Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Seaside signal. (Seaside, Or.) 1905-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2016)
6A • September 2, 2016 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com Seaside Convention Center set to grow Convention Center opens reservation books to 2025 By R.J. Marx Seaside Signal Got a convention in 2025? Now you can book it at the Seaside Civic and Convention Center. The City Council gave the convention center approval to move forward with plans for an expansion and renovation project. “This gives us the ability to open our calendars up to 2020-2025 knowing we have the consensus of the council and mayor, if we are success- ful in the funding process,” said Russ Vandenberg, the center’s general manager. “It means the council supports our recommendation to reno- vate and add additional space to the center.” Costs are projected at $14.6 million, and could be paid by bonds sold by the city, backed by a 2-percent in- crease in the city’s room tax. Vandenberg said he not only hopes to recruit larger groups, but to keep current clients. “They’ve grown over the last 25, 30 years and we ha- ven’t added any space in 25 years,” he said. The construction proj- ect would add about 10,000 square feet to the existing 62,000-square-foot facili- ty, and renovate more than 13,000 square feet of the cur- rent space. The plan allows the city to be “architect of its own desti- ny,” Vandenberg said. At earlier meetings, Van- denberg said the expansion would meet requirements of 60 percent of the organiza- tions within a 300-mile radius of Seaside and increase mar- ket penetration by 20 percent. The project will allow larger and more diverse groups to use the center, he said, illing a need not only for the convention cen- ter, but the entire downtown business community. The convention’s last ex- pansion in 1991 was funded by an increase in the room tax. Mayor Don Larson called STEELE ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS LLC Proposed renovation plans for the exterior of the Seaside Civic and Convention Center. STEELE ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS LLC STEELE ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS LLC A rendering of the convention center’s southeast corner. the convention center plans an “amazing presentation for an amazing structure.” “We’re iring the starting gun,” Councilor Jay Barber said as councilors unanimous- ly approved the go-ahead. After inancing approvals, the renovation’s design phase could take six months and construction up to two years, Vandenberg said. Renovation plans for the main loor of the Seaside Civic and Convention Center. DINING on the NORTH COAST Charter is last link in repair project ‘They should be done by now.…We’ve been really having to struggle to get them to respond.’ Charter from Page 1A “It’s very frustrating be- cause we’re so close,” Public Works Director Dale Mc- Dowell told the Seaside City Council last week. “Right now we’re just waiting on Charter. We’re ready to inish this thing off. We’ve called headquarters every day, twice a day, told them you’ve got to get more people out here.” Until Charter’s equipment is down, the city is unable to start sidewalks and land- scapes, Seaside City Engineer Geoff Liljenwall said. “It’s an inconvenience to the tourists, it’s an inconvenience to the residents.” “They had their iber op- tic trucks out there today,” he said this morning. “They’ve had people out there each day during the work week, but I really can’t tell you if there’s an uptick of activity.” The $3.4 million North Holladay Drive project began in mid-January, and impacted homeowners, businesses, bus routes, pedestrians, vehicles and utilities. Workmen replaced exist- ing sewer, water and force Geof Liljenwall, Seaside city engineer R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL Cable must be removed from wires before poles can be taken down. mains before reconnecting water and sewer services. Plans called for the installa- tion of underground vaults and conduits for conversion of the existing overhead util- ities — including electrical, telephone and cable — to un- derground utilities. The cable is the last utili- ty to be removed before poles are taken out and landscaping and sidewalks can be com- pleted. “They should be done by now,” Liljenwall said. “By the end of July, they should have started and they should have been done by the third week in August. We have great weather right now, but as everyone knows the weath- er could change in September and October. Asphalt plants might not be open in October when we’re done.” Repeated calls from the city up the corporate ladder failed to yield results, Lilj- enwall said. He said he was passed from the company ofice in Astoria to another branch in Kennewick, Wash- ington. “I don’t even have a irm date,” he said. “We’ve been really having to struggle to get them to respond.” After that conversation, The Daily Astorian reached out to Charter Cable. They referred the newspa- per to a regional communica- tions ofice in San Diego for comment. On Thursday morning, Lil- jenwall received a call from a subcontractor with news that cable trucks were on their way. “The subcontractor said he’s ‘gonna have three trucks of these, three trucks of those,’” Liljenwall said. “He said they should be done be- fore Labor Day.” By midmorning, about a dozen cable workers could be seen up and down North Hol- laday Drive. “We have been in contact with the city and recently partnered with a third-party contractor in order to expe- dite this project,” Charter’s Bret Picciolo said via email Thursday. “We plan to have all work completed within the next two weeks.” “I guess from all my calls and the newspaper, they were out there in force today,” Lilj- enwall said. Is he conident Charter can meet the Labor Day comple- tion date? “The proof is in the pud- ding,” he said. “We don’t know. I can’t believe anything until I touch it or see it.” Horning urges focus on bridge readiness Horning from Page 1A that we need to make this the equivalent of a war footing.” Horning was elected to the Sunset Empire Park and Recre- ation District board eight years ago and continues to serve in that role. He is a Seaside plan- ning commissioner and former member of the parks advisory committee. A member of the board of directors of the North Coast Land Conservancy, he is a founder of the city’s tsunami advisory group. Horning works as a geologi- cal consultant based in Seaside. “The tsunami advisory group gave the city of Seaside a tsunami strategic investment plan,” he said. “It established the scenario we thought they should be planning for. We gave them a timeline, we gave them a budget and proposed a mech- anism in which the city could raise funds. They said ‘thanks,’ and the next words out of their mouths were, ‘now let’s move on to more important stuff.’” Replacing the city’s bridges could save thousands of lives, he said. “Right now there are so many bridges that will collapse people will be stranded and won’t be able to get to safety,” he said. “They will be killed. The obvious thing to do is construct bridges as fast as you can.” Replacement of the city’s most vulnerable crossings could be completed at a cost of about $50 million and save thousands of lives, he said. The city should start looking at funding mecha- nisms now, with options includ- ing added fees for water bills, road levies or outside funds from state and federal govern- ments. “If we can’t get money from outside, we need to tax ourselves,” he said. ‘I think the school bond ought to be delayed until the bridges are fixed.… It’s well-meaning, but it’s backward.’ Tom Horning Seaside needs to show some “skin in the game” when approaching state and federal agencies for funds, Horning said, “to show we’re doing ev- erything we can and still can’t pull it off.” A Seaside School District bond vote is expected to ask voters for nearly $100 million to raise money for a new school campus outside the tsunami zone. Horning is not sure that’s not putting the cart before the horse. “I think the school bond ought to be delayed until the bridges are ixed,” he said. “The odds are very good stu- dents won’t be in school when it hits. Wouldn’t it be some- thing to have an earthquake hit on a weekend, when no kids are in school, no lives are saved through the school dis- trict and then we let everybody else in town die because we haven’t built bridges yet? It’s well-meaning, but it’s back- ward.” Whether schools or bridges take precedence, the city needs to take action. “The tsunami is possibly going to happen in our lives,” he said. “We need to be ready for it. We’re morally obligated to get on with it.” City Councilor Randy Frank, meanwhile, is running for re-election in Wards 1 and 2 and Councilor Seth Morrisey is bidding for a second term in Ward 4. ROBERT CAIN LD, 45 Years of Experience TWO LOCATIONS SEASIDE & HILLSBORO 740 Ave H • Ste 2 • Seaside 232 NE Lincoln • Ste B • Hillsboro FREE CONSULTATION Th e Bridge Morning Show With Mark Evans 6 am to 10 am Spend Aft ernoons With Skye 2 pm to 8 pm www.949thebridge.com • Dentures for all ages, New, Partials and Custom Dentures • Dentures for implants • Relines & Repairs • Denture repairs done same day! • Personal service and attention to detail Open Wednesday and Friday • 9-4:30 • 503-738-7710 Great Restaurants in: GEARHART SEASIDE CANNON BEACH NATIONALLY FAMOUS CLAM CHOWDER • FRESH OREGON SEAFOOD R E STAU R A N T S CANNON BEACH 503-436-1111 Ocean Front at Tolovana Park www.moschowder.com Discover Patty’s Wicker Cafe on the Beautiful Necanicum River BREAKFAST & LUNCH MONDAY thru FRIDAY 6AM to 2PM Great Atmosphere • Great Food • Great Prices 600 Broadway Suite 7 & 8 • 503.717.1272 Excellence in family dining found from a family that has been serving the North Coast for the past 52 years Great Great Great Homemade pasta, Clam Breakfast, lunch and but that’s dinner steaks & Chowder, not all... menu,too! seafood! Salads! Seaside • 323 Broadway • 738-7234 (Open 7 Days) Cannon Beach • 223 S. Hemlock 436-2851 (7am-3pm Daily) Astoria • 146 W. Bond • 325-3144 WANNA KNOW WHERE THE LOCALS GO? • Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner BEST BREAKFAST IN TOWN! • Lighter appetite menu • Junior Something for Everyone menu Fish ‘n Chips • Burgers • Seafood & Steak Friday & Saturday - Prime Rib Lounge Open Daily 9-Midnight All Oregon Lottery products available 1104 S Holladay • 503-738-9701 • Open Daily at 8am MAZATLAN M E X I C A N R E S TA U R A N T Phone 503-738-9678 1445 S. Roosevelt Drive • Seaside