A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, MARCH 9, 2021
Food hub: A purchase price of $700,000
Continued from Page A1
Edward Stratton/The Astorian
Kirsten Norgaard and Jaz Carpenter recently opened
Foragers, a collection of handmade artisans, in the Astoria
Underground.
Foragers: ‘We
wanted it to feel
like the forest fl oor’
Continued from Page A1
Jaz Carpenter, who
founded Foragers with
Kirsten Norgaard of Kit’s
Apothecary , started painting
portraits of people as mush-
rooms as a quarantine hobby
during the coronavirus pan-
demic. She and Norgaard,
who creates CBD-infused
products, thought of how to
combine their passions and
those of other artisans into a
collective storefront.
The center suite of Asto-
ria Underground played
host to a teahouse and Flo-
ral Haze Vintage. With
help from some friends,
they transformed the space
into a forest understory of
deep green walls, earthy
brown fl oor and bare wood
displays.
“We wanted it to feel
like the forest fl oor,” Car-
penter said. “We wanted it
to be as much handmade as
we could.”
Foragers displays the
custom woodworks of
Mic Danielson at Norse-
West Woodshop and artist
Autumn Eve Montgomery
Hurd, known for her work
around queer representa-
tion, body positivity and
female empowerment. The
store also provides space for
several handmade vendors,
including Chef Daddy’s
seasoning salts, Forage &
Farm’s packs of dried wild
mushrooms and other edi-
bles and Cloudy Day Can-
dle Co.
Foragers joins an eclectic
collection of artisans popu-
lating the miniature village
of the Astoria Underground,
including Kit’s Apothe-
cary and Cascade Screen
Printing. Pianist Bob Gold-
stick rents a studio where
he broadcasts his perfor-
mances on livestreaming
platform Twitch. Sondra
Carr, of Weird Sisters Freak
Boutique, helped create a
forested decor in the alley-
way meandering around the
underground.
Rob Collins, who ran
Astoria Barber Co. next to
Reveille Ciderworks until
a business partner had a life
change, was about to sign a
lease in the Astoria Under-
ground when the corona-
virus pandemic shut down
barbershops. After going
into hibernation for several
months, he signed on and
said business, while not as
good as on Duane Street,
has been steady.
“It’s been good,” he said.
“I love it here.”
Business owners in the
underground are hoping
for a new proprietor to take
over the now-vacant cof-
fee stand at street level on
Marine Drive. The stand
acts as kind of an open sign
drawing people to the stair-
case that leads down to the
collection of businesses
underneath.
But Carpenter said the
hidden vibe fi ts well.
“I feel like that’s Asto-
ria’s vibe,” she said.
“There’s a lot of hidden
gems you have to seek out.
But once you fi nd them,
they’re great.”
to our mission, and just in
general, importing our local
food systems.”
Jeff Graham joined Fort
George as executive chef sev-
eral years ago with a mission
to make the brewery’s menus
more local. He sourced local
chicken from Blackberry Bog
Farms in Svensen and even-
tually connected with Gard-
ner to source grass-fed beef
from Tillamook County.
“He’s driving it up in his
truck,” Graham said. “Once
a week or twice — when-
ever I need it — we get a
delivery. It’s exciting to have
this possibility to where it’s
going to be a couple blocks
away, where the food will be
stored.”
Graham envisions tak-
ing beef and pork from Gard-
ner and other producers and
turning them into charcuterie
and other value-added prod-
ucts mere blocks from the
brewery.
“I then know where my
product is coming from big
time,” Graham said. “He
raised the animal. I made the
pepperoni. And I’m going
to put the pepperoni on this
pizza. So kind of that sym-
biotic relationship between
the producer and the restau-
rant, that’s super exciting for
a chef.”
Warren Neth, who mar-
kets for the food hub, worked
for Slow Food Southwest
Washington, a group sup-
porting local agriculture on
the north banks of the lower
Columbia River.
“It was always very appar-
ent to me that coastal south-
west Washington is much
more connected to Astoria
than Vancouver, Longview,
that kind of thing,” Neth said.
“So it will be great to have
this food hub servicing those
producers on the north side of
the river.”
Partners
The partners plan to
acquire the Sears building for
$700,000 by the end of the
month from Rick Fried and
Thea Dyal, who operated the
Sears Hometown store . They
are using a commercial loan
through Steward, a lender
specializing in regenerative
agriculture and food sustain-
ability projects.
The loan allows individu-
als supportive of the food hub
to donate, spreading out the
indebtedness. Tre-Fin Day
Boat Seafood, a hyperlocal
catcher-processor in Ilwaco,
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Nehalem River Ranch owner
Jared Gardner is a central
partner to the food hub project.
Washington, and another part-
ner in the food hub, is using
the concept to raise money
for a new production space.
The food hub has already
raised more than $37,000 at
astoriafoodhub.com to help
with the purchase.
Corey Omey, the archi-
tect for the project, described
the planned decor for the
food hub as “contemporary
reclaimed,” using much of
the existing Sears Home-
town storefront while bring-
ing in raw wood, reclaimed
features, more natural light-
ing and energy effi ciency
upgrades.
The partners plan to
restore the Mason-Ehrman
sign and murals painted by Jo
Lumpkin Brown on the back
of the building, designed by
famed local architect John
Wicks and on the National
Register of H istoric P laces.
The building includes an
equally expansive basement,
where future phases envision
expanded dry and cold stor-
age, a freight elevator and a
ramp for bringing products
up to the loading dock on the
Riverwalk. The partners want
to eventually start a restau-
rant overlooking the Colum-
bia and serving local food.
“This food shed is his-
torically probably the most
important food shed in the
whole region,” Omey said .
“And it’s a great place to
restart … what was done
in the past, and to think of
the future, so we bring back
good, local, healthy food in a
way that is meaningful.”
Gearhart: Negotiations will come down to trust
Continued from Page A1
for construction.
About 50% supported the
High Point site, with an ele-
vation of between 62 feet and
65 feet, as their No. 1 choice,
followed by 38.4% who pre-
ferred the fi re department’s
location on Pacifi c Way. The
cinder block building, con-
structed in 1958, is consid-
ered a risk for fl ooding or col-
lapse during an earthquake
and tsunami.
Only 11.5% of respondents
chose the Dune Meadows
Park at Pacifi c Way and North
Marion as their fi rst choice.
In early 2020, city offi cials
estimated construction cost at
the High Point site between
$6 million and $9 million.
The city may conduct
another resident survey,
Cockrum said.
“A re-survey is just to dou-
ble-check with our voters that
they still support this option,”
she said. “It has been several
years since the council was
given direction by the voters
to pursue a location outside
the tsunami zone, but not at
the Dune Meadows Park.”
The High Point structure
will also be used as an emer-
gency operations center in
a major weather or geologi-
cal event, City Administrator
Chad Sweet said. “It’s more
than just a fi re station, ” he
said.
In early 2020, city coun-
cilors unanimously approved
a request for up to $25,000
from the building reserve
fund to coordinate work,
review materials and prepare
a cost estimate for a bond.
Offi cials had hoped to put
a fi rehouse bond before vot-
ers last year, but delays in
negotiations as a result of the
coronavirus pandemic stalled
discussions. Part of the ongo-
ing delay includes discus-
sions between the city and the
Palisades Homeowners Asso-
ciation for an undeveloped
right of way.
Talks have picked up, City
Attorney Peter Watts said.
He said he had been in con-
tact with John Crawford, the
board president of the home-
owners association.
“We’ve got a lot of com-
munity education that we will
need to do so people under-
stand the issue,” Watts said.
“I’ve been able to explain
some of these concepts to
him and gotten him up to
speed and make sure his
group receives accurate infor-
mation. Hopefully, we have a
plan they can get behind.”
Crawford confi rmed dis-
cussions with the city were
ongoing. “It’s at our board
level and no decisions have
been made,” he said.
Watts said negotiations
will come down to trust.
“We’re going to need them
to trust us and we’re going to
need to trust them,” he said.
“Assuming we can get there,
we’ll have an outcome where
we have a potentially great
facility that will be attractive
to current and future volun-
teers that is at a safe eleva-
tion so that in an event of a
tsunami our fi rst responders
can get there. I’m cautiously
optimistic.”
City s taff will present the
costs of property acquisition
and building construction to
the City Council at a work ses-
sion on March 30, Sweet said.
After the council is pre-
sented with the information
they may decide to move for-
ward with a November elec-
tion to approve the bond ,
ask for more information, or
instruct staff to fi nd an alter-
native to the High Point site.
Costs are being fi nalized,
Sweet said.
Fire Chief Bill Eddy, who
has guided the department as
chief since 2000, watched a
nearly $4 million bond for a
new fi re station and city hall
fail with voters in 2006. “The
citizens of Gearhart are going
to have to make that deci-
sion, what they feel is right,
what their pocketbooks feel
are right,” he said. “Anything
and everything is very pos-
sible. Something needs to be
done. Gearhart has fi refi ght-
ers. They need a fi re station.”
Parker: View from the new track is ‘gorgeous’
Continued from Page A1
Godogredo Vasquez/Albany Democrat-Herald
Kimber Parker takes part in the Oregon
State University drama production of
‘Kiss Me, Kate’ in 2016.
wanted to be a choir teacher.”
Along the way, Parker sang at
Oregon State University with Bella
Voce in chamber choir. Parker taught
men’s choir for a term and was in
opera and musical theater. She is
active in music at her church.
While Parker was also working
on her athletic career as a triathlete
at Oregon State , she was well on her
way down the music road .
Looking for work after graduat-
ing , a job interview for choir teacher
brought Parker to Seaside.
“My husband and I saw that Sea-
side had a job opening,” she said.
“We thought, ‘Seaside’s fun, let’s
just go for the interview and spend
the day.’ ( Principal) Jeff Roberts
offered me the job the next day. We
thought about it, and decided it was
the best move for us. Jeff was ultra
helpful. He said he really wanted us
as part of their school community.
His coming to me and asking what
we needed was so reassuring.”
And now Parker teaches choir
for both Seaside middle and high
school students.
The choir numbers at the high
school are smaller this year — 40
students, down from 65 — most
likely because of more online
schooling.
“We go back for in-person on
March 16, but we won’t be using
our brand new choir room,” Parker
said, “so we’ll be singing in the
auxiliary gym, which has ample
spacing between singers,” along
with good acoustics.
Meanwhile, Parker’s husband
works at the middle school, is head
lifeguard for Cannon Beach in the
summer and volunteers with the
Cannon Beach fi re department.
Both love the outdoors, and
Parker will love it even more
as the Gulls get deeper into the
cross-country and track seasons.
The view from the new track
is “gorgeous,” Parker said. “If
you run counter-clockwise around
the track, it’s the most beautiful
curve, and it feels like you’re run-
ning straight off a cliff towards the
ocean. It’s a million-dollar view up
here.”
The rest of her family remains in
the Willamette Valley.
“My parents (Scott and Miriam
Swanson) bought a small weekly
newspaper in Sweet Home,” said
Parker, explaining the reason for
the move from Los Angeles to
Oregon. “My dad was a journal-
ism professor, and now runs two
weekly newspapers in the Willa-
mette Valley. I grew up in a news-
paper offi ce.”
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