4A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 3, 2018
Hole: Volunteers wrapped fence with banners, hiding it all from view
Estes said staff will still
be engaged with Heritage
Square. But, without a fully
staffed community develop-
ment department, he added,
there is “not a whole lot
more bandwidth to add other
projects.”
At the end of June, as
they have done in summers
past, volunteers wrapped the
chain-link fence that sur-
rounds the hole with banners,
hiding it all from view during
the busiest tourist season.
Continued from Page 1A
The Garden of Surging
Waves went up to the west
of the hole four years ago,
on the corner of Duane and
11th. The tall, blue Ameri-
can Legion building stands to
the south. The Astoria Sunday
Market erects booths in the
parking lot to the east from
May to October.
In July 2015, city leaders
and staff were optimistic that
the hole would be dealt with
soon. But plans to build a new
library with housing at Heri-
tage Square went nowhere.
Major cleanup work to deal
with contaminated soil in
and around the hole is more
or less complete. But — with
an understaffed community
development
department,
other big city projects on the
horizon and no immediate
plans for what exactly could
be developed around the site
— the hole remains.
In early June, the City
Council asked staff to push
forward on finishing the Riv-
erfront Vision Plan, which
guides development along
the Columbia River, specifi-
Problem isn’t unique
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Tunnels under the streets of Astoria are adjacent to the open pit which collapsed in
December 2010.
cally the Urban Core section
between Second Street and
16th Street.
City Councilor Tom
Brownson asked how focus-
ing on this project would
take away from other goals.
“Let’s say, Heritage Square,”
he said.
The hole is and is not
unique.
Rosemary Johnson, a for-
mer city planner, can point to
several other troubled areas
or buildings around Astoria
that sat for years. Mill Pond,
for example: A once-polluted
site on the east end of the city
that is now an upscale hous-
ing development. It took the
city 10 years to get from the
decision to clean it up and
begin preparing for develop-
ment to the point where it was
ready for development, John-
son said.
But with the hole, there are
some differences.
“Any time you have con-
tamination or you have a large
site that the public is aware of
then there’s issues with it,”
Johnson said. “It’s more dif-
ficult because it’s in your eye
every day.”
But, she added, “The prob-
lems aren’t unique. The prob-
lems are the same: Cleanup
money, finding the right
development for the site.”
Johnson was involved
with the hole’s neighbor, the
Garden of Surging Waves.
She credits massive efforts
from the Chinese commu-
nity and people in Portland
and Salem who contributed
large amounts of money with
bringing the cultural project
to fruition.
The Garden of Surging
Waves was a huge accom-
plishment, Johnson said.
When city staffing, plans
and money are in place, she
believes the rest of Heritage
Square will follow suit.
“When you have a full
staff, everybody’s up to
speed,” Johnson said. “Then
you can take on bigger proj-
ects and you can move faster.”
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