The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is embarking on a second round of demolition near Willamette Falls that will bring down four buildings and open the former industrial site to views from downtown Oregon City for the first time in decades.

Elder Demolition of Portland is preparing to tackle the latest work at the ex-Blue Heron paper mill. The next building to be taken down in the upcoming phase will be highly visible: the water filtration plant that once treated fluid used in the paper milling process before discharging the effluent into the Willamette River.

“It’s a relatively large structure, so it will take around three to four weeks to take down,” said Ryan Webb, engineering and planning manager for the Grand Ronde.

The structure includes several large water basins that will require demolition.

The absence of the water filtration plant will allow better views of the falls from Oregon City and Oregon Route 99E.

The entire second phase of demolition will take seven to eight weeks, according to the tribe. The Grand Ronde has secured demolition permits from the city of Oregon City, and is working with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on remediation.

Remediation work is ongoing, Webb said. Crews in the second phase will take the structures down to the grade level but will not disturb any subsurface contaminants. Workers are still investigating the site to determine the amount of environmental remediation that will be necessary.

The demolition work will have no traffic impacts, Webb said.

“That is one of the perks of this site,” he said. “It’s a large site. There are no public streets in it. … All of the work is contained within the site.”

More demolition is likely to follow as site planners decide which buildings should be leveled, Webb said.

The Blue Heron Paper Co. ceased operations at the site in 2011. In August 2019, the Grand Ronde acquired the 23-acre property from Tacoma, Washington, developer George Heidgerken. A fire damaged some structures in December 2020; they were removed during the first round of demolition. In March, the Grand Ronde pulled out of the intergovernmental Willamette Falls Legacy Trust process, saying other tribes and local governments were needlessly slowing the project.

Now the tribe is preparing the site for future development, with public access and some commercial space planned. Walker Macy and GBD Architects are engaged on the project.

“We’re just always excited to keep cleaning this site up,” Webb said.

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