Progress Report: Engineering & Design Teams Get to Work
Last week our engineering and design consultants, led by Shiels Obletz Johnsen (SOJ), were welcomed by our friends at Willamette Falls Paper Company to an initial feasibility tour of the proposed Inter-Tribal Public Access Project site located on the West Linn side of Willamette Falls. The engineering team made observations and took a plethora of notes during the tour which will inform the feasibility report.
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS & NEXT STEPS
SOJ is heading the Trust’s feasibility efforts and is a leading project management consultancy with a portfolio of award-winning work encompassing new construction, renovation, and historic preservation. Some of their featured projects include major renovations to Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square, Eugene’s Town Square Farmers Market Pavilion & Plaza, Seattle’s Pike Place Market and Central Waterfront, and the Oregon City Library.
“The feasibility phase of work will help us better understand the site conditions, opportunities, and challenges, as well as the regulatory requirements and timelines. We will continue to explore options for island access and habitat restoration and begin developing cost models for proposed site improvements. Importantly, it’s an opportunity to strengthen partnerships that will be essential to bringing this landmark, Tribal-led project to fruition.”
SOJ is also joined by several structural, waterway, and construction engineering and design firms to complete the study, including PLACE, the landscape architect of this project and winner of the 2021 ASLA Landmark Award and inaugural Architect MasterPrize Landscape & Urban Design Firm of the Year.
“Having access to the Falls on the west side was a generous offering that both PGE and the Willamette Falls Paper Company provided. I was not expecting to be overcome with so much emotion when I reached the closest point possible to the Falls, but tears fell from my eyes. In that moment as the sun came through the clouds and all the sounds of Industry faded by the song of the waterfall, I could feel my ancestors with me. Dreaming of the possibility where others may be able to see and feel such beauty, especially our Indigenous youth who inherit what we create. Our team is excited to begin this journey. Huu-cha~ Nesika Illahee.”
