6A • January 8, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Downtown trash collection to get artistic
New garbage receptacles
to include decorated doors
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
These trash cans almost
look too good to put trash in.
Artistically decorated recep-
tacles are the newest effort
by the Seaside Public Works
Department to make the
downtown cleaner and more
attractive.
The project should wind
up in the spring, when 43
new receptacles are installed
on Broadway and those cur-
rently on the street get rotated
elsewhere downtown, bring-
ing the total to about 250 re-
ceptacles, Public Works Di-
rector Dale McDowell said.
McDowell is gathering
ideas for how to make the
garbage receptacles more
visually appealing. At the
weekly Seaside Downtown
Development Association
meeting Dec. 31, Executive
Director Tita Montero shared
photos of examples for the
style of art that could be used.
The downtown associ-
ation is partnering on the
project and donated $1,500
to purchase additional col-
lection cans for the inside of
the receptacles so the cans
can be removed and washed
more frequently, Montero
said.
KATHERINE LACAZE PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
The Seaside Public Works Department provided the Seaside Downtown Development Associ-
ation with a few samples of potential artwork styles to be used for the new garbage recepta-
cles to be placed on Broadway in the spring.
Each new receptacle will
cost about $650 apiece, or
closer to $800 apiece includ-
ing shipping and handling,
McDowell said. Adjacent ash
urns, under consideration,
would cost an additional
$129.
The downtown associa-
tion has discussed the need
for more garbage receptacles
on several occasions during
the past few years.
“We all know that regular
trash removal and keeping
the containers as clean as
possible are also major fac-
tors inÀuencing the opinion
that residents and visitors
have about our downtown,”
Montero said.
McDowell said City Man-
ager Mark Winstanley, who
personally picks up trash
downtown, also recognized
the need and approved the
project.
Especially on busy days
during the summer, the down-
town trash cans tend to ¿ll ²
and overÀow ² quicker than
they are emptied by the Pub-
lic Works Department.
“We get so busy in the
summertime,”
McDowell
said. “The crew has a hard
time keeping up because
there are so many people.”
It has been several years
since the downtown area got
more trash cans. McDowell
hopes, by adding more re-
ceptacles, they will not ¿ll
as quickly and people will
be more incentived to throw
away their garbage rather
than littering.
While researching a good
model, McDowell consid-
ered a few important aspects
of the receptacles: they need
to have side doors for remov-
ing trash, to prevent injuries
from city employees pulling
full, heavy trash bags out
vertically; the doors must
lockable and have a ¿nish for
Museum seeks ‘new people’ to carry on
Saltmakers from Page 1A
Tucker said the event’s
“lack of authenticity” and
inability to meet “National
Park Service standards for
¿rst-person interpretation”
were the main reasons the
government agency termi-
nated its involvement.
The program is also ex-
pensive, especially since it
is not held on National Park
Service property, Tucker
said. Faced with dwindling
budgets, the agency cannot
afford to use human resourc-
es and funds to be a partner
for the event.
Program fails
to meet ‘standards’
In January 1806, after the
Corps of Discovery settled
into Fort Clatsop, a detach-
ment came down to Seaside
with Capt. William Clark to
make salt to preserve food
for the winter and the trip
back to the United States.
“The Saltmakers Return to
Seaside” recreated the expe-
rience, providing an interac-
tive opportunity for people
to learn about the explorers.
The museum, in partnership
with the Lewis and Clark
National Historical Park,
started the program in 2001.
The presentation was held
on the beach in Seaside and
typically attracted about
2,000 people a year.
“First-person interpreta-
tion is extremely dif¿cult,
and it is rarely done within
the National Park Service
because it takes historically
accurate interpreters to do the
programming,” Tucker said.
Volunteer program man-
ager and park ranger Sally
Freeman agreed, adding the
National Park Service needs
interpreters who resemble the
historical ¿gures and can ac-
curately portray them through
training and research.
“It’s a huge challenge,”
she said.
The program
Until last year, the mu-
seum contracted with in-
terpreters from the Paci¿c
Northwest Living Histori-
ans. They dressed in period
costume to portray members
of the expedition as they
made salt from seawater
for visitors over a 48-hour
time period. Technically the
interpreters volunteered for
the park service, though,
so they could fall under the
agency’s liability insurance.
The arrangement was “an
awkward piece” that should
have been identi¿ed as prob-
lematic 10 years ago “and
wasn’t,” Tucker said.
The event was designed so
visitors would feel they actu-
ally were entering the Corps
of Discovery’s encampment
in 1806. They could even
barter with time period-ap-
propriate items.
“We asked people to
transport themselves and
their minds to the camp,”
Freeman said.
However, it was deter-
mined through discussions
last year that the Paci¿c
Northwest Living Historians
no longer could physically
“represent the Corps of Dis-
covery in the ¿rst-person” in
a historically accurate way
and had not recruited new
members to step into those
roles, Tucker said.
Last year, the program
turned into a one-day event,
and National Park Service
rangers provided a third-per-
son representation, with in-
terpreters dressed in period
costume but not trying to
play speci¿c historical ¿g-
ures, Freeman said.
The National Park Service
invited the Paci¿c Northwest
Living Historians to partic-
ipate in the third-person in-
terpretation event, but they
declined.
“It seemed like it went just
as well that way,” Freeman
said.
The agency does not plan
to continue as a partner for
The Saltmakers Return, even
as a third-person interpretive
event, Tucker said.
“It’s too cost-prohibitive
for a one-day program,”
powered by
a long life; and the external
parts of the receptacles must
be made of cement so they
can be power-washed.
The model selected, man-
ufactured by Gilmore-Kram-
er, has a life expectancy of
about 10 years and the ¿nish
should last about three years.
The artwork could be
painted on the doors by stu-
dents or other community
members or it could be vi-
nyl decals, which are easy to
clean and can be replaced.
“No two have to be the
same,” McDowell said.
He still is taking input on
the art aspect, but the depart-
ment will not use advertise-
ments. The new receptacles
will be put along Broadway,
“because we want the art-
work there,” McDowell said,
and the others will be moved
to different locations down-
town.
“We’ll kind of rotate our
stock a little bit,” he said.
Once the department
gauges how the public re-
sponse to the new look, Mc-
Dowell can decide if they
will continue the trend of us-
ing artwork to spruce up the
downtown.
“We’re just trying to step
it up a little bit,” he said. He
likes the samples he has re-
searched so far. “For a gar-
bage can, they look really
doggone good.”
He wants everyone on the
same page before ordering
the receptacles, but he plans
to get them installed before
spring break.
Montero said the associ-
ation looks forward “to the
culmination of this goal.”
To give input to McDow-
ell, email dmcdowell@city-
ofseaside.us or call (503)
738-5112.
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A living historian at the 2013 Saltmakers Return event.
he said, adding the park
also discontinued its own
¿rst-person living history
program, called “Wintering
Over,” held annually the
weekend before Martin Lu-
ther King Jr. Day.
Seeking new
options
The national park will
seek
opportunities
to
work with the museum on
cost-effective
programs
that highlight Seaside’s
historical signi¿cance and
connection to the Corps of
Discovery expedition.
Without going through
the National Park Service,
the Seaside Museum can-
not provide liability insur-
ance for volunteers for an
event like the Saltmakers,
Montero said. Additional-
ly, the museum’s own vol-
unteer population is aging,
she said.
“This program needs
new people” if it’s going
to continue, said Monte-
ro, who also serves on the
Seaside City Council. “It’s
a very labor-intensive pro-
gram.”
Rather than letting the
program struggle and “slide
downhill slowly,” the mu-
seum board decided “it’s
much better in our mind to
stop and regroup,” Montero
said.
To reach a decision
about the event’s long-term
continuation, the muse-
um board is inviting com-
munity organizations and
residents to participate in
a series of discussions re-
garding the requirements,
processes and possibilities
for resuming the program
in 2017.
“We want to open the
door for anybody to join
with us and be part of the
whole thing,” Montero
said.
People interested in par-
ticipating can call 503-738-
7065 or visit the museum at
570 Necanicum Drive.
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