Champoeg – The Place

Perhaps no place in Oregon more dramatically illustrates the relationship between people and the land than Champoeg: a meeting place for Native Americans, trappers and settlers; the site of a burgeoning pioneer town, lost in a record flood; the decision place for forming the Pacific Northwest’s first government; an important shipping point for Oregon’s first farms; and for thousands of years, the gateway to the Willamette Valley.

In addition to its historic significance, the Champoeg State Heritage Area offers a singular opportunity to provide learning experiences to the public, especially schoolchildren. Due to it’s central location, the park is one of the most popular parks in the Oregon state parks system attracting over 340,000 day-use visitors (Oregonians and out-of-state visitors alike) and over 6,000 schoolchildren visitors each year. However, relatively few of these visitors leave the park with an understanding of Champoeg’s natural, historic, and cultural importance.

Champoeg - The Opportunity

At present, the park’s interpretive exhibits are housed in a rustic visitor center near the entrance to the Champoeg State Heritage Area and are in dire need of renovation. Last updated in 1988, the displays are worn with age, outdated and unexciting when compared to the standard of interactive educational exhibits at other museums and historic sites today.

The Champoeg Interpretive Campaign is a collaborative project based on a unique public/private partnership between Oregon State Parks Trust, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) and Friends of Historic Champoeg.  The goal of this campaign is to raise the $456,250 needed to update and modernize the interpretive exhibits at the Champoeg State Heritage Area visitors center.

In response to the pressing need for a more complete and engaging Champoeg learning experience, an interpretive plan for the Champoeg State Heritage Area has been developed. This plan represents a collaborative effort between OPRD, Friends of Historic Champoeg and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde (representing the historic Kalapuya people). The plan has five main themes:

1.       The Kalapuya: The Willamette Valley as a human-managed landscape for 7,000 years.

2.       The Place: Champoeg was a multicultural meeting place.

3.       Flood History: The Willamette River as the creator and destroyer of Champoeg.

4.       Transitions: Political, social and cultural landscapes, Kalapuya to modern Oregonians.

5.       Government: Loyalty versus nationalism as it led to a government structure for Oregon.

New interactive, hands-on exhibits have been designed in correspondence with the interpretive plan. Updating the park’s current 20-year old interpretive displays will provide visitors with a more complete understanding of the historic significance of the Champoeg area and its role in the settlement of the Willamette Valley.

Project Description

Oregon State Parks Trust is seeking funds for the renovation and enhancement of interpretive displays at one of Oregon’s most significant cultural and historic sites, the Champoeg State Heritage Area. Our goal is to raise the $456,250 needed to fabricate and install new interpretive displays at the park’s visitor center.

The proposed new interpretive displays and visitor center renovations will:

·         Increase the capacity of the visitor center to host groups of visitors, especially groups of schoolchildren.

·         Attract more people to the visitor center (currently less than 10% of those using the park visit the center).

·         Add in new information derived from recent archaeological excavations.

·         Renew the interest of area schools which have previously used Champoeg to provide their students with educational experiences.

·         Instill a deeper understanding of Champoeg’s historic and cultural significance to all visitors.

·         More effectively promote the park as a resource with which to access the Champoeg area and the Willamette Valley.

Project Timeline

Planning for this project was finished in June 2005. The Champoeg Interpretive Campaign started in March 2007. All visitor center renovations are to be completed and new exhibits installed in advance of the November 2008 National Association of Interpreters meeting in Portland and before the 2009 Oregon Sesquicentennial. It is noteworthy that the Champoeg area holds a special significance in the history of Oregon and has been chosen as a key site for events hosted by Oregon 150.  With our state’s sesquicentennial approaching, there is a unique opportunity to tell the story of the Champoeg area.

Measurability of Success

At the conclusion of the Champoeg Interpretive Campaign, the following outcomes will have been achieved:

·         At least $456,250 will have been raised for new exhibits from public and private sources.

·         New exhibits will have been fabricated and installed.

·         10% annual increase in the number of school fieldtrips to Champoeg State Heritage Area (for at least five years).

·         10% annual increase in the number of total visitors Champoeg State Heritage Area (for at least five years).

·         5% annual increase in net sales revenues at the visitor center gift shop and Butteville store.

·         15% increase in the number of Friends of Historic Champoeg members and donors.

Sustainability

Oregon State Parks Trust is responsible for developing and implementing a campaign that raises the needed funding for this project. Friends of Historic Champoeg will promote the campaign locally and then provide ongoing volunteer and financial support to the park, through a variety of fundraising events, membership fees, and visitor center and Butteville store sale proceeds. OPRD will oversee the fabrication and installation of new exhibits and then provide ongoing maintenance and upkeep as part of the Champoeg State Heritage Area’s annual operations and budget.