DailyAstorian.com // WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2016
144TH YEAR, NO. 29
SPANNING 50 YEARS
ONE DOLLAR
Walmart
gets one
more year
Retail giant looks to
build in Warrenton
‘We wanted to build something to last forever’
WARRENTON — Walmart has been
given another year to break ground in
Warrenton.
The City Commission on Tuesday
approved a one-year extension of the retailer’s
site design permit to build at Ensign Lane and
U.S. Highway 101 in the North Coast Retail
Center. The commission fi rst granted the land
use permit in August 2013 and has extended it
three times, this time until next August .
But this time the vote wasn’t unanimous.
Mayor Mark Kujala and Commission-
ers Pam Ackley and Tom Dyer voted for
the extension; Commissioner Rick Newton
voted against it. Commissioner Henry Bal-
ensifer was absent.
Asked after the meeting why he opposed
the extension, Newton said, “I don’t think it
will make life better in Warrenton” to have
a Walmart .
Astoria Bridge
anniversary is marked
Saturday amid much ado
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
T
he summer after he graduated from Sea-
side High School, Jim Gallegos went to
work as a cement fi nisher on the Astoria
Bridge. Like many other bridge workers, Gal-
legos spent months working high above the
Columbia River, in all types of weather, to com-
plete the fi nal link of U.S. Highway 101.
The Astoria Bridge opened 50 years ago this
month.
Gallegos, 71, who retired to Utah, returns
to the North Coast for vacations and high
school reunions. When he visits, he drives up
to the Astoria Column and
watches as ships travel under
the bridge he helped build
fi ve decades ago.
“We wanted to build
something to last forever,
and I think we did,” he said.
By ERICK BENGEL
The Daily Astorian
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
See WALMART, Page 10A
The Astoria Bridge project is announced April 21, 1959, after clearing its final legisla-
tive hurdle by a 44-15 vote in the Oregon Legislature.
Rededication
The 50th anniversary
of the Astoria Bridge will
be marked Saturday morn-
ing with a rededication ceremony. The public is
invited to meet at 9 a.m. at the Maritime Memo-
rial Park under the bridge .
Guest speakers include state Sen. Betsy
Johnson, Astoria Mayor Arline LaMear, Ore-
gon Department of Transportation Director Matt
Garrett, Washington State Secretary of Trans-
portation Roger Millar, and Washington State
Gov. Jay Inslee’s representative Schuyler Hoss .
McAndrew Burns, the executive director of
the Clatsop County Historical Society, said the
rededication is inspired by a ribbon -cutting cer-
emony that took place in 1966. At the time, the
dedication drew Oregon and Washington gov-
ernors, Miss Oregon and Miss Washington and
a delegation from Astoria’s sister city of Wall-
dorf, Germany.
A relative of the Walldorf delegation 50
years ago will be in attendance Saturday.
“50 years ago, this was the fi rst time a full
contingent from our s ister c ity Walldorf came
over,” Burns said. “It is a big deal for both
cities.”
In addition, 1966 Miss Oregon Estrel-
lita Schid — now Lita Grigg, will attend the
Jim
Gallegos
Flikr Via WikiMedia
A Walmart store in Southington, Conn.
Pearl on
the Prom
gets more
pushback
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Astoria in 1959, sans Astoria Bridge.
Neighbors concerned
about property values
By R.J. MARX
The Daily Astorian
See BRIDGE, Page 10A
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
On Aug. 27, 1966, The Daily Astorian announced the ribbon-cutting of the Asto-
ria-Megler Bridge.
SEASIDE — Variances for a new luxury
motel on the Prom in Seaside could disrupt
their property values, neighbors say.
By submitting appeals to the City Coun-
cil, neighbors Susan and Dan Calef of 25
Avenue A and Avrel Nudelman of 341 Beach
Drive each seek a denial of the Planning
Commission’s July decision to approve vari-
ances for the Pearl of Seaside.
Nudelman and the Calefs say their voices
in opposition were “brushed aside,” and
commission fi ndings were “both inadequate
and not based on substantial evidence.”
Pearl of Seaside owner Antoine Simmons
of Haystack Lodgings responded he was
working with neighbors to mitigate impacts,
and that reductions in the plan’s scope could
make the 48-room motel unfeasible to build.
See HOTEL, Page 5A
Community remembers ‘Mayor of Uniontown’
Goforth was a
‘driving force’
in neighborhood
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
Anyone who spends time
in Uniontown can immedi-
ately see the impact of Rae
Goforth.
The honorary “Mayor of
Uniontown ” was known for
her contributions to the Mari-
time Memorial and Doughboy
Monument, leading historical
tours and the overall revival of
her neighborhood.
Goforth, 87, died in Astoria
July 31.
Northern California to Astoria
“She was the driving force in 1970, she opened Fiddler’s
on pretty much everything that Green Family Pub, which she
happened down there for years ran for 20 years. She changed
and years,” Astoria
the name to Cafe
City Councilor Russ
Uniontown
when
Warr said.
the
neighborhood
Warr, the owner
became a historic
of Astoria Gran-
district.
ite Works in Union-
Reclaiming
town, said he knew
Uniontown
Goforth for about
In the early 1970s,
three decades and
Uniontown looked
always respected her
Rae
like a junkyard fi lled
service . He developed
Goforth
with abandoned cars
an enduring respect
and boats.
for the community advocate.
Over the years, Goforth led
“She knew what she wanted
and she never wanted to give efforts to restore the area.
up,” Warr said.
See GOFORTH, Page 5A
When Goforth moved from
Rae Goforth, left,
instructs Ella
Hill in the art of
Victorian gar-
nish behind the
scenes during
a Flavel House
plum pudding tea
in 2000. Goforth’s
idea to raise mon-
ey for the Clatsop
County Historical
Society in the
late ’80s became
an anticipated
holiday tradition
for many.
The Daily Astorian
File Photo