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Photo by Jim Craven Dana Hight, left, and Derek DeBoer plan to make the Old Ashland Armory part of the Southern Oregon music scene once more. The power is on: Music returns to Ashland Armory By BILL VARBLE ASHLAND -- Dana Hight and Derek DeBoer look more like rock fans than promoters. But the Ashland men, both 24, are turning the Old Ashland Armory into what they hope will be a star of the Southern Oregon music scene. "We want people to know the Armory is back," Hight says. The men's plan is for Hight's company, Hight Productions, to present pop concerts in the historic building at 208 Oak St., working with Valley Investments, a company owned by Alan DeBoer, Derek's father. Others in the community will be able to rent the venue for shows and put them on with help from Hight Productions. Alan DeBoer's company bought the building for $595,000 last June through a lienholder's attorney. Derek DeBoer says the company has pumped $200,000 into the project since then. A $75,000 sound system that cranks out 18,000 watts of power is going in. On the drawing board are a nightclub-type dance hall, a professional lighting system, local band nights and major renovations including a possible expansion of the building's balcony. The building has been soundproofed, the roof insulated and heavy steel doors installed. A new heating and air conditioning system is going in, as is a sprinkler system. DeBoer says the final price tag could hit $1 million. "It's going to be first class with a season with a show set for 8 p.m. Saturday. The Armory's hall has been a music venue before. In the middle 1990s, Melody Bynum of Ashland presented concerts in what was then called The Buffalo Music Hall. Bynum leased space from then-owner Lance Pugh, also of Ashland, and booked rock, pop, blues and folk acts such as Michael Hedges, Norton Buffalo, Leon Russell, Patti Larkin, Burning Spear and Bela Fleck. Bynum gave up on the Buffalo in the fall of 1996 because of uncertainty over the building's future and the expense of insurance for events with alcoholic beverages. But DeBoer and Hight figure there are reasons they may be able to turn the old building around. They have that monster sound system. They've soundproofed the building. They've made arrangements to share parking with Cantwell's Market across the parking lot. They've even talked to neighbors about such concerns as traffic and noise, and decided that all shows will end by 11 p.m. "You have to cater to the neighbors first," Hight says. Jane Hibbert, who with her husband, Jim, operates the nearby Oak Street Cottages, condo-style tourist accommodations, says DeBoer and Hight have talked with her and other neighbors quite a bit about their plans. "We've been quite impressed with the way they've communicated with the neighborhood," she says. "We had some problems in the past with noise and people trampling the yard. We care about the neighborhood." Finally there's Hight Productions' rental system. There are three packages available to users, ranging from $1,300 to $1,800 a night, with different levels of services, all of which include some oversight by Hight productions, including security. The more experienced a promoter is, the less service he has to buy. DeBoer, who also works in his father's car business, says the Armory is his main project. "I see a million reasons it should work," he says. Hight says his company won't hire bands it can't afford, hoping to pay them out of ticket receipts -- a trap some presenters fall into. "It's built to make Alan money to keep the building," he says. "If we can make it work and get some kind of profit coming through, it'll stay." Plans are for the building to keep several tenants that rent office space such as a Southern Oregon Historical Society office. Hight already has the Old Ashland Armory registered in Pollstar, a magazine for promoters and agents and venues all over the world. Hight grew up in Colorado and lived in Mount Shasta, Calif., for 10 years. Despite his youth, he presented concerts there, in Chico and at other California and Northwest sites for several years. As a band manager, he took Flipwreck, a Mount Shasta punk band, from being a local band to a touring act with two CDs. DeBoer says he was getting a lot of phone calls from promoters but felt Hight was the right fit. "Dana had a strong package," he says. "I talked to bands that have worked with him. He pays everybody, and his shows go well." The Armory has no beer and wine license for its upcoming shows but may in the future. "We're just trying to get the feel now," DeBoer says. Ashland businessman Lance Pugh and a partner, Tim Cusick, bought the building for $195,000 in 1986 with plans to invest $2 million to convert it into a performing arts facility. They gained and then lost a $500,000 state grant in 1991 when efforts to raise local matching funds came up short. Cusick later moved to Portland. In early 1997, a group of musicians and artists who wanted to turn the Armory into an arts center called The Globe Center put on a four-day music event. Upcoming shows at the Armory include Justin Hinds and the Dominos (with Ashland-based Fifth Business opening) April 3, and Unwritten Law, a San Diego rock band, April 5. It will continue to be known as the Old -- or maybe Historic -- Ashland Armory. California rockers Clan Dyken kick off the spring. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA