Chehalem Cultural Center Unveils New Performing Arts Wing, LaJoie Theatre

NEWBERG, Ore.—The Chehalem Cultural Center (CCC) is set to debut its new Performing Arts Wing on Sept. 6 with the Sneak Peek Variety Show at the LaJoie Theatre, marking the beginning of a diverse performance season.

“It’s been a long time in the making,” says Performing Arts Manager JeanneAnn Faris Comiskey. “Standing here now, looking forward to the season and selling tickets—it’s surreal.”

The CCC occupies the former Newberg Central School building, which closed in 1995 due to size and safety concerns. In 1997, the Newberg School District sold it to Chehalem Parks and Recreation for $1 to keep it in public hands.

A committee formed in 2005 to establish the Cultural Center. Construction began in 2009 to bring the building up to code. Phase one renovations, completed in March 2010, included art galleries, classrooms, studios, and meeting rooms.

Phase two added the ballroom, Black Box Theatre, and Culinary Arts Center.

The newly completed phase three renovations encompass 9,000 square feet, including the Tri Family Grand Lobby, green room, dance studio, and the 215-seat LaJoie Theatre with the Jim Halliday Stage.

“The performing arts wing was a dream of the original board,” Faris Comiskey says. “The realization of this dream feels like a testament to them and the current board. It’s our crown jewel.”

The project received funding from private donations, foundations, grants, and government sources. Scott Edwards Architecture designed the space to be accessible and inclusive, with removable front rows for ADA compliance and flexible seating configurations.

The theater features deep purple curtains and seats—a nod to the CCC’s wine country home—as well as acoustic paneling, and wooden wall slats for sound control. The sound booth is uniquely positioned at the back of the room with no sequestration for optimal acoustics.

“As a theater person, there isn’t a bad seat in this house,” she said. “Sound carries perfectly in here. And it’s not so bad that you need to bring your theater binoculars. Unless you want to.” 

Faris Comiskey emphasizes the CCC’s commitment to a “come as you are” mentality and affordable pricing. Discounts are available for various groups, including adults, those under 30, students, and Oregon Trail Card holders.

The inaugural Sneak Peek Variety Show is “pay what you will,” allowing attendees to pay any amount, including nothing, to enjoy performances from Gather Repertory Theatre, 45th Parallel Universe, push/FOLD, and others.

“We want this place to be packed out,” Faris Comiskey said. “We’re so proud of the project and can’t wait to share it with the community with something like this variety show that’s so much fun.”

The stage will host various performance arts and serve as a venue for local businesses and organizations to rent for events.

For more information, visit the Chehalem Cultural Center website.

The Namesakes of the LaJoie Theatre and Jim Halliday Stage

According to Chehalem Cultural Center Executive Director Sean Andries:

Jim Halliday Stage

Jim Halliday was a Renaissance man. His creativity was in the air around him, spilling into his music, poetry, short stories, photography, and theatre. At the odd moment, he would muss-up his hair, cock his glasses, and slide into the Swiss-Deutsch accent of his mother’s homeland.

Full of wisdom and with a flint in his eye, that old guy would delight everyone with his perceptive humor. Jim’s heart flowed into everyone he knew and everything he did throughout his career, including his collaboration with colleagues in creating Human Ware, a company that developed software for the deaf and blind.

Locally, Jim, alongside his wife Karen, was a fixture in the wine and arts communities. Jim was one of the biggest believers in the promise of the Chehalem Cultural Center and for a time served as it’s acting Executive Director during a transitional period. During that time Jim made several foundational strides toward the eventual completion of the theatre before returning to his more civilian role as its biggest cheerleader.

He was a wonderful actor and performed in several benefit performances to help raise funds for the theatre including his final performance in Chekov’s ‘the Bear’ in the abandoned old Central School Auditorium. That show, in 2021, was the first show on that stage in more than 25 years and would be the last before the work on the LaJoie Theatre began. Jim wanted, more than anyone, to see a show in the LaJoie Theatre and when he passed in 2022 several members of the community approached CCC with the idea to name the stage after him so he would always be with everyone who took stage under the lights.

LaJoie Theatre

Merlin and Sandy LaJoie grew up in Yamhill county and have lived their whole lives as members of this community. They raised their children Maurice and Michelle here who, like Sandy herself, once attended Central School.

The LaJoie family have been pillars of our community since 1941 when Merlin’s Grandfather, David Wagner, started Newberg Garbage Service, a business the family owned and operated until 2010. This area has grown over that time from a little town with “one street through Newberg” as Merlin says, into the diverse community we now know.

Change is constant but the LaJoie’s sense of community and commitment to the people of this place has never altered. Merlin and Sandy were among the first to step up in the early days of this Chehalem Cultural Center and put their names behind the effort. When they heard the vision for this center, the dream of what it could become, they knew they “wanted to give something back to this community” as Sandy puts it.

Merlin and Sandy have been big supporters of this dream all along but eagerly await the opening night of the LaJoie Theatre, where they will be sitting front row center. The Chehalem Cultural Center and the LaJoie Theatre are perfectly positioned to become the home of the performing arts in Yamhill County. The Chehalem Cultural Center has always been a work in progress and will never stop growing and getting better; it is only because of people like Merlin and Sandy Lajoie that this dream can be a reality.

Update: January 27, 2025—updated instances of LaJoie Theater to LaJoie Theatre. Newsberg regrets the error.