Pacific Northwest: Projects

Susan Buel Elementary School (Oregon)

LOCATION: McMinnville, Ore.
SITE BACKGROUND: An empty field until the early 1950s, the asphalt plant was in full operation by the early 1960s until the mid-1990s when it was idled, vacated and eventually abandoned. From the mid-1990s until the site was cleaned up, it was used as an unauthorized public dump for abandoned vehicles and other debris and home to numerous squatters who started living at the site. After Yamhill County completed the initial cleanup and one year of groundwater monitoring, property ownership was transferred to the McMinnville School District utilizing a Prospective Purchasers Agreement to define environmental responsibilities and limit liability.
SIZE: A tale of two properties—one (11.86 acres) impacted by the operations of its neighbor, the other (1.6 acres) impacted by the asphalt batch plant that once operated on it.
COST: $880,000 in investigation and cleanup costs were incurred.
PARTNERS: Coles Environmental Consulting, Inc.; Linfield College; McMinnville School District; Yamhill County; Oregon Department of Environmental Quality; Ron Hixson Backhoe Service; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Milstead and Associates, Inc. DEQ partnered with Yamhill County through the preliminary assessment, tax foreclosure and environmental cleanup of the former 1.6-acre Martin & Wright Paving Co. site that now makes up the school’s landscaped parking lot and stormwater retention pond.
SYNOPSIS : The Susan Buel Elementary School project has been a win-win-win for the community, the environment and the new school, serving as a classic example of cooperation among various public entities and private contractors to achieve the worthy goal of revitalizing a blighted property and returning it to beneficial reuse. Throughout all phases of assessment, cleanup and redevelopment, both Yamhill County and the McMinnville School District worked diligently and beyond expectations. Together they, along with DEQ, U.S. EPA, and Linfield College, were the driving forces that transformed these two abandoned and blighted properties. The new school, a pending LEED Gold for Schools project, used state-of-the-art construction methods and was designed to minimize its overall environmental footprint through reduced energy and water consumption. The former asphalt plant site is now a landscaped parking lot and stormwater retention pond. Sources of contamination with potential impact to groundwater have essentially been removed.

Source: Oregon Economic & Community Development Dept.

Olympic Sculpture Park (Washington)

LOCATION: The Seattle waterfront.
SITE BACKGROUND: The site was a petroleum transfer and distribution facility from 1910-1975. In 1999, the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) purchased the property from Union Oil of California (UNOCAL) with private and public funding. To make the future park complete and accessible to the waterfront, SAM later acquired an additional property (10 Broad St.) with the support of the City of Seattle and King County and leased part of the Alaskan Way right-of-way.
SIZE: One large city block
FEATURES: The remediation and restorative design goes beyond the inspired landscape design and sculpture. With form and function working hand in hand, the cleanup and landscape design together prevent stormwater migration to subsurface areas that could not be reached for remediation and roll back stormwater discharge. Project engineers and designers recreated the original topography, where now there’s a continuous plane of ground from Western Avenue to the shoreline. This restores views and improves sun angles and pedestrian access. The Z-shaped path takes visitors past 22 sculptures and through a progression of native plant species and world-class sculpture. Beneath, a specially engineered layer of soil filters rain water, reduces runoff, and supports the re-growth of native plants. The shoreline and beach habitat were restored by removing fill debris to expose the original tidelands.
COST: $85 million including: City of Seattle: $6 million; King County: $1.7 million; State: $8.1 million; Federal: nearly $5 million
PARTNERS : The Olympic Sculpture Park evolved out of a mutual commitment of the Seattle Art Museum and the Trust for Public Land to preserve downtown Seattle’s last undeveloped waterfront property. The Department of Ecology provided oversight on the cleanup. Out of 52 designers from around the world, Weiss/Manfredi Architects of New York was selected as lead designer for the park.
SYNOPSIS : Opening in January 2007, the property is now a vibrant waterfront park that connects the Seattle Center with the waterfront and Myrtle Edwards Park. The vision and ingenuity of project stakeholders turned an unhealthy eyesore into a civic gem that attracts thousands of visitors each year

Source: www.seattleartmuseum.org

Joeys Restaurant (British Columbia)

LOCATION: 1424 West Broadway, Vancouver B.C.
SITE BACKGROUND: At the outset, the lot consisted of one primary building constructed in the 1960s, which occupied over 50% of the site. This building was the former Kits Pub, a well-known night spot on Broadway Avenue. The remainder of the site was an asphalt parking lot surrounded by a wooden fence. Several additions and renovations have been completed on the site and building, including a significant building renovation in 1994 following fire damage.
PROJECT LEADERS: Northwest Atlantic B.C. Broker, Inc.; Hemmera
PROPOSED USE: A large commercial restaurant including a new grill, lounge and cabana bar.
SYNOPSIS: In 2004, Hemmera was retained by Northwest Atlantic B.C. Broker, Inc. to complete a stage 1 and stage 2 preliminary site investigation, including drilling and groundwater sampling. A ground penetrating radar survey indicated the presence of an underground storage tank (UST) in the northeastern corner of the site. Hazardous soils and storage tank were removed from the site in 2005, preventing further contamination of the property and adjacent land and water. Confirmatory soil samples were collected from the walls and floor of the excavation in accordance with Ministry of Environment guidance. Post-remediation investigation confirmed that the site complied with the target commercial standards. The site now meets commercial land-use standards.

Source: Hemmera, Inc.

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