By ESTHER K. SMITH
News staff writer
October 24, 2007

The Hood River Middle School Auditorium is back in business after a 10-month restoration project — and is looking better than ever.

“We are really pleased to have our auditorium back, and I know the community is anxious to get back into it,” said HRMS Principal Bob Dais.

To celebrate, the school invited the community to an open house Monday evening, where attendees got a chance to admire the gleaming floors and stage and see a slide show of the restoration process on the brand-new projection screen.

The school was also presented with a gift: the original concept sketch for the auditorium’s signature mural, which was painted by renowned artist Percy Manser. The mural-in-miniature concept sketch is painted on a piece of plywood.

“It belongs here,” said Marilyn Avolio, Manser’s granddaughter.

Principal Bob Dais gave a brief history of the auditorium and then gave a step-by-step account of the storm damage in January and the enormous repair and restoration job that followed.

Not only did the broken pipes spew an estimated 8,000 gallons of water into the attic area, ruining much of the plastered surfaces, the flooring and the mural, but lead and asbestos were found in the plaster, requiring its complete removal before anything else could be done.

Dais had high praise for the quick action by the Hood River Fire Department, which limited the damage, and the school board and administration, which recognized that time was of the essence in getting repair work done. He also singled out the efforts of Mike White of Cooper Construction, Darryl Agersea of Agersea Construction and Nina Olsson, the art conservator who headed the mural restoration project, with Avolio as consultant.

Olsson described the painstaking process of restoring the mural and things she learned while doing it, including the fact that Manser had first drawn the mural in black ink and then painted over it, leaving some of the original drawing to show through in some areas.