Built in the late 1970s, the Visitor Center contains many historical
photos, geological samples, turbine and dam models, and a theater. The
building was designed by
Marcel Breuer and resembles a generator rotor.
[90] Since
May 1989, on summer evenings, the
laser light show at Grand Coulee Dam is projected onto the dam's wall. The show includes full-size images of battleships and the
Statue of Liberty, as well as some environmental comments.
[91]
Tours of the Third Powerplant are available to the public and last
about an hour. Visitors take a shuttle to view the generators and also
travel across the main dam span (otherwise closed to the public) as the
formerly used glass elevator is indefinitely out of service.
[92][93]
Woodie Guthrie Connection
Video: Guthrie wrote songs for
The Columbia about the
Columbia River in 1941 but the film wasn't released until 1949. Playing time 21:10.
Folk singer Woodie Guthrie wrote some of his most famous songs while
working in the area in the 1940s. 1941 after a brief stay in Los
Angeles, Guthrie and his family moved north to Oregon on the promise of a
job.
Gunther von Fritsch was directing a documentary about the
Bonneville Power Administration's construction of the Grand Coulee Dam on the
Columbia River,
and needed a narrator. Alan Lomax had recommended Guthrie to narrate
the film and sing songs onscreen. The original project was expected to
take 12 months, but as filmmakers became worried about casting a
political figure like Guthrie, they minimized his role. The
Department of the Interior hired him for one month to write songs about the
Columbia River
and the construction of the federal dams for the documentary's
soundtrack. Guthrie toured the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest.
Guthrie said he "couldn't believe it, it's a paradise",
[94] which appeared to inspire him creatively. In one month Guthrie wrote 26 songs, including three of his most famous: "
Roll On, Columbia, Roll On", "
Pastures of Plenty", and "
Grand Coulee Dam".
[95] The surviving songs were released as
Columbia River Songs. The film
Columbia River;" was completed in 1949 and featured Guthrie's music.
[96] Guthrie had been commissioned in 1941 to provide songs for the project, but it had been postponed by WWII.
[97]
See also
No comments:
Post a Comment