ANTIQUES’ ROAD LEADS HERE

Time to clean out your attics, Lane County residents.

“Antiques Roadshow,” the wildly popular PBS program, is coming to Eugene for the first time ever, five months from today.

The June 4 appearance, which PBS will tape for the show’s 16th season to premiere in January 2012, will almost certainly be at the Lane Events Center, home of the county fairgrounds. That’s because the Boston-based show needs at least 80,000 square feet of space to do its thing, and that’s the only place in Eugene with that kind of indoor floor space.

“Apparently, you have that (kind of space) there,” program spokeswoman Judy Matthews said. “Otherwise, we’ll be very embarrassed when we show up.”

For a comparison, the Hilton Eugene has a maximum of 35,000 square feet, general manager Jody Hall said. “It’s going to have to be at the fairgrounds,” Hall said.

A spokeswoman at the Lane Events Center said Monday that she could not confirm that the show would be taped there.

The program will negotiate with venue sites in six summer tour cities and announce the venues on March 7, Matthews said. The summer tour kicks off with the Eugene appearance, then moves to El Paso, Texas, on June 18, Minneapolis on July 9, Tulsa, Okla., on July 23, Atlanta on Aug. 6 and Pittsburgh on Aug. 13.

This will be the show’s third trip to Oregon, after stops in Portland in 1999 and 2005. The show’s 15th season aired its first episode on PBS Monday night.

Asked why Eugene, Matthews said, “Why not Eugene? We try to go to as many new places as we can.”

Getting yourself — and your heirloom — onto the show is no slam-dunk, however. About 3,000 people will have a chance to get two free tickets for the show’s taping for a crowd of 6,000, Matthews said. Ticket applications can be made online at www.pbs.org/antiques. The deadline is April 18 and tickets will be awarded by random drawing.

Based on the original BBC documentary series that began in 1977, the American version launched in 1997. Produced by WGBH-TV in Boston, it’s a cult favorite and PBS’s highest-rated show with 10 million viewers per episode. The show looks for local folks to bring their family heirlooms for expert appraisers from the nation’s leading auction houses, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, to tell them what they’re worth.

But it’s really the stories that make the show, said Shelley Maynard, owner of Pewter Rabbit Antiques in Eugene.

“If something got passed down, that’s not such a big deal,” Maynard said. “But if it got passed down and your dog’s been sleeping on it, that’s a story.”

And, of course, appraisers telling someone that they’ve been living with an “unexpected treasure” also makes for good TV, Maynard said.

For those who hope to have their antiques appraised on the show, Matthews suggests getting a copy of the book “Antiques Roadshow Behind the Scenes,” written by the show’s executive producer, Marsha Bemko, for tips.

“We really encourage people to bring objects they’re curious about,” Matthews said. “Because you never know what something’s going to be worth.”

People have things in their attics and basements and just sitting around their homes that have been passed down through generations, not realizing they might have something valuable, she said.

During a typical taping, 70 to 80 appraisers will go through more than 10,000 items, but only about 80 will be taped for the episode, and only about 50 will actually end up in the episode, Matthews said.

Also, the show looks to put 10 or 12 large pieces of antique furniture on the show to appraise and display on the set. You must live within 50 miles of Eugene to qualify. The show will pick up your furniture, transport it to the set, and return it afterward, Matthews said. Details are on the show’s website.

“That’s one more way of getting yourself onto (the show),” Matthews said.