Printery Foundation holds dance, open house
Dance and garden party held Friday night in the parking lot of the printery building
– The Printery Foundation held a dance and a two-day Open House at the 100-year-old Printery Building in Atascadero over the weekend. E.G. Lewis built the Printery in his Atascadero utopian community in the early 1900s. It was the first large building that was constructed. The printing operation provided jobs and generated revenue for the community.
Jackie Robinson sign and Red Heesch, a retired printer and professor at Cal Poly, demonstrated equipment he has collected for the printing museum which will go inside the printery building.
Over the years, the printery had a lot of uses. An indoor pool provided Atascadero residents a place to cool off on hot days. The city used the building for many purposes. Among those to work was baseball legend Jackie Robinson who worked in the Atascadero recreation department in 1941.
Karen McNamara and the Printery Foundation are working to raise enough money to restore the building, which has several large rooms that could accommodate large gatherings and performing arts productions.
Guest Greg Ravatt admires equipment while his dog Moonshine rests.
A dance and garden party were held Friday night in the parking lot of the printery. The open house from 11-4 Saturday and Sunday included food and beverages. Because of earthquake restrictions, people may not tour the inside of the printery, but when seismic retrofitting is completed the building can be used for fundraising and performing arts events. The cost of the seismic retrofit is about $1.5 million, which is a fraction of the $12 million spent to restore the Atascadero Rotunda after the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake.
During the open house, Red Heesch, a retired printer and professor at Cal Poly, demonstrated equipment he has collected for the printing museum which will go inside the printery building. The foundation also displayed old magazines which were printed there, including old Atascadero News newspapers produced in 1917.
For more information go to https://atascaderoprintery.org/
