programs will continue through both Center 50+ and the Salem Public Library. In addition, Center 50+ will continue to offer services by reservation and by appointment.
Virtual library services remain open with staff contact options resuming September 1. The new book drops, located on the Liberty Street turn-in between the Library and City Hall, will also open September 1.
Library staff are working on a plan to quickly resume curbside services at the Salem Main Library, as well as other strategies that can help patrons better engage with the Library.
The City asks for patience from our community, so that we may do our best to safely provide services.
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27th Ave will be closed between Boone Rd SE and Kuebler Blvd SE beginning September 1, 2021, and ending on September 30, 2021, as construction crews make infrastructure improvements in the area. Residents in the South Gateway Neighborhood should be aware of construction crews working in the roadway and follow detour directions.
Traffic on 27th Ave South of Boone Rd. SE will be directed to Battle Creek Rd SE where a new traffic signal has been installed at the intersection of Battle Creek Rd SE and Boone Rd SE providing an alternate route around the road closure.
The Current Road Conditions Map on the City of Salem website provides up-to-date information on scheduled or emergency road closures in Salem. For additional information, please contact the City of Salem at 503-588-6211 or vice@cityofsalem.net">service@cityofsalem.net.
In September 2021, visitors to the renovated Salem Public Library will experience a light-filled interior with books, new spaces for reading and meeting, and redesigned areas for children and youth. They will also delight in a striking reinstallation of public art. More than 70 artworks, including some that were originally purchased for the Civic Center’s opening in 1972, have returned to the library in new locations as the two-year seismic upgrade has been completed. The reinstallation process was guided by members of the Salem Public Art Commission and the Salem Library Foundation.
“There is a rich history of the visual arts in Salem,” said Christine D’Arcy, chair of the Salem Public Art Commission. “Many of the works were gifted to the City and the Foundation by the artist or residents who wanted art to be part of the library’s experience. Others were purchased from the Mayor’s Invitational Art Shows that occurred in the 1970s. Many artists who were important teachers and mentors in Salem’s arts community are represented.”
Major works, familiar and beloved by many, include a large Carved Teakwood Screen by Leroy Setziol, and a suspended sculpture of birds in flight (Birds by Tom Hardy), which are now in new and more visible locations on the library’s main floor. Kristin Kuhns’ ceramic trees and forest creatures, Willamette Valley Wildlife Friends, commissioned by the Salem Public Library Foundation in 2015, is prominently displayed and ties to the colors and wayfinding signs that lead visitors to the Children’s Corner.
A significant new artwork has been added to the library’s collection through the percent for public art funds generated by the library renovation. Since 2010, the City of Salem dedicates one-half of one percent of the funding for a public improvement project to the acquisition of public art. Call Number Cascade, by Eugene-based artist and University of Oregon art professor Amanda Wojick, is a wall sculpture made of hand painted steel. The lively and colorful abstract work, installed on the library’s main floor, draws inspiration from library nonfiction classification systems and a series of waterfalls in the Opal Creek Wilderness near Salem.
In addition, Ashland artist Betty LaDuke gifted a large three panel painting, Trees of Life, to the City, specifically for display in the library’s plaza level entry. LaDuke, a former longtime faculty member at Southern Oregon University, has created works throughout her career that focus on socially engaged multicultural themes.
“It‘s wonderful that all of the artwork in the library’s collection will now be seen in a new light. The placement of these pieces has been thoughtfully curated and integrated into the new space,” said Sarah Strahl, City Librarian. “We’re really excited to welcome the community back to such a vibrant public space.”
In addition to those previously mentioned, library visitors will encounter paintings, prints, drawings and sculpture by well-known local and regional artists including Louis Bunce, Constance Fowler, Carl Hall, Manuel Izquierdo, James Kirk, Nancy Lindburg, SueDel McCulloch, James Mattingly, Jack McLarty, Hilda Morris, Aimee Spencer Gorham, and Susan Trueblood Stuart, Eileen Cotter Howell, among others