Title
Willamette Falls Legacy Project Riverwalk and Phase 1 Implementation
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Staff from Oregon City and Metro will present the preferred design for the riverwalk and discuss the next steps for Phase 1 permitting and construction.
BACKGROUND:
After years of planning and countless rounds of community input, the design for a public riverwalk alongside the Willamette River leading to Willamette Falls in Oregon City is complete. The riverwalk design will reveal a network of promenades and lofted pathways lacing through the site, providing visitors with an intimate experience of the river, falls and native habitat - while providing opportunities to learn about the area’s rich cultural and environmental history and support a reconnected downtown as an economic hub of the region.
After the Blue Heron paper mill closed in 2011, Metro, Oregon City, Clackamas County and the State of Oregon formed the Willamette Falls Legacy Project, whose goal is to create a public riverwalk for people to view Willamette Falls, which will be built on a portion of the 22-acre site, and establish a public-private strategy to spur redevelopment of the entire site, which is privately owned by Falls Legacy LLC.
Since 2013, the Willamette Falls Legacy Project has collected the input of thousands of community members from across the state in public meetings, events and surveys, using this feedback to guide a process that culminated in the unveiling of riverwalk design.
Groundbreaking and the start of construction for the riverwalk is expected to begin in 2018. Construction of Phase I of the riverwalk is expected to be completed in 2022.