In Memory of the Historic John V. Bennes Grand Staircase 1929-2024
Welcome to a Celebration of Life for the Historic John V. Bennes Grand Staircase. We invite you to remember her and what she meant to you by reading through all that you’ll find on this site. We also encourage you to share your own staircase memories in the Comments section.
Although the Bennes Grand Staircase is gone, we believe that the space still holds the music and magic of Evensong and the memories, laughter, conversations, thoughts, and musings of all who climbed the steps over all the years. And, we believe that, no matter what, it always will.
This Place Mattered
In late January 2024, the Historic Grand Staircase on the Eastern Oregon University campus in La Grande, Oregon passed away at the age of 94 and a half. The cause of death was demolition.
The world welcomed the staircase in 1929, shortly after Eastern Oregon Normal School opened its doors. She was the brainchild of Oregon architect John V. Bennes. Her architecture was Italian Renaissance Revival. Her five tiers rose some 40 feet up the hillside. The low, broad tread of her 184 steps made them easy to climb.
When people would remind the Grand Staircase that The Oregonian once called her the “most majestic steps in Oregon,” she would blush, something made possible by the light-catching aggregate finish that gave her 418 balusters their rosy glow.
The Grand Staircase humbly thought of herself as simply the “college steps.” A renowned architectural historian reminded her she was a “remarkable asset,” comparable to the Spanish Steps in Rome.
Every spring from 1931 to 1971, she hosted the beloved commencement week tradition of Evensong and felt the pageant was her greatest achievement. She said it was her favorite time of year but then would add how she also loved how magical she looked in the snow.
She often recalled how proud she felt when she was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. She was listed with her sisters, Inlow Hall and the View Terrace. They were very close, intrinsically linked by Bennes’ vision of an Italian Renaissance villa on a hill.
Due to deferred maintenance, harsh eastern Oregon winters, and vandalism, the Grand Staircase noticed her condition began to deteriorate over time. In 2004, she was closed to public use. She said it was the saddest day of her life.
The Grand Staircase appreciated the numerous efforts that were made to save her. Among those who tried was Friends of the Grand Staircase, an informal organization representing the many people who loved the staircase and wanted to see her preserved. She was thrilled when Restore Oregon named her to their Most Endangered Places List in 2015.
Then in 2022, it happened. The Oregon Legislature awarded EOU funds to demolish and rebuild the Grand Staircase. She was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to have people once again walk from side to center and out again as they traversed her five tiers. She thought about all the new “first kisses” and marriage proposes that would take place on her steps and the photos that would be taken with her balustrades as the backdrop. She dreamed about new traditions.
As the heavy machinery approached to tear her down, the Grand Staircase did not know that she would not be rebuilt and would instead be replaced by a more utilitarian staircase as a cost-saving measure. This day was, in fact, the end of her life.
The Grand Staircase will be missed by the generations of people who knew her, who climbed her steps, who made sure to visit her anytime they were in La Grande, or who, as children, found her to be a wondrous playground.
Donations in her memory can be made to Restore Oregon to support their advocacy for the respect and preservation of Oregon’s historic properties. We invite you to give generously. This Place Mattered.
Friends of the Grand Staircase 
I went to Ackerman grades k-6. I bet I walked that staircase a thousand times. We lived about three blocks from there! What wonderful memories I have there with my friends.
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I was was in college and participated in what would be the last Evensong. I loved my time there and that staircase. Precious memories.
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I always thought this was so beautiful.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I remember my mother standing on those stairs on her graduation day.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I ran those stairs many a times during my 17 years living in La Grande.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “In the summer time, all of the neighborhood kids would gather at the base of the stairs in the evening, sometimes during the day and play Kick the can. And us neighborhood kids would get to help set up the chairs for Evening Song.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “We I was younger I loved play on the steps we are talking back in the late 80’s early 90’s my mom drove a school bus and just so I could spend time with her I would ride the bus and get off at the college and play on the steps running up and down and then head home just down by the park that we always called candy cane park.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Those steps also were inspiration into education. We had to count the steps, which promoted exercise. Games were inspired. There is a lot of history in those steps.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I attended EOC in 1970 and knew of the steps when I was a child living there in the early 50’s.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I went out on Christmas day this last year to take photos and one of my stops was at the Grand Staircase. So many memories.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I rode my bike down that staircase more than once.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “My husband proposed to me at the top of those stairs!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Got married on those stairs!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I remember having to run those stairs during soccer practices for LHS, (this would be 1994ish), and we had our team pictures on the staircase too.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I recall lots of joggers running up and down them to keep in shape (myself included), class photographs taken there, and faculty and staff eating lunch on a hot day shaded by the trees on the landings.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I went to Ackerman and have so many memories about running up and down the stairs balancing on the rail.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Spent hours on these steps.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I loved playing on these steps when I was a 5th grader.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Got engaged at the top of the staircase the evening of 20th of April, 1965.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Apparently my younger sister has a better memory than I do. She remembers me walking her to summer kdg and using the steep side steps. What a beautiful staircase.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “From age two to eight, I lived on “I” across from Candy Cane Park. Sometimes I would take the “long” way home and play on the stairs. Like most everyone else, my strongest memory is racing up and down them multiple times. I also spent a lot of time investigating all the mysterious hiding places just on the outsides of the stairs. I don’t remember any specific games, just the strongest feelings of love and mystery. I have taken nieces, nephews and my own children to play there many times.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “When I worked at EOC in the md 60’s, I could look out my office window in the Business Office, at that very view! (referring to view from the top of the steps).”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Wow so many great memories with friends!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I took senior portraits here! Great background”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Many trips up and down those stairs!!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I walked up and down every day to go to Ackerman.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Soooooo much fun.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “These stairs have very sentimental meaning to my daughter and my father. Always a tradition for them to walk the college steps when we visited. Their special place”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “a huge part of the history of La Grande.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “The site of many wedding pictures.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I walked it daily to school”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I grew up in the neighborhood. When my father died I ran and sat on the steps.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I remember running those stairs in high school for soccer!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Lived around the corner from them on 10th. Had a paper route in that neighborhood. Taken our dog for walks up the steps.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Lived on 8th street, love that staircase!!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I don’t know too many people who lived or are living in La Grande who don’t love the staircase.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “The site of many impromptu gymnastics events…glad our parents didn’t know.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I use to climb these stairs every day to go to school in the early 90’s.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “My first real kiss.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “My husband told me many times about riding his bike down these stairs!!!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Used to hang out there a lot!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “Evening song (Evensong) was one of my favorite times.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “It’s a part of Oregon’s history. Beautiful architecture. Great craftsmanship. Honor those who toiled to build it.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I loved playing on these stairs when I was a 5th grader.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I lived close to there. It was my playground – played on the steps – forts in the bushes.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “We used to walk over there from Ackerman ALL THE TIME. We’d not only sit on the steps but the railings too…and we’d walk and balance on the railings as well…not too smart, it’s a wonder we all lived.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I lived at the bottom of those stairs only two houses away on 9th street for my entire childhood. I have a lot of great memories of playing on those stairs as a kid. Had my engagement pictures taken there.” I hope they can be restored.
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I used to live right at the bottom of the hill and would set on those steps for hours at a time!”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “I remember writing poetry on the steps.”
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Memory shared with Friends of the Grand Staircase “(As a child) that stair case and the grand entrance to the Administration Bldg gave me a feeling that I was so fortunate to have a small place in the history of that College. I would sing at the top of my lungs from those stair landings and those grand entrance raised sides. My imagined long dress would flow down the steps as I danced and twirled. (My future husband’s) apartment was located below the University, so he often walked the steps, and we would meet there at times while we were courting. Good memories.
Each time I moved away from LaGrande, I would go in the late evening, when it was quiet, and walk the Grand Stair Case; sitting in the moon light and feeling the breeze as I looked out at “my” town. I wish I still had the photos my father took of me on the stair case. Those memories bring back feelings of pride and a surety of my freedom to choose my education and vocation in America.”
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