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And perhaps the most asked question by visitors to the Rowena Riviera... "What is that round building?" A thousand times over the years, someone has remarked, "It looks like a spaceship!" Well for those of you who have never seen a spaceship, here is actual film footage of one that landed at Rowena Shores this past summer.
In reality, the structure was built from the steel forms which were used to pour the concrete housings for the turbines on The Dalles Dam. The former owner, Bill Vandervalk, who owned the property until 1986, was, and still is, the master of salvage purchasing. After the dam was built, Bill bought these steel forms for scrap, brought them to Rowena on a truck, welded the pieces together, put a silo roof on it and the "round building" was born! Today this unique steel structure serves as a workshop, housing all the tools and machinery necessary to maintain this park-like setting. It also serves as a landmark on the river for windsurfers and boaters alike. We are quite certain there is not another building quite like it anywhere in the world.
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