The reason for excitement can be summed up in one simple sentence: “The last time the public could set foot there was 113 years ago.”
For more than a century, local residents have been cut off from the Columbia River near downtown Vancouver, preventing views of one of the region’s cultural landmarks. As Troy Brynelson reported for The Columbian: “A sawmill occupied the property beginning in 1905, and it eventually became a paper mill. Boise Cascade bought the mill in 1962, running papermaking operations until 1996.”
The process of selling, cleaning up and developing the site to the west of the Interstate 5 Bridge has been arduous. So, with city officials announcing that Sept. 29 will mark the grand opening for a 7.3-acre park and Grant Street Pier, there is a sense of rebirth as the city takes a leap toward the future. The park is part of the Waterfront Vancouver development that will include residential, office and retail space, but it is appropriate that the park is the first announced opening.
For most of the 20th century, American cities had a shortsighted habit of limiting access to their waterfronts. This was somewhat understandable, as waterfronts typically were required for industrial use — such as sawmills and railroad access. But it also is aggravating to the modern eye, one which views water access as having more value for quality-of-life amenities than for industries that now are often outdated.
And don’t get us started on Portland, where planners for some reason thought it was a good idea to pave over the east bank of the Willamette River for an interstate freeway through the heart of the city. Portland’s west bank not long ago also was the site of a freeway, and the benefits of turning it into Tom McCall Waterfront Park can be seen in community events throughout the year.
Vancouver’s new park will not allow direct access to the swift-flowing Columbia. But the pier will extend 90 feet over the river, and the thought of sipping a beer or licking an ice-cream cone while enjoying a view of the Columbia represents a vast improvement over decades of industrial use at the site.
To understand the benefits of vibrant public spaces, local residents need look no further than a couple blocks from the waterfront development — to Esther Short Park. In the mid-1990s, then-Mayor Royce Pollard was accosted by a vagrant in the 5-acre park, which at the time was forested and occupied only by, as Pollard put it, “guys in there doing nasty stuff.” Cleanup efforts returned the park to the public and triggered a downtown revitalization. Within a couple years, the blocks on all four sides of the park had new development, and Esther Short Park now effectively serves as our community living room with dozens of events over the course of the year.
The economic benefits of such revitalization are clear; the aesthetic benefits are more difficult to quantify but no less important. Esther Short Park has helped turn Vancouver into a vibrant, lively, modern city, and there is reason to believe the waterfront development will have a similar impact.
Therefore, it is fitting that the park is the first part of the development to have its grand opening pinpointed. Parks are inherently egalitarian spaces that are welcoming to all. By inviting the public to enjoy the benefits of our proximity to the Columbia River for the first time in a century, the new development is reason for excitement.
