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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2015)
143rd YEAR, No. 125 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015 ONE DOLLAR DA says no to charging Smithart Former inn operator owes Port and city hundreds of thousands By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Photos by Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Ron Neva, left, and Tryan Hartill gather Dungeness crab while preparing an order at Northwest Wild Products last week. The business moved into the Chinook Building six years ago. SEAFARE RISING? NEW LIFE ON WEST END A rebirth could be at hand for eatery, others See SMITHART, Page 10A By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian Astoria to get the dirt out T enants at the Chinook Building have long enjoyed budget lease rates in an older build- ing with a $1 million panoramic view of Pier 1, the West End Mooring Basin, Cannery Pier Hotel and the Astoria Bridge. But interest is growing in the Astoria Riverwalk Inn and for- mer Seafare Restaurant next door, along with the entire waterfront district around the West End Moor- ing Basin, and some tenants are wondering about the future on the central waterfront. At a meeting earlier this month, the Port of Astoria Commission voted to have staff create a request for proposals for someone to come and develop the former Seafare Restaurant in between the Chinook Building and the Astoria Riverwalk Inn. The vote included the Chinook Building as a potential option in proposals. The former Seafare restaurant opened as the Thunderbird around the same time as the Thunderbird Motel and the Astoria Bridge in the mid-1960s. It has played host to scenes from “Kindergarten Cop” in 1990, but went vacant in the 2000s and has fallen into disrepair. But like the Astoria Riverwalk Inn directly west, the restaurant has drawn in- terest from several unnamed parties. District Attorney Joshua Marquis said he has no plans to ¿le crimi- nal charges against Brad Smithart, the heavily in- debted former operator of the Astoria River- walk Inn. In order to make criminal charges stick, Marquis said, there needs to be proof Smi- thart intended Brad Smithart to defraud the city and Port of Astoria, which owns the hotel. Smithart, through Hospitality Masters, took over operation of the former Red Lion Hotel in 2012 with business parter Seth Davis. Davis eventually left the partner- ship, and Smithart has fallen be- hind multiple times on hotel room taxes to the city and on revenue and rent to the Port. Soil set for removal from Heritage Square By DERRICK DePLEDGE The Daily Astorian The Chinook Building pictured before Christmas. Tables and chairs are stacked inside the former SeaFare Restaurant. See WEST END, Page 10A Contaminated soil piled high at Heritage Square will soon be gone. Crews will start hauling the soil next week to an old quarry that the city owns off Pipeline Road. The dirt, which is considered lightly contaminated, was unearthed during the construction of the Garden of Surging Waves and has sat festering under tarps in the hole left when the foundation of the former Safeway collapsed. A smaller amount of contami- nated soil underneath the northwest edge of the parking lot at Duane and 12th Streets is more dangerous and will have to be trucked to a hazard- ous waste land¿ll in Arlington. See SQUARE, Page 10A The American dream through entrepreneurship Couple comes to America and builds lives in Warrenton By EDWARD STRATTON The Daily Astorian WARRENTON — With several bachelor’s and two master’s degrees between them, Lovekesh and Alpana .umar are not the ¿rst couple one would e[pect to ¿nd run- ning a convenience store in Warrenton. But the couple, who em- igrated from northern India OUR NEW NEIGHBORS HIGHLIGHTING PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THE COMMUNITY and also own a convenience store in Cloverdale, have crafted their version of the American dream through small-town entrepreneurship. The Kumars moved to Warrenton from Cloverdale in June after opening their sec- ond Super Mart location at the corner of Main Avenue and Third Street. Their company, Kamakshi Inc., is named after their 2-year-old daughter. The Kumars also have a 12-year- old son, Kevin, and a 10-year- old daughter, Samantha. Arranged life, love “Everything is freedom here,” said Lovekesh, 43, who has lived in the U.S. for 14 years; his wife Alpana, 38, for three. “In India, if you need money, you can’t get the See KUMARS, Page 10A Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian From left, Kevin, Alpana and Lovekesh Kumar moved to the U.S. from India in pursuit of the American dream. Al- pana and Lovekesh run convenience stories in Cloverdale and Warrenton under the business name Kamakshi Inc., named after their 3-year-old daughter.
