7A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2018
Market: ‘The trend is away from malls and back to the downtown’
Continued from Page 1A
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
From left, Sean Fitzpatrick, Chris Holen and Shannon Fitzpatrick hope to host several businesses on the 6,500-square-
foot main floor.
Tall ships: Will arrive
in Astoria on July 27
Continued from Page 1A
a working waterfront: Com-
mercial fishing boats come
and go from packed docks,
fish processing facilities line
the water, tourist-based busi-
nesses — restaurants, shops,
attractions — are every-
where and the streets hum
with pedestrian, car and fork-
lift traffic. The bulk of the
bayfront district’s revenue is
made in July and August, the
petitioners argued.
“Summer is already a
challenge in terms of try-
ing to maintain a work-
ing waterfront with forklift
activity, large trucks pulling
in and out of the plants, etc.,
with the amount of tourist
traffic,” one woman wrote
to the port commissioners.
When the tall ships vis-
ited in the April off-season,
“things got much worse,”
she added. “… Having the
tall ships come in July is
crazy. The Port does not
need to attract more tourists
to the bayfront in July.”
Port staff offered the
nonprofit several alterna-
tive dock options at other
port facilities, but these
weren’t viable, said Brandi
Bednarik, executive direc-
tor of Grays Harbor Histori-
cal Seaport. At one location,
Lady Washington would
have been unable to load
passengers or host dock-
side visitors. Port staff say
the nonprofit also rejected
an option that would have
accommodated the smaller
Hawaiian Chieftain while
staff continued to look for a
location for the larger Lady
Washington.
“From our perspective, it
came out of left field,” Bed-
narik said of the business
community’s
complaints
and the decision by the port.
She expects the orga-
nization will lose $50,000
to $70,000 in revenue as a
result. The nonprofit has
had to refund or transfer
around 2,100 tickets, as
well as cover other related
fees. The ships, by switch-
ing course to Coos Bay and
Astoria, will lose about six
days of sold-out sailing
time.
Bednarik is not sure yet
what Newport’s decision
means for future tall ship
visits to the city’s bayfront.
“I think they should have
communicated (their con-
cerns) to us sooner and I’m
really worried this could
happen to us again if we
went there,” she said.
The Port of Newport
issued a lengthy press
release this week to clarify
the commissioners’ deci-
sion and the port’s interac-
tions with the nonprofit and
the tall ships, and express
disappointment over how
the Grays Harbor Historical
Seaport responded.
Under the moorage
license agreement with
Grays Harbor Histori-
cal Seaport, the port could
amend the permit to use the
dock at any time, or even
cancel it outright with 30
days written notice, the
press release states, but says
the nonprofit released mis-
leading information after
the port revoked the permit.
“The port continued to
be disappointed by (Grays
Harbor’s) decision to aban-
don Newport given that
very viable options were
made available,” the press
release stated.
“The commissioners for
the Port of Newport try to
weigh the needs of all users
of the port when they are
making decisions and this
situation was no different.
The needs of the commer-
cial fishing industry, local
port businesses, recreational
users, and port visitors were
all taken into consideration
as options were developed.
In the end, the Port of New-
port is disappointed they
will not be seeing the tall
ships in Newport this sum-
mer but we hope they will
continue to be successful
and will consider the Port of
Newport an option for their
future plans.”
The tall ships will arrive
in Astoria July 27.
The historical elements
of the 1924 building will be
restored, with reclaimed wood
and other elements incor-
porated throughout and an
open design so visitors can
see between Commercial and
Duane streets, Fitzpatrick said.
The utilities and other aspects
of the building will also be
upgraded to be more energy
efficient.
The tiling and other decora-
tive features from the Commer-
cial Street entrance will remain,
with the J.C. Penney Co. sign
displayed inside. The new
name of the space, A.O. Mar-
ket Pl., will be a nod to its pre-
vious tenant.
“If the stars align, we’d like
to open in October,” Fitzpatrick
said.
After the food court and
tap house are up and running,
Fitzpatrick and Holen will start
looking to fill the other spaces
in the 14,000-square-foot
building.
Upstairs from the main floor
is a 2,500-square-foot mezza-
nine where the partners hope to
add a clothing or other retailer.
“We would love to have
something kind of like what
J.C. Penney did, maybe more
along a boutique level,” Fitz-
patrick said.
Downstairs is another 3,500
square feet. The partners hope
to bring in some form of fam-
ily entertainment, be it minia-
ture golf, an arcade, an escape
room or karaoke booths.
“We are encouraging people
to bring us their ideas,” Fitzpat-
rick said.
Fitzpatrick is focusing on
dealing with contractors, while
his brother, Shannon, is deal-
ing with leases. Holen will
manage the food side of the
marketplace.
The irony of the building’s
new life is that J.C. Penney’s
downtown location was still
profitable when the company
decided to leave, Fitzpatrick
said.
“It should not have been
closed,” he said. “The trend is
away from malls and back to
the downtown.
“The cool thing would have
been for them to sell the build-
ing to me, and they stayed, and
then we would have had our
J.C. Penney.”
Justices strike down Minnesota
clothing restrictions for voters
By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The
Supreme Court on Thurs-
day struck down Minneso-
ta’s broad restrictions on vot-
ers wearing “political” hats,
T-shirts and pins to the polls,
but said states can place limits
on such apparel.
Minnesota contended the
restrictions were reasonable,
kept order at polling places
and prevented voter intimida-
tion. But the justices, in a 7-2
ruling, said the state’s limits on
political clothing violate the
free speech clause of the First
Amendment.
Chief Justice John Roberts
wrote that “if a State wishes to
set its polling places apart as
areas free of partisan discord,
it must employ a more dis-
cernible approach than the one
Minnesota has offered here.”
At another point he wrote:
“Casting a vote is a weighty
civic act, akin to a jury’s return
of a verdict or a representa-
tive’s vote on a piece of legis-
lation. It is a time for choosing,
not campaigning. The State
may reasonably decide that
the interior of the polling place
should reflect that distinction.”
Most states restrict what
people can wear when
they vote, but Minnesota’s
restraints were some of the
broadest. State law bars vot-
ers from casting a ballot while
wearing clothing related to a
campaign, such as a T-shirt
with the name of a candidate.
It also said voters couldn’t
wear a “political badge, polit-
ical button, or other political
insignia” to vote. That was the
part of state law that was chal-
lenged and invalidated by the
court.
Roberts said the problem
came down to the word “polit-
ical,” which state law didn’t
define. He said the state’s
interpretation of what counted
as political was unreason-
able, covering any item that
made reference to a group with
recognizable political views
AP Photo/Jim Mone
Andy Cilek poses with a Tea Party shirt at his home in Eden Prairie, Minn.
or referring to any subject on
which a political candidate or
party has taken a stance.
“Would a ‘Support Our
Troops’ shirt be banned, if one
of the candidates or parties had
expressed a view on military
funding or aid for veterans?
What about a ‘#MeToo’ shirt,
referencing the movement to
increase awareness of sexual
harassment and assault?” Rob-
erts wrote.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor
and Stephen Breyer would
have sent the case to the
Minnesota Supreme Court
for clarification of the law’s
boundaries.
It is unclear exactly how
many states the ruling could
affect. Both Minnesota and the
group challenging the state’s
law had said there are about
10 states with laws similar to
Minnesota’s, though they dis-
agreed significantly on which
ones.
Roberts said other states
have laws that describe restric-
tions “in more lucid terms”
than Minnesota’s, referenc-
ing laws in California and
Texas. California bars voters
from wearing anything with
a “candidate’s name, like-
ness or logo” or a “ballot mea-
sure’s number, title, subject, or
logo,” Roberts said, and Texas
prohibits wearing anything
connected to a political party
appearing on the ballot.
Daniel
Rogan,
who
defended Minnesota’s law
before the justices, said that
while he was disappointed by
the justices’ conclusion, there
was a lot in the opinion “we’re
very pleased about.” Secretary
of State Steve Simon, a Dem-
ocrat, said he would work with
the Legislature, which returns
in January, to pass new voter
apparel legislation. And Rogan
said other provisions in state
law will still bar voters from
wearing apparel that promotes
a candidate or party or that
might be considered mislead-
ing to voters.
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The case before the
Supreme Court dates back
to 2010 and involves a dis-
pute that began over tea party
T-shirts and buttons with the
words “Please I.D. Me,” a
reference to legislation then
under discussion in Minnesota
that would have required res-
idents to show photo identifi-
cation to vote. The legislation
didn’t become law.
Pointing to the state’s stat-
ute, Minnesota officials said
before the election that neither
the tea party T-shirts nor those
buttons would be permitted at
the polls. In response, a group
of voters and organizations
sued.
J. David Breemer, a lawyer
with the Pacific Legal Foun-
dation, the group behind the
challenge, said the court “put
all government entities on
notice — they cannot dictate
the terms of personal expres-
sion, nor can they designate
the arbiters of free speech at
their whim.”
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