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Thursday, September 02, 2010
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| 12/29/2009 4:51:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article
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Photos by DAMIAN MULINIX/Chinook Observer
Trees, brush and rubble are being cleared alongside the road near Beards Hollow during the creation of the new overlook that will offer vistas of Benson Beach. |
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| Project manager Gary Kobes, center in orange coat, meets with developers and designers during construction. |
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Beards Hollow to offer new vista
By AMANDA FRINK
Observer Staff Writer
ILWACO - A makeshift gravel lot at the side of the road and a graffiti covered guardrail will soon become a scene of the past as workers from Astoria's Wilkins Construction are gradually transforming the Beards Hollow Overlook into a more accommodating and welcoming tourist stop.
Since starting the cliffside makeover on Oct. 12, Wilkinson has removed approximately 7,000 yards of soil material to make room for a new 17-space, concrete paved parking lot overlooking the Pacific Ocean. All the soil debris has been dumped right across the street at Discovery Heights, property owned by MSW Developers Rich Marshall, Stan Sorenson and Brian Wirkkala.
Project Manager Gary Kobes, of Landside Resources, says the most recent challenges have been grading delays due to excessive rain and fallen trees caused by a recent storm, all of which has been considered and inspected by geotech engineers as a precaution.
"We're at least a month behind schedule," says Kobes of the expected completion date. "We're looking at closer to the end of March [2010] now."
When the project is complete in the spring, a landscaping island will separate the overlook lot from the Loop 100 road, which will be slightly realigned for a tighter curve. Fifty-four-inch tall concrete brick pillars will border the outer edges of the lot for safety, while the remaining portion of the cliffside will be secured with a cyclone fences so to not obstruct the ocean view. In addition to general hardscaping, there are also plans to build a multipurpose trail to connect the overlook lot to North Head Road and the Discovery Trail.
Ilwaco city councilman Fred Marshall says the overlook project as a whole has "great tourist and resident amenties that comprise a new corridor of sites of interest for viewing and recreation along the northern part of SR 100 Loop. In combination, they make an attraction that according to Marshall says, 'This is a good/interesting place to visit.' As it's all mostly in Cape Disappointment State Park, you can be sure that parks will take advantage of the overlook site for an interesting interpretive treatment. It overlooks the path that the Corps of Discovery used to travel north from North Head and along the beach. It overlooks the crabbing fleet this time of year. It provides an opportunity for whale watching...," Marshall continued.
"It will be a real nice addition to the area," says Kobes.
Originally a city of Long Beach project, improvements to the overlook were spearheaded by former Long Beach city administrator Nabiel Shawa and former community development director Jim Sayce in the early 1990s.
"The enthusiasm for the Lewis and Clark Trail led many of the states to include portions of their highway system, and in Washington it also includes the Loop 100 road and parts of 101, 401 and Highway 4," Sayce recalls. "There aren't many places where you can see the Pacific Ocean from a state highway and it turned out Beards Hollow was one of them. And, it turned out that the other places were way up north of us ... Beards Hollow is a historic place for people, but it's a bad curve, people whip around it - it's a dangerous place for people to pull off there. [We envisioned it to] be a place where people could safely pull off the highway and get a fabulous look at Pacific Ocean and Beards Hollow."
Sayce and Shawa eventually joined together with State Parks, the city of Ilwaco, Pacific County and MSW to formulate the plans and obtain the first federal grants - a National Scenic Byway Program grant and a Federal Highways Administration High Priority grant totaling of $259,424. Later on, the city of Ilwaco took the lead in 2006 and added the southern extension of Discovery Trail to the list of its construction goals.
"At that point there was no money for paving the trail and not enough for the overlook," explains Marshall, who assisted the city of Ilwaco in the fundraising and guiding the development efforts until a contractor was hired. "With the help of the Pacific County Transportation Advisory Council, the Pacific County of Governments and Rosemary Siipola at the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Council of Governments Regional Transportation Planning Organization (who serve Pacific County as well), Congressman Brian Baird secured an additional appropriation of $344,040 in FY 2008 Public Lands Highways Discretionary funds through the FHWA which we received in August 2008. With these funds in hand, along with a $25,000 grant from Pacific County, we were able to proceed with paving the southern portion of the Discovery Trail and this part of the project was completed in June 2009."
He continues, "While we always had hopes that there would now be enough money to proceed with the overlook, our engineers advised us otherwise. There were some surprises. Part of the overlook design provides for a connector trail from the Beards Hollow Overlook down to the Discovery Trail where it crosses the highway. To squeeze this trail along the west side of the road forced us to slightly realign the highway - not an inexpensive undertaking. And, for such a little parking lot, it's rather amazing the magnitude of the stormwater management facilities required. We ended up being forced to construct a stormwater detention pond of some size, find a location for it and to run some 600 feet of stormwater pipe. Fortunately, MSW was kind enough to grant the city an easement for the pond as part of their avowed in-kind contribution to the project - a commitment which originated with Long Beach. In early 2009, we were in the fortunate situation that the engineering had long been completed and we were ready to go out for bid for construction of the overlook - subject to having adequate funding. This was fortunate because the call for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects came out for 'shovel ready' projects and the overlook design was indeed 'shovel ready.' We secured $100,000 of stimulus funding which allowed the project to go out for bid in August 2009, leading to an award to Wilkins Construction in September 2009."
The overlook and trail paving project brought in grants totaling over $700,000. A little over $400,000 of the funding is designated to the overlook construction contract.
"I really thank the city of the Ilwaco for taking that project over to the end," says Sayce. "I'm proud of the civic pride in making amenities for our area that relate to tourism, recreation and scenic attributes we have. We live in a special area ... Lewis and Clark is the gift that keeps on giving."
"It's the last hurrah in the Discovery Trail, and it's a big save view issue - it's a fantastic view of the ocean from that point, and you can see the North Head Lighthouse and the North Jetty," says incoming Ilwaco mayor Mike Cassinelli. "People on their way to state parks were already stopping along there to look at the ocean and take pictures. It's going to give people here something else to enjoy about the excellent ambiance and what we have to offer in this area."
"Our economic well-being depends on bringing new businesses and new construction into Ilwaco," says Marshall. "It's a long and tedious process of taking 'baby steps' in each new building that's built, each one that's renovated and each new piece of infrastructure. The First and Howerton project was one of those, the Discovery Trail is one of those, the new community building is one of those and the Beards Hollow Overlook is one of those that were government projects. Added to the private investments they all add up. No one project will secure our economy and our future. But, in combination, they all work together to make a real difference."
As of last week, Kobes estimated that the overlook improvements are 20 percent complete.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Sunday, January 03, 2010
Article comment by:
Judy Anderson McNeal
More and more, I am beginning to understand how the "old timers" of Ilwaco felt when they would express their sadness or disgust at the renovations or progress made to their town and surroundings. As a child, I used to listen to Emil "Boomy" Westerlund tell his stories, with a wistful and sad note of regret at "the way things were" with the mild, impatient disinterest of the young. Now, as I see old familiar surroundings disappear and the "new and innovative" tourist attractions appear on the scraped and black topped area's, I understand.
And I do understand the need to keep up with the economy, the growth, and yep, "the times they are a'changin', but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I'm sad to see our look-out, that broad chunk of guardrail disappear. Even though I may have scraped a fender or two on it trying to get as close as I could in a rain storm, to see the wild surf(sorry Mom!). And what teen didn't perfect the art of that curve at questionable speeds in our high school years?!
So, "goodbye old friendly spot", and "Hello New and Improved". I'm sure my arthritic knee will appreciate the more accessable parking rather than the climb up that path on the knoll for yet another sunset photo!
Posted: Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Article comment by:
Class of '73
Nice work everyone! Thanks very much.
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