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Willamette Falls Legacy Project (Goal 1)
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RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Staff will provide an overview of the anticipated Willamtte Falls Legacy Project work over the next biennium and support a discussion by the City Commission on the proposed goal.
BACKGROUND:
Goal 1: Cultivate an Environment for Successful Economic Development
Willamette Falls Legacy Project
• Complete the Federal, State and Local permit approval process for phase 1 of the Riverwalk and begin construction in the spring of 2020.
• Continue to work with the property owner to determine future private development on the site including funding, infrastructure, parking and development strategies.
For more than 150 years, the inspiring beauty of Willamette Falls has been closed to the public. This will soon change as Oregon City, Clackamas County, Metro, the State, property owner, along with a dedicated team of community advocates, business people and interested members of the public, bring the Falls back to the people. While the Willamette Falls Legacy Project centers on two tightly intertwined but separate initiatives, each of which is critical to the success of the other: the redevelopment of the 22-acre site, which is privately owned by Falls Legacy LLC, and the design and construction of a public riverwalk on a portion of the site.
The riverwalk is a public access project that will reconnect historic downtown Oregon City to Willamette Falls. The City has been working in partnership with Metro, the State, Clackamas County, PGE, and the property owner to create a riverwalk with a variety of experiences which implement our four core values: public access, historic and cultural interpretation, economic redevelopment and habitat restoration. This community guided process included input received at hundreds of tours and hundreds of community engagement meetings and events.
Implementation of this goal includes a variety of tasks. The project team is looking forward to completing the Federal, State and Local permit approval process for phase 1 of the Riverwalk over the next fifteen months and beginning construction in the spring of 2020. Staff will continue to support the property owner with preliminary engineering and design of public infrastructure such as stormwater, sewer, water and street design as well as identification of a strategy to pursue state and federal funding for construction of onsite roadways. Lastly, collaboration will continue with the Willamette Falls Trust (formally Rediscover the Falls) on a programming plan while they begin their capital campaign to raise financial support for the Riverwalk.