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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (July 6, 2019)
A8 THE ASTORIAN • SATURDAY, JULY 6, 2019 Crowds gathered Wednesday to walk through the newly painted 13th Street Alley in downtown Astoria. Mural: Idea for painting alley stretches back 10 years Continued from Page A1 what it is,” she said. “I also wanted to use lines as a way to invite people into the space and draw them through the space.” Organic lines from either side of the alley lead to a tree- lined mountain range with a lush farm valley. Sterling used a a color palette from native elements like salmon, spruce, fi r, lichen, moss, cran- berry, Velella velella, fern and refl ections on the Colum- bia River and Pacifi c Ocean. The mural spans 6,000 square feet . “I worked on i t every day for three weeks,” Sterling said. “There were several 12-hour days in there.” Sterling received help from fellow local artists like Darren Orange, who helped paint the cool blue-white base coat; Stirling Gorsuch, who painted the tree line atop the mountains; and Anna Weber, who added gold leafi ng to the mountain ridges. The idea for painting the alley stretches back a decade, said Sarah Lu Heath, the executive director of the downtown association. Last year, t he group began hanging lights and gather- ing donations for a mural to increase pedestrian traf- fi c and improve safety in the corridor connecting Duane and Commercial streets. The mural, at a cost of $12,500, received donations from the Pacifi c Power Foundation, Astoria Sunday Market, the city , the state Historic Pres- ervation Offi ce and dozens of individuals. For a second phase, Ster- ling proposed turning the sidewalk into a cobblestone alley with moss to absorb water. “Astoria needs more urban green spaces, and moss grows really well there,” she said. Buyer: Sale depends on estate resolving state, federal claims over dock Continued from Page A1 Robert “Jake” Jacob, a local developer and com- munity booster who died last year, developed the award-winning hotel at the former Union Fishermen’s Cooperative Packing Co. next to the Astoria Bridge in the 2000s. Terry Rosenau, Jacob’s friend and the larg- est shareholder in the hotel, was appointed trustee of his estate. The sale of the hotel depends on the estate resolv- ing state and federal claims over a crumbling dock , part of which collapsed last year on a tank underneath, spill- ing boiler-heating oil into the r iver. The spill resulted in a cleanup overseen by the Coast Guard and estimated at more than $1 million. The Department of State Lands recently fi led a claim of at least $1 million against Jacob’s estate over the dock. Thane Tienson, a lawyer for the estate, has said it is in fi nal negotiations to settle both issues. “That’s another bit of an issue we’re trying to get through,” Takach said. “We’ll be indemnifi ed from any of that. That’s a condi- tion of closing.” Vesta, which Takach esti- mates has worked on 35 to 40 hotel projects since he founded the company in 1996, also runs the Best West- ern Agate Beach in Newport. The company has invested more than $8 million reno- vating the hotel, Takach said. The Holiday Inn Express & Suites under the Asto- ria Bridge recently sold from local owners David and Linda Weber to Ida- ho-based Braintree Hospital- ity for nearly $17.5 million, according to county property records. Farther east of Cannery Pier and the Holiday Inn, developer Mark Hollander is trying to build a Fairfi eld Inn & Suites, a Marriott brand, at the former Ship Inn restau- rant. To the west is a vacant strip of land Hollander leases from the Port of Astoria and has proposed another Marri- ott-branded hotel. WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 Nicole Bales/The Astorian The foreclosed property on G Road in Jeff ers Garden. Auction: ‘People automatically think Jeffers Garden is shady’ Continued from Page A1 “I moved a trailer in next door and we were setting it up and they were stealing every- thing faster than we could set it up,” Neikes said. “The day I had the power turned on to the trailer, they had hooked an extension cord to an out- let. They had it leading over to the house and they were drawing so much power that the extension cord was actu- ally melting.” Christina Tucker, who owns a home down the street, said there has been no com- motion since the county fore- closed on the property. “The rest of the road is fi ne,” she said. “It was just that house that was the black sheep of the road.” Tucker said she and her husband considered selling their home because of the fre- quent foot traffi c past her house to the purple house, especially as they began to plan for their newborn daughter. She said people who lived in the purple house stole things from her property and ran through her yard while fl eeing sheriff’s deputies. “It was one of those moments where it’s like, ‘I don’t want to live in this neighborhood,’” Tucker said. “You tell people, ‘Oh yeah, I live in Jeffers Garden,’ and people automatically think Jeffers Garden is shady.” The foreclosure process in Oregon is lengthy. After four years of not paying property taxes, properties go to judg- ment and owners have a two- year redemption period. If it hasn’t been redeemed in two years, then the county takes deed. Sirpa Duoos, a county property management spe- cialist, said the county rarely takes homes where people are living. The county tries to give property owners options to help pay the taxes so peo- ple don’t become displaced. However, given the cir- cumstances on G Road, the county was able to expedite foreclosure. “I’m glad, and I think the rest of the neighborhood is glad,” Duoos said. “I really hope they never come back. I hope that the house gets turned into something good.” County commissioners voted in June to put fi ve fore- closed properties, including the one on G Road, up for auction. The auction will be held at 10 a.m. on July 23 at the Judge Guy Boyington Building in Astoria. “In the last few years, we have seen great improvement to the ones we have sold and we are very happy with that,” Duoos said. Introducing Andrew Chin PA-C, Family Medicine Andrew Chin earned his Master of Medical Science Physician Assistant Studies from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys camping, hiking, reading, podcasts, movies, and walks with his wife and their dog, George. Now accepting new patients. 2158 Exchange Street, Suite 304 Astoria, OR 97103 (503) 325-8315 yvfwc.com
