Port and city leaders will host a public workshop in Ridgefield this evening to gather citizen input on integrating downtown revitalization plans with the redevelopment of its nearby Lake River waterfront.
The session will be held from 6-8 p.m. at the Ridgefield Community Center, 210 N. Main Ave. Funding for the planning project was furnished by a $100,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Since 1995, Ecology has overseen a major industrial cleanup of the port-owned waterfront site, which was contaminated by wood-treating chemicals used by its former and now bankrupt industrial tenant, Pacific Wood Treating.
Cleanup efforts are expected to finish up in two to four years. That could coincide with the completion of a $21 million construction project to widen the Interstate 5 overpass that brings traffic into Ridgefield, expected to be the next outlet for growth in Clark County.
