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As Snohetta architects design Oregon City’s landmark Willamette Falls Riverwalk project, expectations are building for the firm to produce a design worthy of a landmark attraction.

The $60 million Riverwalk has emerged as a potentially regional 鈥� and perhaps even national 鈥� attraction for Oregon City.

Willamette Falls is the second-largest waterfall in the U.S. by volume 鈥� behind only Niagara Falls 鈥� and the involvement of Snohetta, a well-regarded Oslo, Norway-based firm known for blending landscape and buildings, has piqued interest in the project.

鈥淭hey’re not internationally known for no reason,鈥� Oregon City Commissioner Nancy Ide said. 鈥淭hey’re one of the best. We expect the best. We have high expectations of what they (will) produce.鈥�

Snohetta and a coalition of government agencies held a public meeting Nov. 17 at Clackamas Community College to allow stakeholders to weigh in on design options. The forum drew a packed house.

The Norwegian firm and design partners Mayer/Reed and Dialog are expected to return in late February 2017 with a preferred design for the Riverwalk.

A landscape architect and Snohetta partner, Michelle Delk, is leading the design team. She said she was struck by Willamette Falls on her first visit.

鈥淚t’s so moving and powerful and intriguing and mysterious all at the same time,鈥� Delk said. 鈥淵ou can see so much potential and so much natural beauty that’s already there. It makes your head spin.鈥�

Snohetta has identified six 鈥渒ey moments鈥� on the Riverwalk. Designers are looking for overlook areas or promontories and other spaces where people can be close to the water.

鈥淭he goal of this is the Riverwalk is much more than a walkway,鈥� Delk said.

Designers are looking to build several viewpoints and connections to the rest of town, likely including Clackamette Park.

鈥淭here can be many paths and many experiences that connect Willamette Falls to the larger community,鈥� Delk said. 鈥淲e hope to find opportunities to engage the falls in many different ways.鈥�

Designers want to make sure the Riverwalk works well in every season and time of day.

鈥淲e do see the design, ultimately, as one that engages the natural qualities of the site,鈥� Delk said.

Snohetta’s involvement has caught the attention of the Portland area’s architecture community. The firm is known for projects such as Norway’s national opera house in Oslo, the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion in New York City and a proposed reconstruction in Times Square. The firm has been lauded by architecture critics for groundbreaking designs.

Locally, Delk and Snohetta are also leading the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s master plan for the nonprofit’s 17-acre site in Southeast Portland. The team planning development of the James Beard Public Market has been invited to participate in OMSI’s master plan after abandoning a site at the Morrison Bridge’s west end.

Delk is personally involved in the OMSI master plan and two major Northern California projects 鈥� the expansion of the world-renowned French Laundry restaurant in Napa Valley, and a new public plaza in downtown San Francisco. She also helped design the under-construction, 240,000-square-foot central library in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

At the Willamette Falls Riverwalk, ensuring public access is emerging as a critical element. The land previously was under private ownership. The site, the former Blue Heron paper mill, is owned by Falls Legacy, a limited-liability company controlled by Tacoma, Washington, developer George Heidgerken.

Heidgerken is also looking to develop a 415-acre former mill site in Gardiner, near Reedsport, and a retired Olympia brewery facility in Tumwater, Washington.

鈥淭he most important piece is the public access,鈥� Ide said. 鈥淚t needs to be inviting. It needs to be attractive. It needs to flow.鈥�

Ground is scheduled to be broken on the Willamette Falls Riverwalk in mid-2018, said Alex Perove, Metro’s senior parks planner. A general contractor for the project is likely to be selected in early 2018, she said.

The Riverwalk project involves a long list of agencies, including Metro, the state of Oregon, Clackamas County, Oregon City and Portland General Electric, which operates the hydroelectric dam.

CH2M is working on habitat restoration for native and migratory species. Five tribes with historical ties to Willamette Falls are also consulting on the project.

For Oregon City, the project stands to be a much-needed shot in the arm. City leaders have in recent years courted developers to build on a privately-owned landfill site. A proposal to build a Cabela’s sporting goods store on the landfill fell through, and in 2014, the store was completed in Tualatin instead.

Oregon City’s landfill property remains vacant. A developer had recently expressed interest in the property, city commissioner Brian Shaw said. But voters earlier this month rejected extension of Oregon City’s urban renewal program, putting that potential project on uncertain ground.

鈥淲e’re looking at options, obviously, because we don’t want to see that thing slide away again,鈥� Shaw said. 鈥淲e’d like to be prepared for a project if it were to come to fruition on the landfill.鈥�

Oregon City was ready to offer an $18 million loan to assist the Cabela’s project, Shaw said.

The Riverwalk project gives Oregon City the chance to become nationally known as something other than the terminus of the Oregon Trail. City leaders hope it could spur redevelopment downtown. At the same time, some of the city’s 35,831 residents worry about losing what they have.

鈥淲e kind of like the small-town feel and people don’t want to lose that,鈥� Ide said, 鈥渂ut when you have a national site you need to share it, not hoard it.鈥�