STORMY WEATHER
ARTS FESTIVAL
COAST WEEKEND
‘Afterwards,’ a linocut monoprint
artist Stirling Gorsuch will
feature at Stormy Weather
Arts Festival.
146TH YEAR, NO. 89
ONE DOLLAR
DailyAstorian.com //
ON HALLOWEEN, A MONSTER MASH
Warrenton rehab
project preserves
affordable housing
Apartments
for seniors and
the disabled
By EDWARD
STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Jazmyn Foster, center, and Clayton Murray, left, visit the Astoria 911 Dispatch Halloween Bag Handout in front of the
Liberty Theatre on Wednesday. See more photos of the Halloween festivities online at DailyAstorian.com
ABOVE: Adelia Lippold and Maevri Bergerson admire Hal-
loween decorations at a home in Astoria designed by Ran-
dy Harris and Lisa Morley. RIGHT: Zack Jamieson picks out
some candy from Samuel McDaniel’s basket in front of his
downtown storefront.
WARRENTON — Some
of the units in the Alder
Court Apartments, a 40-unit
complex in Warrenton man-
aged by the Northwest Ore-
gon Housing Authority, were
close to uninhabitable.
Forty years of weather
had left many units slowly
rotting away on the inside
and out, endangering one of
the region’s largest federally
subsidized housing options
for people over 55 and with
disabilities.
Contractors are now
about a week away from fin-
ishing a $13 million rehab
and weatherization of the
Alder Court, Canim and
Wapiti apartments totaling
52 units in Warrenton, about
half the city’s federally des-
ignated low-income housing.
The four buildings of
Alder Court, built in a flood
plain like much of Warren-
ton, are elevated on a foun-
dation of pilings digging 30
feet into the ground.
“Two and a half years
ago, there were certain areas
in such disrepair of rot, just
from the elements at the
coast, that we did some tem-
porary supports just so they
made it until the normal proj-
ects started,” said Spencer
Bradley, a project manager
with Bremik Construction.
With an entire apartment
building on top, the pilings
could not simply be replaced.
Bremik installed new steel
pilings just outside the foot-
print, with new crossbeams
running underneath to help
hold the buildings up.
Contractors tore the out-
side of the buildings down to
the frames and installed new
siding with a drainage plane
underneath to let intrud-
ing water flow out instead
of pooling. Rotting outdoor
wood features were replaced
with pressure-treated boards
and steel.
A community garden was
landscaped at the complex
for a partnership with Ore-
gon State University’s Exten-
sion Service. The parking lot
was repaved, and drainage
basins replaced. The com-
plex’s community center was
upgraded with new furniture
and computers to allow resi-
dents nearby internet access.
Inside, the apartments
were gutted down to the
frames and floorboards, with
new insulation sprayed into
the walls, floors and ceil-
ings to better hold heat.
Rotting drywall and floors
were replaced. Contractors
installed energy efficient
appliances and LED lighting,
while improving ventilation
and replacing carpets with
vinyl. High-contrast walls
were painted to help seniors
aging in place navigate.
Bremik went through one
building at a time to mini-
mize the impact on residents,
who were relocated to hotels,
vacation rentals and with
family during construction.
See HOUSING, Page 8A
NW Natural moving to Warrenton
Influenced
by tsunami
concerns
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
NW Natural Gas Co., a
local natural gas provider, is
joining the migration of busi-
nesses and essential services
to higher ground out of the
tsunami inundation zone in
Warrenton.
The utility, located along
Marine Drive in Uniontown,
recently closed with Warren-
ton Fiber on 5.3 acres along
Dolphin Avenue just north
of the regional Oregon State
Police headquarters. Con-
struction is scheduled to
begin in 2020.
The utility has been
located in Astoria since the
mid-1960s and has about
11,000 customers in the
region. Daphne Mathew, a
spokeswoman for NW Nat-
ural, said the move is about
getting to higher ground and
a more efficient space.
“We used to need more
space because customers used
to physically come in to pay
their bills, and we used to
have a gas appliance show-
room area,” Mathew said.
“So the newer space we’re
moving to will be smaller
and better accommodate our
eight employees, vehicles and
equipment.”
NW Natural’s move fol-
lows the state Department
of Transportation, the Ore-
gon State Police, the Clat-
sop County Sheriff’s Office,
Medix Ambulance Service
and Clatsop Care Health Dis-
trict’s memory care center to
Dolphin Avenue.
Wa r r e n t o n - H a m m o n d
School District will pur-
chase a new master campus
from Warrenton Fiber along
the roadway if a $38.5 mil-
lion property tax bond passes
Tuesday.
See NW NATURAL, Page 8A
Edward Stratton/The Daily Astorian
NW Natural Gas Co. is buying a 5.3 acre parcel of land
north of the regional headquarters for the Oregon State
Police along Dolphin Avenue in Warrenton.