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A new document and video outline goals of a public planning effort geared to encourage redevelopment of the former Blue Heron Paper Co. site in Oregon City.

The 76-page Willamette Falls Legacy Project vision document details ways to reconnect the 22-acre site – vacant since the Blue Heron Paper Co. closed in 2011 – to downtown Oregon City and repurpose abandoned industrial buildings. Another goal of the project is to provide public access through the site to nearby Willamette Falls for the first time in decades.

The Legacy Project team, a partnership between the city of Oregon City, Clackamas County, Metro and the state of Oregon, also released a short video () outlining the redevelopment effort.

The vision document and video accompany a zone change proposal and master plan developed by Portland-based Walker Macy. Public hearings will take place in September and October before the plan goes before the Oregon City Planning Commission and City Council for approval.

The Metro Council also recently approved plans to construct the estimated $30 million Willamette Falls Riverwalk. The path for pedestrians and bicyclists along the Willamette River through the site would provide views of Willamette Falls – the largest waterfall in the Pacific Northwest by volume.

Metro officials are set to next seek an easement to pave the way for a public path in cooperation with the site’s owner, Tacoma, Wash.-based developer George Heidgerken.