Welcome. Whether you arrived here by intent or by happenstance, we are glad that you found us. Friends of the Grand Staircase is an informal organization established in 2014 to raise awareness of the Grand Staircase on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande, Oregon. In addition, we worked with the university and many others to obtain funds for its restoration.
In March of 2022, we were overjoyed when the Oregon Legislature voted to give the university $4 million to demolish and rebuild the steps. Unfortunately, cause for celebration was short-lived. When it was discovered that the funds available were not enough to restore the staircase as it once was, EOU made he decision to replace the steps with a more utilitarian design.
If you knew and loved the Bennes Grand Staircase, we encourage to explore this site for a trip down memory lane. If you are just now learning that it existed, we encourage you to do the same. We encourage you to share your own staircase memories in the Comments section here.
Five tiers, 178 steps, and 418 balusters – the Grand Staircase was completed in 1929, just after Eastern Oregon Normal School opened its doors. The staircase was built to provide pedestrian access to the campus. The steps are low and wide, which makes them easy to climb. Renowned Oregon architect John V. Bennes designed this architectural treasure, once described as the “most majestic steps in Oregon”.
The architecture is Italian Renaissance Revival. Bennes found the style a fitting choice for eastern Oregon because the dry climate reminded him of northern Italy. He also chose this style for EOU’s Inlow Hall and Ackerman Hall. The shape of the staircase balusters was repeated in the window detail of both buildings.
The staircase was made of buff-colored concrete – an estimated 17,470 square feet. The balusters are cast stone with a molded concrete core. They have a fine grain rosy colored finish with a light-catching aggregate. This gives them their pinkish hue.
The Grand Staircase, often simply called the “college steps,” was one of La Grande’s most cherished landmarks. Generations of children remember it as a magical playground. There are stories of a staircase cat and art shows on the landings. Townspeople and high school and college students ran up and down the steps as a fitness routine.
And, in the winter, it was magical.
The college steps are remembered as the perfect place for wedding proposals and a favorite backdrop for photos. Faculty members sat on the steps and ate their lunches. People utilized the space for meditation and reflection, akin to the labyrinths that have increased in popularity in recent years.
At the top of the steps was the View Terrace, with an ever-changing view of La Grande and the Grande Ronde Valley.
Ask people about their favorite Grand Staircase memory, and any number will answer “Evensong”, the beloved spring commencement week pageant that took place on the steps for nearly 40 years. Seniors in caps and gowns and undergraduates in white shirts and pastel dresses lined the staircase as dusk fell and a choir sang.
The event was presided over by the Queen of Knowledge and her court.
Architectural historians compared the Grand Staircase to the Spanish Steps in Rome and ventured that no other place in the country can boast a monumental exterior staircase of this scale, complexity, and beauty. The Grand Staircase, Inlow Hall, and the View Terrace were, at one time, listed together in the National Register of Historic Places.
Sadly, the staircase has deteriorated over the decades and was closed to public use in 2004. In 2015, it was added to Restore Oregon’s Most Endangered Places List.
If you would like to learn more about the Grand Staircase, visit our Blog page or click on one of the categories listed below.
Friends of the Grand Staircase 