December 8, 2006

Sleepy Washougal wakes up, gets spiffy

Image courtesy of Sienna Architecture Co. [enlarge]

Lone Wolf Investments is building Washougal Town Square, a mixed-use center at 17th and A that will seek LEED silver rating.

A housing boom is fueling a slew of projects that are changing downtown Washougal, the Clark County city of 10,800 that lies 17 miles east of Vancouver.

The city broke ground last month on a $7.5 million downtown revitalization project that will enlarge its central park and improve streets, landscaping and infrastructure.

The city also will build a pedestrian tunnel under state Route 14 to connect 17th Street, a downtown thoroughfare, with the Columbia River. That $2 million project would be built in a separate phase in 2008.

Nabiel Shawa, the city's administrator since 2004, said Washougal has tinkered with downtown revitalization off and on for the past 15 years as new retail sprang up outside the city center.

Studies completed in 2000 suggested revitalization might pay off for the city, but it might not, Shawa said. “It was on the edge of making sense in terms of investment.”

Things have changed in recent years, however, as affluent commuters snapped up hillside lots with dramatic views of Mount Hood, the Columbia River Gorge and East Portland. Washougal issued about 760 new home permits in the past couple of years.

“It's completely changed the complexion of what was once a sleepy blue-collar mill town,” Shawa said.

Rendering by Anita Lehmann

City officials want to build a civic center with a city hall and library. The materials would mainly be wood and stone to echo the nearby Columbia Gorge.

Encouraged by the newcomers, the city put its revitalization plans in motion.

LMN Architects helped the city devise new zoning that emphasizes mixed uses. Shawa said the city is drawing on its location as a jumping off point into the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area to help define its downtown identity.

Buildings will feel more urban than historic, he said, and use natural materials such as basalt rock and timber.

The first phase of construction will focus on areas along 15th Street, B Street between 15th and 18th streets, and along 17th Street. There will be new lighting, landscaping, curbs, sidewalks, crosswalks, bike lanes, buried utilities, and other stormwater and streetscape changes.

Most visibly, Reflection Park at 17th and B will be redesigned, gaining a fountain, a 75-foot-tall bell tower and a free Wi-Fi hot spot.

The brick-paved park is intended to become “a smaller-scale version of Portland's Pioneer Square,” Shawa said.

Project team members include Wallis Engineering and Tapani Underground. That work is expected to wrap up next fall.

The city's efforts have started to attract private developers.

Wes Hickey of Lone Wolf Investments is building Washougal Town Square, a 48,000-square-foot commercial and retail center at 17th and A. The full-block development, which is slated to open next July, will seek LEED silver rating.

Sienna Architecture Co. is the designer and Walsh Construction is the general contractor.

Also nearby, Hickey is planning three smaller mixed-use projects that Sienna will design.

In February the city will seek voter approval for a $7.5 million bond to build a civic center to house a city hall, public library, senior center and community meeting rooms.

The plan also includes a flag plaza. The 25,000-square-foot civic center would be built on the site of the current civic campus at 17th and C. It would have two related buildings, set about 30 feet apart.

The first building would house the library and senior center, separated by three shared meeting rooms. The city hall, which makes up a third of the total square footage, would be built in a second phase.

The community requested the project be built with materials that are “of the (Columbia River) Gorge,” said Rex Bond, principal-in-charge for ARC Architects in Seattle.

The materials, mainly wood and stone, are intended to remind visitors of the area's rich history.

Another design goal was to give the buildings a sense of transparency, such as a glass facade for the city council chamber with views onto the plaza.

“It will be light and airy,” Bond said, adding that the current city hall has no windows into the council chamber.

The campus buildings will share similar roof forms and materials, offering some visual unity despite their different uses.

Landscaping would progress from the formal plaza at the southern edge of the campus to a more natural area with “outdoor pocket rooms.”

SvR Design Co. is handling landscaping and civil engineering work for the project.

If the bond measure is approved, work can begin in early 2008 and finish by the start of 2009.

The city is also working with engineering consultants at Reid Middleton to ease congestion along a 3-mile stretch of state Route 14 by replacing traffic lights with several roundabouts. The city is seeking funding for that $15 million project.