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Property owner and staff at odds as First Street redesign threatens historic Chinatown walls
Summary
A First Street property owner urged the Urban Renewal Agency to preserve historic retaining walls in the Chinatown block while staff cited a 2022 engineering assessment that found the walls failing; staff said alternatives could be studied but would increase cost and risk delaying construction.
A public commenter and property owner urged the Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency to preserve old retaining walls on First Street that he said reflect Chinatown’s historic fabric, while city staff told the board an engineer’s assessment found many of the walls structurally unsound and recommended replacement.
"First Street's been pretty neglected for quite some time," said Eric Gleeson, a property owner at 704 K Street in The Dalles. He told the board the stretch contains the last remaining building associated with the city’s Chinatown and said he was concerned the current plans call for removing historic walls and replacing them with gabion baskets. "I have an issue with kind of the current plans because I call for the removal of those historic walls and their replacement with gabion baskets," he said during public comment.
City staff responded that a January 2022 assessment by consulting engineers KPFF concluded many of the retaining walls between Union and Court streets are failing and that KPFF did not recommend leaving them in place. "The walls there are definitely failing. It is not recommended those walls stay where they are," staff said, noting sidewalks sit atop some of the wall structure and that removing or repairing walls will interact with underground utilities. Staff also noted the Chinatown block is listed as a nationally recognized archaeological site and said an archaeologist is working on permitting for mitigation.
Staff described possible design approaches to preserve historic stone where feasible — for example, crushing and reusing existing rock in an added gabion basket or building an outer veneer later — but warned each option adds cost and could push the project beyond the current construction season. "If we decide to go anywhere other than the gabion walls, it would lead to potential redesign, additional cost added on to the contract itself, additional timeline, which could push us past this construction season," staff said.
Board members discussed priorities: some emphasized safety and the risk of a failing water main beneath the road, while others urged leaving room in the design for future aesthetic improvements that could better match the historic appearance. Staff said they are willing to analyze alternative wall designs if the board directs them to, but emphasized KPFF would not provide a stamped design guaranteeing the existing walls could be retained without reengineering.
No formal direction to select a specific wall design was taken at the meeting. Staff said they would bring more information back to the board if members want staff to pursue design alternatives, including cost and schedule implications.
