The start of a long-planned project to create public access to Willamette Falls has been delayed as stakeholders go back to the drawing board to explore routing visitors along the river instead of through the former Blue Heron paper mill site.

The Willamette Falls Legacy Project – a collaboration of stakeholders including Metro, the city of Oregon City, Clackamas County and the state of Oregon – announced Thursday it is working with the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, which purchased the mill site last year, to consider design alternatives for the riverwalk.

A yearslong design process led by acclaimed Norwegian firm Snohetta, and including Mayer/Reed and Canadian firm DIALOG, resulted in concept plans for a riverwalk passing through the shuttered mill site, with some of the former industrial buildings being transformed and incorporated into the design.

Now, according to the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, a ground-breaking event anticipated for this year has been put on hold pending exploration of design alternatives. Project partners began working this past summer to refine plans after cost estimates revealed that available funding would be insufficient to cover the scope of work.

Legacy Project staff began working last year with design and engineering firm Otak Inc. and contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis to rein in the project cost. Snohetta projected that its designs would cost $12.6 million to build, but estimates last year by Otak and Lease Crutcher Lewis pegged the price tag at between $17 million and $33 million. The project’s budget is $12.5 million.

The Grande Ronde purchased the site while potential costs were being researched and subsequently requested that the possibility of a riverside path be explored. The cost of such an amenity is still being evaluated, and the project partners will consider additional funding options if that cost is higher than proposed originally.

The riverwalk is the first phase of a larger project estimated to cost $150 million over 20 years.

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Two projects in the Portland-metro area – the proposed Willamette Falls Riverwalk and the completed Yard – received honor awards recently from the American Society of Landscape Architects as part of the .

The Willamette Falls Riverwalk in Oregon City was one of four projects to receive an honor award in the analysis and planning category. The Interstate 25 Conservation Corridor Master Plan in Douglas County, Colorado, received the category’s award of excellence.

The Riverwalk, designed by Snohetta, is the anticipated first phase of a plan to remake Oregon City’s frontage of Willamette Falls. The waterfall, blocked for decades by a paper mill, is considered a potential tourist attraction.

“Here we see the combining of public access, habitat, historic and cultural interpretation, and economic development in a project that’s very tangible in terms of its potential to being implemented,” the awards jury wrote.

Snohetta is an international design firm with headquarters in Oslo, Norway, and U.S. operations based in New York City. The design firm’s client is Metro and a coalition of government agencies. The landscape architects are Mayer/Reed and Dialog Design.

Yard, a 21-story mixed-use building with a landscaped podium at the east end of the Burnside Bridge, was one of two projects to receive an honor award in the residential design category. 2.ink Studio was the landscape architect for Yard. The Balcones Residence in Austin, Texas, received the category’s award of excellence.

Yard “sets itself apart from a competitive marketplace, and the market has responded positively to it,” the awards jury wrote.

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Developer George Heidgerken and a coalition of government partners may have broken an impasse that has stalled the Willamette Falls Legacy Project for months.

Heidgerken has signed multiple permit applications that may allow the project’s initial phase to proceed into permitting, the government partners announced, saying they are “cautiously optimistic.”

“Falls Legacy has signed permits, and we’re very appreciative,” said Laura Terway, Oregon City‘s community development director.

The project has been stuck since September, when the government partners said Heidgerken, who purchased the property in 2014, would neither sign permit applications nor submit various payments of more than $200,000 to allow the project to go forward.

Heidgerken said Wednesday he’s signed permit applications for phase one, which would allow public viewing of the massive Oregon City waterfall.

“We’ve agreed with Metro that there’s certain things we’ll let them do, and it’s called phase one,” he said. “My understanding of phase one is it gets the public access to the falls.”

The government partners are ready to apply for permits and will do so as soon as Heidgerken comes through with various payments, including tax and utility bills, that total about $280,000, Terway said.

“A strong public-private partnership requires trust, and because being a good steward of public money is a top priority, the project partners group asked the staff to wait on permit applications until after Falls Legacy follows through on their commitment to make payments to the project this spring,” she said.

Heidgerken, a Tacoma, Washington-based developer, acquired the site, the former Blue Heron paper mill, in 2014 after it had sat unused for years. He soon agreed to an easement with the government partners to construct a walkway.

Metro, along with Oregon City, Clackamas County and the state of Oregon, last year unveiled an ambitious site design by Snohetta, a major international design firm based in Oslo, Norway. Heidgerken objected, saying Metro and the other government partners were trying to elbow him out of the project. Instead of a mixed-use area with a hotel, multifamily housing and restaurants, the Metro-led design process had essentially resulted in a park, he said.

“Metro is really good at one thing – building parks,” Heidgerken said. “I don’t think the city, the people that live there, are so interested in a 25-acre park. We want jobs. We want a park. We want to support tourism, and anyone who wants to put a business there. … That project is no good unless we have apartments, condos, people – and that means breweries, a pizza parlor.”

The government partners offered this past fall to buy the site from Heidgerken, but he declined to sell. He also refused to sign the permit applications, saying they were overly broad and would essentially allow Metro to do whatever it wanted without his input.

Metro officials have said they designed the public portions of the project, and left Heidgerken to design the remaining areas. One of the core principles of the project’s master plan is economic redevelopment. Zoning at the site was changed in 2014 from industrial to mixed-use, allowing for a range of development options.

But first comes the public walkway, known as the Riverwalk.

“This plan is for the Riverwalk portion,” Terway said. “We do see it as being very catalytic for the economic redevelopment of the private side.”

Heidgerken said he’s willing to play ball as long as Metro and its partners don’t interfere with his plans for the site.

“I’m prepared to sign whatever fits that project with Metro as long as it fits the realm of whatever’s best for the project, best for Metro and best for me,” he said.

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OMSI’s request for qualifications (PDF)

The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is soliciting a proposal for a densely built 18-acre campus, with flexibility to shift with changing market conditions and transportation technology.

OMSI has issued a request for qualifications for a master developer or team to lead redevelopment of the museum’s property along the Willamette River in Southeast Portland. Responses are due by 5 p.m. on Feb. 28.

OMSI worked with design firm Snohetta and the city of Portland to craft the master plan. The campus includes 11 acres of developable land with capacity for up to 1.7 million square feet of buildable space.

The museum’s RFQ comes as developers are scrambling for available space in central Portland. Strong demand for residential, office and industrial uses has pushed land prices higher, particularly in close-in locations like OMSI’s.

“This is a big opportunity,” OMSI President Nancy Steuber said. “It’s an amazing site. Just from the reaction we’ve seen, we expect to attract interest from near and far.”

Several other large, master-planned development projects are in development, including Zidell Yards in the South Waterfront District, the Broadway Corridor in Northwest Portland and The Waterfront in Vancouver, Washington.

OMSI can take advantage of a “bookend” relationship with Zidell Yards, said Carol Gossett, the museum’s property development manager.

“OMSI has some very unique features at this site, being next to one of the transit hubs of the city, having a quarter-mile of waterfront, being in the central core,” Steuber added. “Most importantly, OMSI’s here. So we are already seeing a million people a year that we serve.”

The property includes seven developable parcels ranging from 0.69 acres to 4.49 acres. Maximum building heights vary from 80 feet to 250 feet. The property will be rezoned as Central Employment (EX) with a design overlay, according to the Central City 2035 plan, giving it flexibility for a range of uses. OMSI’s pitch to developers gives broad guidelines, but officials said they wanted to remain flexible to see how developers respond.

“We anticipate that a developer would come in with a mix of uses across the site,” Steuber said. “It would be market-driven.”

OMSI is making the parcels available for ground leases, not for sale. Museum officials are counting on the ongoing lease revenue to be a “revenue generator to support OMSI’s mission,” Steuber said. The revenue would create a “quasi-endowment” to support OMSI’s educational mission.

OMSI’s RFQ asks for “distinctive design” with activated ground-floor spaces and ample public gathering places. Developers’ proposals should “strive for maximum density” in accordance with the master plan and include “market-driven uses such as office, commercial, hotel, retail, entertainment and residential uses.”

The master plan assumes 1,936 parking spaces would be created on the OMSI campus, but the eventual amount will be driven by city requirements and market analysis.

As part of the master plan, OMSI envisions a realignment of Water Avenue to the east and conversion of a portion of the old avenue into an internal street on the OMSI campus.

OMSI officials have had discussions with a number of groups that have expressed interest in space on the campus, including the proposed Portland River Center and James Beard Public Market. But OMSI officials have consistently said they’ve made no promises, and want to work with a developer first.

“We’ve committed to nothing,” OMSI spokesman John Farmer said. “We want to be thoughtful and deliberate in our process and how we do this.”

An informational pre-proposal meeting for developers will take place Tuesday at 1 p.m. at OMSI. Officials plan to host presentations by short-listed respondents during the first week of April. A development partner would be approved on April 13. A nonbinding memorandum of agreement would follow around midyear. Transactions may be phased over many years, according to OMSI.

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Metro is moving toward approving a master plan for the Willamette Falls Riverwalk, even as the agency and its partners remain at an impasse with the landowner who controls the site.

The Riverwalk is intended to spur further development at the site overlooking the nation’s second-largest waterfall by volume.

The Metro Council heard an update on the master plan Nov. 21. The council agreed to release the plan for public comment.

Metro, along with Clackamas County, Oregon City and the state of Oregon, has identified $19 million to pay for the first phase of development at Willamette Falls. That includes $12.5 million in state lottery bonds allotted by the Legislature, $5 million in Metro bonds, $1.5 million in city, county and landowner contributions and approximately $8 million in private money expected to be raised by 2022.

In the master plan released by Metro, the partner agencies make it a priority to establish a public viewing area for the falls as soon as possible. Snohetta, a design firm based in Oslo, Norway, led the design process.

Access to the site from U.S. Route 99E remains in question. Alex Gilbertson, Metro’s senior parks planner, said the project agencies want to get a design-build firm under contract before determining the best way to provide access to the falls from the highway.

The government agencies and property owner George Heidgerken have offered different visions for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project. Heidgerken complained Metro and partner agencies want to build “a park” at the site. Heidgerken, a Tacoma-based developer who purchased the ex-Blue Heron paper mill site in 2014, said he’s interested in building a hotel, condos, restaurants and other amenities.

Heidgerken agreed to an easement with the government representatives in December 2014. A dispute arose earlier this year, and the government agencies went public with a letter on Sept. 22, 2017, saying Heidgerken would not sign an application for permits from the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needed to move the project forward. Heidgerken also has not submitted a $200,000 payment that was due in January.

Heidgerken said he was in active discussions with Metro to resolve the impasse.

“Metro has gone way overboard,” he said. “They don’t have the authority they think they do in designing what they want.”

Heidgerken said he was optimistic the two sides would reach an agreement. “We’re at a crossroads with Metro right now, but I think we’ll get that straightened out,” he said.

Brian Moore, Metro’s project manager for Willamette Falls, said he could not discuss the ongoing real-estate negotiation with Heidgerken.

“The partners are very committed to moving the project forward and excited about the future,” Moore said.

Metro Council President Tom Hughes said the council had had no recent updates on the negotiations.

“We hope they have that worked out soon,” he said.

Heidgerken owns the entire 22-acre site, except for Portland General Electric’s dam. PGE has provided the agencies an easement for the Riverwalk across the top of the dam.

Heidgerken said Willamette Falls could be a special project.

“These projects, if you do them right, they can be real winners,” he said. “And if you don’t, you wish you’d never seen them.”

The master plan is expected to be adopted at a Jan. 4, 2018 Metro Council meeting, and by the City Council of Oregon City shortly thereafter.

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The Portland Design Commission on Thursday got its first look at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s master plan for development around its Southeast Portland campus, and overall was encouraged by progress being made.

“I have great confidence in this team and its work,” Commissioner David Wark said.

The plan, featuring work by international design firm Snohetta, will govern use of seven developable parcels that sit north of the �վ�������ܳ�������Dz������Բ�‘s eastern bridgehead. The parcels range in size from 0.69 acres to 4.49 acres.

While the master plan won’t dictate what structures will be built or what they will look like, it will provide guidance coming out of what OMSI‘s development team envisions for the site.

“While about 11 acres is relevant,” Snohetta partner and landscape architect Michelle Delk said, “once we look at waterfronts, freeway connectivity offerings, other improved public spaces and outdoor spaces, we are really looking at development on about 50 percent of the property.”

The nonprofit intends to lease the parcels to developers. Structures on the campus would likely house a mixture of small retail and light industrial businesses, Delk said.

“This is not a plan that is intended to be specific about the types of uses,” she said.

The plan calls for active ground-floor uses, underground parking and walkways to provide pedestrians access to the Willamette River.

Commissioners feared that the layout of the plots could lead to a development pattern that creates a wall of buildings separating the campus from the city’s east side.

“Basically this development has turned its back on the east side,” Commissioner Tad Savinar said. “I keep looking for a way to invite the whole east side onto your site.”

The commission also warned the team not to overpromise public amenities.

“What has happened is someone comes in with a giant plan that has all kinds of amenities, and we say, ‘Go, team, go,” Savinar said. “We kind of look the other way on some other things a little bit and then the project comes in for the second DAR or design review, and public amenities are completely watered down and we have already given go-ahead on other things and we are stuck. We are not going to be stuck anymore. Anything you show us as a public amenity, we want to see it.”

The design team also was warned to make sure the photos in presentations matched their descriptions of uses for the site.

“That image looks like they could have a Gap (clothing store), and that is not what we have been talking about,” Commissioner Don Vallaster said.

OMSI hopes to bring a more complete plan before the commission in early 2018.

Also on Thursday:

5036 N.E. Sandy Blvd.

The Portland Design Commission denied an appeal of approval given for a six-story, 64-foot-tall mixed-use building on Northeast Sandy Boulevard by a 4-0 vote. Vallaster and Wark didn’t vote because they weren’t present at the original hearing. Commissioner Andrew Clarke wasn’t present Thursday.

Resident Laurie Skokan claimed that the building designed by TVA Architects would be too tall to fit in the neighborhood. Her appeal also claimed Everett Custom Homes’ development lacked parking.

South Waterfront greenway

The Zidells‘ proposed greenway that would become part of the 2004 greenway development plan was presented to the Design Commission. As designed by Place Studio, the greenway would stretch from Heritage Park to the Marquam Bridge.

Thursday’s discussions focused on the slipway and a proposed pedestrian bridge. The proposal calls for providing primary public access to the river, including a bridge across the slipway and two docks.

The commission’s key concern revolved around circulation of pedestrians and bicyclists through the site. Project developers plan to bring the project for another design advice hearing early next year with hopes of getting a full design review and approval by March.

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Government agencies backing the Willamette Falls Legacy Project are pressuring property owner George Heidgerken to allow the Riverwalk portion to go forward.

Heidgerken has refused to sign permit applications needed for the project to proceed. He has also declined to make a $200,000 payment that was due in January, according to both sides.

Heidgerken said Metro, which has taken a leadership role in the project, has come forward with park-like designs. Heidgerken has different ideas, proposing a hotel, restaurants, apartments and condos.

“We’re at odds only from the standpoint of they don’t listen to us,” Heidgerken said in an interview Tuesday.

The government agencies publicly released a Sept. 22 letter to Heidgerken detailing the impasse.
The disagreement is already delaying the high-stakes Willamette Falls Legacy Project, and risking its $5 million in state funding.

The $60 million project aims to turn the waterfall – the second-largest by volume in the U.S. – into a destination for locals and visitors and a landmark attraction for Oregon City. For decades, the falls have been blocked by industrial development. Heidgerken, a Tacoma, Washington-based developer, purchased the former Blue Heron paper mill property at a bankruptcy auction.

Metro has joined with Oregon City, Clackamas County and the state to build the project. The partner agencies brought in Snohetta, a major international architecture firm based in Oslo, Norway, to design the Riverwalk.

Heidgerken donated an easement to pave the way for the Riverwalk. He said Metro and the other government agencies have not incorporated his plans for private development into their designs.

“We’re not going to let them cut us out and where we’re going with all of our plans,” Heidgerken said. “They totally ignored us. Being ignored, I took offense to it, because I spent $2.5 million buying it.”

A Metro official said he was perplexed at the impasse. Brian Moore, Metro’s project manager for the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, said the agencies have tried to accommodate Heidgerken’s plans and have repeatedly presented him with updated designs.

“He has identified some concerns with the alignment of the Riverwalk, which we changed in order to accommodate his concerns,” Moore said.

The easement requires Heidgerken to sign off on the designs before work can proceed. Metro is preparing to apply for permits needed from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other regulators.

Metro’s designs don’t include Heidgerken’s planned developments, Moore said, because it’s not Metro’s job to design his projects. The agency also provided Heidgerken with a $500,000 grant to commission his own design work.

“It’s not our role as public agencies to design his private development,” Moore said. “We did the best we could to design the Riverwalk and provide him flexibility in the future.”

The design advanced by Metro and its partners does not preclude a future hotel or other development, Moore said.

“We offered an agreement to George that would have allowed him to build a hotel or apartment buildings or anything else on or near the Riverwalk whenever he’s ready to build that,” Moore said. “He rejected that.”

If the two sides can’t come to an agreement, the matter may end up in court. The agencies’ letter to Heidgerken says “we are considering all of our options for responsibly moving the project forward,” and asks Heidgerken to “fulfill your obligation” to sign permit applications.

The partner agencies share a commitment to move forward, said Tony Konkol, city manager of Oregon City.

“The partners have been in this together the whole time,” he said. “We speak with one voice.”

Heidgerken made an initial payment to Metro and its partner agencies, but has not made a second $200,000 installment that was due in January.

Heidgerken said he still has hopes for a resolution to the impasse.

“It’s hard to be the player in the pack that says no,” he said. “We’re not saying no to nothing – not at all. All we’re doing is addressing our concerns on that project, because it’s a major project. What we do will affect what goes on there for a long time.”

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One of the Portland-metro area’s natural gems, Willamette Falls, currently sits hidden behind a series of crumbling industrial buildings. Plans to change that got their biggest boost to date when  officials on Wednesday unveiled designs for a $60 million revitalization.

“We really recognized that we needed to approach this carefully,” said Michelle Delk, partner and discipline director for landscape architecture ������Snohetta.

Snohetta, the project’s lead designer, consulted with Mayer/Reed in creating the designs. The media got a first look during a tour of the site.

Citizens will be able to see renderings in person and project officials will answer questions during on Saturday, beginning at 1:30 and 3 p.m. at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, 1945 S.E. Water Ave. in Portland. Admission to the event will be free.

“Ultimately, we envision a future hotel and a corporate headquarters down there,” Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette said. “It’s a continuation of (Oregon City‘s) downtown main street. There could be possible housing and condos.”

The first phase, expected to cost approximately $20 million, will include construction of a walkway extending from downtown Oregon City to Willamette Falls. Also, an old boiler plant and several industrial buildings will be improved to allow public access.

“The primary goal is to provide a beautiful visual of the falls,” Collette said.

Snohetta oversaw efforts to merge the views of all stakeholders into a coherent design.

“I think the first time we set foot on the site, we were fascinated by the complexity and the almost overwhelming nature of the site,” Delk said. “There is so much there today. There is a really layered landscape that embodies the rich history of the place.”

One of the technical challenges of the site is that many of the structures sit underground. Everything from cement to train trestles have been buried and built upon over the years. The design is intended to turn those challenges into assets, Delk said.

“We immediately realized we needed to be patient,” she said. “We could not assume you could understand it at first glance.

“It’s really three-dimensional. It’s about what is underneath and what’s up above. You can go up and down and explore all kinds of spaces.”

Accomplishing that without destruction of existing structures was a particular concern for area stakeholders.

“We want to peel back the exterior walls and keep the structures,” Collette said. “We want to have a see-through building (with an elevator) that you can ride up to the rooftop.”

Designs also call for a visitor’s center and information kiosks throughout the site to provide historical tidbits.

In North America, Willamette Falls trails only Niagara Falls in volume of water that runs over its rocky drop. But awareness of the Pacific Northwest gem has been limited.

“People in Oregon City didn’t know it was there,” Collette said. “We see this as a catalyst for our city.”

Willamette Falls for more than a century provided an economic boost to the surrounding area. Native Americans fished the falls and traded with others in the area. Later, European settlers established the first mechanical industry in the region. The nation’s first long-distance electric transmission facility was created to power Portland’s early transit efforts.

“It was why Portland had streetcars,” she said. “They had all this electricity and not many light switches yet.”

More recently, the area was home to a host of industrial mills.

“Oregon City has struggled,” Collette said. “Oregon City used to be Mill City. It was a blue-collar city. Mills were the center of the culture for a very long time.”

Since industrial facilities have closed, Willamette Falls has remained largely out of public view. But beginning with the river walk, city officials hope revitalization will include development of restaurants, hotels, housing and retail spaces.

“This is transformational,” Oregon City Mayor Dan Holladay said. “You are taking something that is totally industrial and repurposing it for not only the river walk but seven new blocks of downtown Oregon City. Just the amount of tourism that this will bring will be huge for Oregon City.”

The original idea for the new development took root in 2011. That is when the last of the site’s industrial mills, Blue Heron Paper Co., closed. The site’s owner, George Heidgerken, worked with project planners who coordinated efforts with Oregon City, Metro, Clackamas County and the state of Oregon.

The group worked with officials to develop the Framework Master Plan detailing a new vision for the area. They spent nearly three years discussing ideas and selling the concept to area politicians and the public.

“We really focused on the core values of the project,” said Carol Mayer-Reed, principal with Mayer/Reed. “We worked really well together. There were a lot of presentations. This was a true collaboration in the best sense for the word.”

Collette added, “This was one of the few projects where all of the partners have agreed. That made it relatively easy.”

The core values include connecting people to Willamette Falls, teaching visitors about the falls’ history, creating a catalyst for private development nearby and enhancing the ecologically diverse stretch of the Willamette River.

“We studied projects that failed and succeeded,” Collette said. “The ones that succeeded really adhered to a set of values. Those four core values really helped keep everyone’s eye on the ball.”

The project will now enter the permitting phase. Collette expects that to last a year or more because of environmental sensitivity. Once permits are granted, project designers will begin looking for contractors and other specialists. Construction will likely begin in 2018.

The goal is to have the river walk completed between 2020 and 2023. The complexity of the site makes an exact timeline difficult to nail down.

All of those buried items present potential obstacles.

“It’s tough to see where the dam begins and where the buildings begin,” Collette said. “There are two stories of concrete under (the) main street. There is just so much underground architecture. You could wander under there forever. We aren’t sure what the conditions are. Until we get into the underbelly we won’t know.”

Project developers said they don’t want to squander the opportunity to build a world-class attraction for the sake of speed.

“We want people from Europe hearing about this and wanting to see it,” Collette said.

The post Welcome to Willamette Falls appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

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 – and perhaps even national – attraction for Oregon City.

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

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.

“It’s so moving and powerful and intriguing and mysterious all at the same time,” Delk said. “You can see so much potential and so much natural beauty that’s already there. It makes your head spin.”

Snohetta has identified six “key moments” on the Riverwalk. Designers are looking for overlook areas or promontories and other spaces where people can be close to the water.

“The goal of this is the Riverwalk is much more than a walkway,” Delk said.

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

“There can be many paths and many experiences that connect Willamette Falls to the larger community,” Delk said. “We hope to find opportunities to engage the falls in many different ways.”

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

“We do see the design, ultimately, as one that engages the natural qualities of the site,” 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 – 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.

“The most important piece is the public access,” Ide said. “It needs to be inviting. It needs to be attractive. It needs to flow.”

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.

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

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.

“We kind of like the small-town feel and people don’t want to lose that,” Ide said, “but when you have a national site you need to share it, not hoard it.”

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Backers of the James Beard Public Market are focusing on a site on the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry campus after moving on from plans to build at the western base of the Morrison Bridge.

The market has been invited to participate in OMSI‘s master plan for the land, Executive Director Fred Granum said Friday.

“We are participating in that and have every expectation that we’ll be included in that if all goes as we expect,” Granum said. “We are talking to some other sites in the Innovation Quadrant just to make sure we’re getting the very best site. But right now our focus is with the master planning that OMSI has organized.”

Earlier this summer, the James Beard Public Market board voted to abandon a proposed site at the west end of the Morrison Bridge after years of designing around the difficult parcel. The board’s move was first Thursday by local architectural blogger Brian Libby.

Other possible sites include the South Waterfront’s Zidell Yards, or even Centennial Mills, a river plot owned by the Portland Development Commission that the agency has struggled to redevelop.

The Public Market board had engaged the well-respected Norwegian architecture firm Snohetta on the project. Snohetta is also at work on OMSI’s master plan for the 17-acre property in southeast Portland.

“Snohetta’s a great firm,” Granum said.

Issues with the Morrison Bridge site had “nothing to do with the architects,” Granum said.

If the OMSI location works out, the market would serve residents and visitors of the close-in Eastside. That part of town has seen an explosion of growth in creative office tenants, with tech firms such as Simple putting down roots.

Granum said the timeline for the Public Market envisions breaking ground in 2019 and opening in 2020. The market would focus on fresh-food vendors plying Oregon-grown and harvested foods.

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