A3
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2021
Stairs: ‘Reality of living in a community’
Continued from Page A1
The city was not going
to step in and deal with the
retaining wall, she said.
O’Neel would have pre-
ferred to rebuild the wall
within the bounds of her
own property, but said con-
tractors advised her not to
touch it. A new wall would
have to be built back against
the foundation of the house.
“So there we were, left
with this crumbling wall
that the city won’t do any-
thing about and that we
can’t do anything about,”
O’Neel said. “So the only
choice was to cover it up
and make use of it as best
we could.”
‘Pigeon steps’
Ask someone where
the pigeon steps are in
Astoria and they’ll likely
point to the steep stair-
case that climbs 11th Street
between Irving Avenue and
Jerome, said local historian
and preservationist John
Goodenberger.
Astoria has several of
these so-called “pigeon
steps” — shallow, narrow
steps set on the city’s hilly
sidewalks — but the 11th
Street stairs are the most
obvious and picturesque
example.
The staircase is a natu-
ral draw for locals and the
many visitors who roam up
from downtown . Gooden-
berger lives near the stairs
and has a new appreciation
for the interest they com-
mand. He constantly sees
people walk up them to take
a picture from the top.
The staircase is formed
like an inverted “Y,” the
lower branches curving
around a raised fl ower bed
that contains a wide-armed
cherry tree. From there, a
steep staircase rises, bor-
dered by hedges. It ends
on Jerome, where people
get a sweeping view down
11th Street and across the
Columbia River.
The stairs echo the early
history of the oldest settle-
The 11th Street staircase is above downtown.
ment west of the Rockies,
when Astoria’s fi rst side-
walks were not concrete but
wood. To be precise: “wood
planks fastened crosswise
to beams laid directly in the
mud,” Goodenberger wrote
in a 2001 article about the
steps.
Early Astoria was not an
easy town to navigate. On
rainy days, the city’s wood
sidewalks — especially
those going uphill — could
be treacherous. To solve this
problem, some sidewalks
had wood cleats or slats
nailed to them.
When the city’s side-
walks were converted to
concrete between 1915
and 1930, the slats were
reimagined as shallow steps
— pigeon steps.
The 11th Street stairs,
designed by a city engineer
named Alfred Tee, were
built in 1927 to address what
residents termed the “tobog-
gan slide” on that particu-
lar street. Tee did not need
to make the stairs beautiful,
but he did, Goodenberger
said. Other pigeon steps,
like the ones that climb
Eighth Street across from
McClure Park, are much
more workmanlike and not
nearly as photographed.
“These steps, while not
unique, are special,” Good-
enberger concluded in his
article. “They are subtle,
easily overlooked details
which set Astoria apart from
other cities — especially
dreary, sprawling suburbia.
They are a reminder of a
time when pedestrians were
more than an afterthought to
street design.”
The 11th Street stairs and
surrounding green space are
included in the city’s parks
master plan and parks staff
care for the property. Main-
tenance is minimal, how-
ever, and overall restoration
work is not something the
department has considered
tackling. There are cracks in
the structure and the deco-
rative colonnades at the top
of the stairs are in disrepair.
Still, it is functional.
“It’s a throughway and
just a point of view,” Jonah
Dart-McL ean, the city’s
parks director, said, “and it
serves that purpose well.”
O’Neel has off ered to
fund the work to restore
the colonnades . That work
is going forward. But she
thinks the city could be
doing more to preserve the
stairs and the property as
a whole. If more extensive
work had been done in the
past, she feels she wouldn’t
be dealing with some of the
issues on her property now.
‘They know their job’
O’Neel and her husband,
who live in Arkansas, have
visited Astoria for decades
and long planned to buy
a home here. They hope
to move into the Jerome
house once renovations are
complete.
SUB-BIDS REQUESTED
For the city, the fact
remains that O’Neel pro-
ceeded with signifi cant
work on the property with-
out fi rst consulting the
city and gaining required
permits.
O’Neel has submit-
ted an application for a
license to occupy the right
of way, which, if approved,
would allow her to keep the
fence and the deck she has
built. Engineering staff are
reviewing her request and
will make a recommenda-
tion that could go to the City
Council for consideration.
O’Neel has already
reached out to her elected
offi cial, City Councilor Joan
Herman, who represents
the district where O’Neel’s
house is located. Herman
herself lives nearby.
Herman can sympathize
with O’Neel’s dilemma to
an extent.
“I know it’s diffi cult hav-
ing any government tell you
what you can and can’t do
with your property,” Her-
man said. But, she added,
“that’s the reality of living
in a community.”
In the end, Herman said
the situation is up to city
staff , who, in her opin-
ion, have gone out of their
way to meet with O’Neel,
explain the city’s require-
ments and work through
what is possible.
“I trust them to do a good
job,” she said. “They know
their job.”
As for the 11th Street
stairs, she feels they are an
important part of the city’s
landscape, something she
would want to see pre-
served, but there are other,
more pressing priorities.
The city faces costly
infrastructure
improve-
ments to keep water and
sewer systems working
properly, projects that cost
millions of dollars, accord-
ing to a recent presentation
to the City Council. Those
projects are much more on
Herman’s mind than the
condition of the pigeon
steps.
Colombo:
‘It’s hard not
being in there’
Continued from Page A1
“Comet
Power,”
Naselle’s
enthusiastic
chant, rang out from the
spectators’ gallery. But
it was a toss-up whether
the throng of blue-and-
yellow-clad adults was as
loud as one 5-foot-4-inch
teenager on the bench.
In the time out huddle,
coaches Rebekah Wirk-
kala and Hanna Higgin-
botham shaped plays to
help their Comets soar.
New colleague Kayti
Updike, a 2014 Naselle
graduate, provided fresh
eyes to their coaching
strategy.
Amid
them
all,
Colombo teamed with
managers Mylinh Schell
and Anii Laine to provide
the players refreshment
and encouragement.
It helped Wirkka-
la’s squad that a Naselle
track athlete, senior Echo
Cenci, has developed
into a skillful player and
could fi ll a starting role.
“It’s hard not being
in there,” Colombo said
as the tournament pro-
gressed. “But it’s great
seeing how good Echo is
right now. I have 100%
confi dence in her.”
And her cheerleading
role? “I’m glad that I can
help keep spirits up,” she
grinned.
Wirkkala was upset
about Colombo’s injury,
but not surprised by her
contribution.
“Her heart is 100%
on the court,” the coach
said. “I get so emotional
thinking about it. She
should be on the court!”
The fi rst-game bracket
pitted Naselle against
eastern Washington pow-
‘HER HEART IS
100% ON THE
COURT. I GET
SO EMOTIONAL
THINKING
ABOUT IT. SHE
SHOULD BE ON
THE COURT!’
Rebekah Wirkkala |
Naselle coach
erhouse Pomeroy.
After a few slips, the
Comets won 25-20, 25-16,
25-12 to advance to the next
round.
As the players embraced
in a circle, Colombo, for-
getting her crutches, hopped
into the melee and joined
the group hug. The winning
team was complete.
The Astoria City Council
wishes everyone a
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