PSU Magazine Spring 2000

the job," and then he adds with a chuckle, "well, maybe it had some– thing to do with being an alum... " Kemper is excited about preserving as much of the original beauty of the Benson House as pos ible. He is confi– dent that most of the wood floors can be salvaged. "They u ed one-inch– thick lumber then, so we can sand them down and refinish them." The elegant pocket doors, which were simply covered over when the hou e was turned into apartments, are also in good shape and just need refinishing. The fireplace in the front parlor will be restored to its original condi– tion, but the fireplace in the old kitchen had been painted over and there are no pictures to show how it once looked. "Kitchen fireplaces were used for both cooking and heating back then, so it will be restored to what was typical for that era," he says. Then there is the handsome cherry wood wainscoting in one room on the main floor. Kemper was concerned that installing electrical outlets might damage the wood, no matter how carefully cutouts were made. "If it was accidentally damaged, there' no way we could match it." So the outlets will be set in the floor instead. r-rhat's ju t the kind of guy Kemper 1 ·;s. If you bring him a problem, typically he'll push his hard hat back on his forehead, think for a moment, and then say, "Sure, we can work something out." And typically, he does. In fact, Kemper has been much more than a construction supervi or on the Benson job. In addition to drumming up in-kind donations, he's also been a one-person public relations agency, answering que tions from as many as 50 people a day who stop to look at the house, playing tour guide for TV and newspaper reporters. And he's met weekly with with "Handy Randy" Querin whose home improve– ment show on KOIN-TV will follow the progress of the Ben on House. W ord that Kemper was leaving came as a shock to everyone working on the Benson House project. "I don't like walking away from anything," Kemper says, "but real opportunities only come along once or twice in a lifetime." He recently accepted one of those opportunities with another con truction company and, as a family man with three young– sters still at home, he couldn't afford to say no. So Dave Kemper put in his last day on the Ben on House job on Friday, March 3, when the historic home was lowered onto its new foundation. But he'll be back. "I love that house," he say . "I'll be checking on her. I want to see how she turns out." D (Joan Johnson '78, a Portland freelance writer, is director of development for Friends of the Simon Benson House. She can be reached at 725-8209.) (Photographs are by Brent Schauer, PSU multimedia specialist, and house rendering is by Craig Holmes.)