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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Jackson County voters boost RCC levy to win ... Charter winning justice of the peace race ... Jackson County assessor race will go to November run-off ... Jackson County voters boost RCC levy to win ... Charter winning justice of the peace race ... Jackson County assessor race will go to November run-off ... REGIONAL NEWS AP: Museum seeks to keep portion of historic K-Falls building Comment By HOLLY DILLEMUTH, Herald and News MailTribune.com By HOLLY DILLEMUTH, Herald and News Posted May. 10, 2016 at 8:21 AM Updated May 10, 2016 at 8:23 AM By HOLLY DILLEMUTH, Herald and News Posted May. 10, 2016 at 8:21 AM Updated May 10, 2016 at 8:23 AM » Social News KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — At least one Egyptian figurine from a historic building in downtown Klamath Falls may escape the rubble pile as the Klamath County Museum looks into salvaging a portion of a remaining concrete column before demolition is complete. Museum Manager Todd Kepple and museum volunteer consultants walked the grounds of the Balsiger building Monday afternoon with city and contracting crews, floating the possibility of salvaging a 30,000- to 40,000-pound portion of the building with an Egyptian on the front. The architecture is known as Egyptian revival. "We're trying to salvage one of the figurines — an attempt is being made to preserve one for the museum," said Scott Souders, city engineer for Klamath Falls. The goal is to bring the Egyptian to the museum: "We'd put it somewhere outside our building," Kepple said. Souders said he and Joe Wall, assistant to the city manager, have been trying to find opportunities to salvage whatever possible from the structure. Souders said the workers at Anderson Environmental Contracting will try to conduct demolition in a way that they can save the Egyptian figurine, and at no additional cost to the city. Details were not available as to how this would be done. "No guarantees, but he's going to do his best," Souders said of the crew member in charge. Kepple admitted he feels mixed emotions as the building comes down. "I had always hoped that a portion of the building could be left standing," Kepple said. Kepple believes it a "tragedy" the entire building could not be preserved, and that the museum would be doing a service if everything goes as planned. But as he got up close to pieces of exposed concrete, he gained new perspective into the state of the Balsiger. "Now that I've seen the condition of the concrete, I can see now that it would have been an enormously difficult prospect to save any part of this building," Kepple said. Upon inspection, Kepple said the pillars which include the Egyptian figures did not contain much reinforcement from steel as one would have expected. "Trying to size up the condition of the building by looking at a building from the outside is like judging a book by its cover," he said. "Our job is to preserve a piece of it in order to help maintain the memory of all of the things that happened on that site." Kepple is unsure of a timeline or even if the Egyptian can be salvaged, but he is certain everyone involved with take caution in the process. "This is going to be a day-by-day thing," Kepple said. "Considering the circumstances of how upsetting this has been for people," Kepple added, "I really do have to give the city and their contractors a lot of credit for going above and beyond . this will be called a cultural salvage." Demolition continues throughout the week. By HOLLY DILLEMUTH, Herald and News MailTribune.com By HOLLY DILLEMUTH, Herald and News Posted May. 10, 2016 at 8:21 AM Updated May 10, 2016 at 8:23 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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