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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2015
Photos by Joshua Bessex — The Daily Astorian
Waiting on the river
The Daily Astorian
More than 10 ships were waiting to go upriver Thursday,
likely because of port shutdowns during the labor dispute with
the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. According
to Ship Finder at www.dailyastorian.com/da/ship-watch this
morning, there were more than 40 cargo vessels moored be-
tween Portland and the Mouth of the Columbia, with nine (in-
cluding the Bunun Fortune) in front of Astoria.
3DFL¿F0DULWLPH$VVRFLDWLRQPHPEHUVDQQRXQFHG:HGQHV-
day they were shutting down vessel operations Thursday, Sat-
urday, Sunday and Monday to avoid paying longshoremen with
holiday or weekend pay.
Waldorf:%XLOGLQJZDVEXLOWDIWHUGHYDVWDWLQJ¿UHRI
Continued from Page 1A
footprint to Taylor’s Organiz-
ing for Astoria page — quiet-
ly popped up late last year.
Intrigued, preservationists
led separate tours of the Wal-
dorf with a prominent local
developer and an architect who
each saw potential in rehabili-
tating the derelict building.
The Lower Columbia
Preservation Society and oth-
ers have appealed to the City
Council not to raze the Wal-
dorf. In conversations, on so-
cial media and in letters to the
editor, the momentum appears
to have shifted over the past
few months toward the belief
that the hotel should be spared
as a slice of the city’s historic
downtown.
“Over the last 30 years, this
town has done amazing things.
And I don’t see that we’re
done with our work,” said John
Goodenberger, a historic build-
ings consultant. “There have
been buildings that have been
rehabilitated that we never
thought would happen.”
Goodenberger said the li-
brary renovation does not have
to be linked to the Waldorf’s
demolition. He said the library
could expand into its basement,
its parking lot, the Elks building
next door, or another location.
The library could also move
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the hotel remain.
“When I look at the Mer-
wyn, I think about the fact that
it has this potential that I’m not
giving up on,” he said. “I’m not
giving up on Astoria. I’m not
giving up on Astoria’s revital-
ization.”
Goodenberger said the
Waldorf has had a reputation
of being “unsavable, whether
that’s accurate or not.
“So as long at that repu-
tation is there, you’re scaring
away potential private develop-
ment.”
Photo by Jeff Daly
This is the view from a room on the third floor. The library
roof is in the foreground. Almost all of the rooms on the
west side of the hotel have a view of the river and the
Astoria Bridge.
detailing in the downtown his-
toric district.
Long past its prime, the ho-
From the ashes
tel was renamed the Waldorf
Built in 1926 during Asto- in 1980 and used for low-cost
ria’s rebirth after the devastat- housing until it tumbled into
LQJ¿UHRIWKHIRXUVWRU\ disrepair and was closed for
Merwyn is considered one of code violations in 1989.
the best examples of Late Com-
Over the past 25 years, the
mercial style with Renaissance WURXEOHG1RUWK%HQGQRQSUR¿W
A’Toll Inc., the city through the
Community Action Team, and
the Clatsop County Housing
Authority looked at different
scenarios for the Waldorf that
never penciled out.
The options included
low-income housing, student
housing, a senior center with
senior housing, and a condo-
minium or boutique hotel with
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During the same time frame,
private developers restored the
Hotel Elliott, the Commodore
Hotel and the Norblad Hotel
and Hostel, yet no private de-
veloper has taken a chance on
the Waldorf.
Renovation costs for the
Waldorf, now owned by Groat
Brothers Inc., a transportation
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ington state, are estimated at $4
million to $5 million.
A California family that had
owned the Waldorf wanted the
Groat Brothers to tear down
the hotel in 2012 — and the
city was interested in acquiring
the leftover property — but the
Historic Landmarks Commis-
sion rejected the demolition
request.
Architects and engineers
who have inspected the Waldorf
over the years have found that
the structural frame is sound
but the building is in a severely
deteriorating condition.
Portions of the hotel’s west
wall have rotted and there are
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in the basement and walls near
steam heating pipes.
Jay Raskin, a Portland ar-
chitect who has examined
the Waldorf and who argued
against demolition in 2012, said
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preserve the building.
The downtown historic dis-
trict, he said, is “all the build-
ings together, working together.
“So if you tear something
down, it’s a tooth missing. It
doesn’t look right. It ruins the
historic character of the down-
town.”
Preservation, many who
have looked at the Waldorf be-
lieve, could mean that the hotel
might sit vacant and languish
for several more years until a
public-sector solution is found,
the real estate values downtown
improve enough to lure private
interests, or a wealthy benefac-
tor with imagination steps for-
ward.
“It’s hard to do a building
like that. I think that’s what
people need to understand,”
said Jim Tierney, the executive
director of the Community Ac-
tion Team.
1605 SE Ensign Lane • Warrenton, OR
503-861-1144 • www.lumstoyota.com
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© 2015 Graham Oleson