Waterfront Park Groundbreaking

The Port of Toledo will be breaking ground on Waterfront Park, our new park facility at the end of main street, and adjacent to the Port’s Marina. The ground breaking will be at 10:00 am on June 9, 2011.

Construction of the park is funded through the Local Government Grant Program through Oregon Parks and Recreation Department with the Port pledging the property for park use. The new Park will include restrooms, a pavilion with covered picnic area and a stage, and a sloped grassy seating area, as well as paved pathway along the Waterfront.

Waterfront Park is one of the projects that will be transforming Toledo’s Waterfront this year, combined with the Port’s new transient dock, and the City’s improvements to the street crossing at the end of Main Street.

For more information contact the Port Office at info@portoftoledo.org.

A Big Weekend in Toledo!!

Mother's Day Weekend will be a very busy one in Toledo.

The Second Annual Quilt Quest will feature over 300 handmade quilts on display all over Toledo. It's also National Train Day, and the folks at the Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society will have big doings over at their museum which is adjacent to the Port's grassy field. The Port's field will be the home of Toledo's first Renaissance fair! Here is a news release from local organizer Anthony Bucas:

Ye Merrie Greenwood Players brings the world of Elizabethan England to Toledo this Mother's Day weekend. Celebrating the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the players and friends create an English village market faire. A variety of interactive entertainers and faire merchants present the visitor with wares with all to make them all faire people. The Port of Toledo hosts the Faire as it encamps upon the Port's field near the intersection of 1st & "A" Streets. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and children 12 & under, and children 5 & under receive free passage. Ye Merrie Greenwood at Glastonbury Faire is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday May 7th and Sunday May 8th.

Entertainment from the Ye Merrie Greenwood Players will range from Renaissance dance and song to English madrigals and Gypsy dancers. They are accompanied by the Bridgetown Morris Men dancers, musician Annie Henry, the Firey Fool Brook Riddick, the Sherwood Madrigal Singers, harpist Janet Naylor, Junction City Brass, the Reverend Chumleigh, the Mongers Guild, James Funke-Lobigniac and his hurdy-gurdy, the Pacific Northwest Privateers, the gracious Sir Gustov, and the knights of the Empire of Chivalry and Steel. Faire merchants will share their merriment and pleasantries as they entreat the visitor to part with their coin.

Ye Merrie Greenwood Players are a non-profit theatre company from the Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland, Washington. Volunteers and players who have, since 1985, successfully produced and peopled their Ye Merrie Greenwood Renaissance Faire in Richland, Washington. The come to visit the beauty of the Oregon Coast and to share with the coastal communities their passion for faire play. The play is the thing and all is faire.

Here is a link to their event page which includes performance schedules, location maps, and vendor applications. We are very much looking forward to all of these events and we hope you'll attend them as well. See you then!!

Depoe Bay's Wooden Boat Show

The always enjoyable Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Show was held this past weekend. It was chilly but not raining (for a change!) and a good time was had by all. Here, tireless volunteer Karel Murphy chats with visitors.
In our tented booth, Michael Bogoger and Rick Johnson continued work on the nutshell pram they started at last year's show. They brought along a portable steamer to mold the oak frames for installation. Michael has posted details and a short video of the process on his blog.

The steam did help keep us warm in the chilly air, and watching the process really was interesting.

Another very entertaining feature at the boat show is the kids' boat building tent. I captured a few images of young boat-builders with their unique craft.

Karel's husband Tom, and his friend Richard Appicello gave the crowd a couple of kayak safety demonstrations. Very impressive, especially in that cold, cold water!

We always look forward to and enjoy Depoe Bay's show.

Return of the Osprey

High on a pole just across Depot Slough from Toledo's Public Viewing Platform is an Osprey nest. The pair who inhabit the nest have just returned for the season to hatch and rear this years' offspring. You can watch these beautiful majestic birds as they repair and refurbish their nest, fly over the slough in search of fish, and tend to their young.While you enjoy the platform and its picnic table, you can watch many other water birds, including Great Blue Heron - and see the fish jump, the river otters play and even an occasional Harbor Seal that makes its way into Depot Slough in search of dinner. You can also watch the operations across the slough at the Georgia Pacific mill as they unload and stack logs used in the process of making paper. Public use of the platform is always free, and the project was funded by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration and The Oregon Department of Land Conservation & Development. It was built in 2004.

Sailboat Auction!

The 31' Cheoy Lee Offshore Cutter 'Osprey' will be auctioned off next month with the proceeds going directly to the Youth Boating Club.

The live auction will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 8th, 2011 at the Toledo Boatyard. The boatyard is located at 1000 SW Altree Lane. Starting bid is $6,000.00.

The 'Osprey' was built in 1968 by Cheoy Lee Shipyards. It includes sails, a Yanmar diesel inboard motor and rigging. It is available to view at the boat yard during regular business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Questions may be directed to Port Manager Bud Shoemake at 541-336-5207.

In the boatyard business!

The Port of Toledo is pleased to announce that the purchase of the former Fred Wahl boatyard at Sturgeon Bend in Toledo was finalized on Wednesday, December 29, 2010. Funding for the purchase comes from the Oregon Business Development Department’s Infrastructure Finance Authority in the form of a $1.2 million loan from the Port Revolving Loan Fund, and a $350,000 grant from state lottery funds.

The property acquisition had been delayed due to the discovery of sediment contamination from past shipyard operations. The Port has been working with Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to come to an agreement for the cleanup of the property. The Port has entered into a consent judgment with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality which provides the Port with certain liability protections in exchange for the public benefit of the Port’s purchase of the property and its commitment to complete DEQ’s approved cleanup. The Port has secured state lottery funds for the cleanup through a Brownfields Redevelopment Fund grant administered through Oregon Business Development Department.

The boatyard site was used by the timber industry from the 1950s to the 1980s, and shipyard operations began in 1996 with Sturgeon Bend Boat Works. Fred Wahl acquired the property in 1999 and ran operations there until he closed in December 2008. It has been out of operation since.

The buildings, equipment, dry-dock and travel-lift will be checked over, cleaned up and repaired as needed during January with the yard reopening February 1, 2011. The travel-lift can pull boats as large as 90 tons, and the dry-dock can pull vessels as large as 300 tons.The Port’s business plan calls for an ‘open’ boatyard with the port being responsible for scheduling, hauling out the vessels, hull cleaning, blocking, and environmental compliance. Vessel owners will have the opportunity to perform their own maintenance, following boatyard policies, and can hire individual contractors as desired. Methods used in the operation of the yard will be as ‘green’ as possible, and DEQ’s applicable best management practices will be followed to assure that no further contamination occurs on the site.

The Port will also be pursing grants to make infrastructure improvements such as storm drainage, parking, and extending city sewer service to the property.Many boat owners have expressed their frustration in not having local facilities available to pull their large vessels. Owners and operators of these vessels now have the option to have repairs and improvements done locally, rather than taking their vessels - and their money - out of the area, which means jobs and economic value to Lincoln County.

The Port wishes to thank our partners throughout the process, which have included Oregon Business Development Department, Lynn Schoessler, executive director for the Infrastructure Finance Authority; Dave Harlan, Ports Division Manager; Karen Homolac, Brownfields Program Specialist; and the Governor’s Economic Revitalization Team. Bud Shoemake says, “It’s been a long time coming, and now we are ramping up our efforts to get the yard open for business.”

Enhancement Opportunities on Toledo's Waterfront

The Port of Toledo, in partnership with Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society has submitted a grant request for Oregon Department of Transportation’s Transportation Enhancement Program. Our Toledo Transportation Museum and Waterfront Path project is under consideration, and ODOT is currently seeking comments to help prioritize projects for funding.

The preliminary design for the Transportation Museum mirrors the original train depot, pictured below, and if funded will be built near the original location of the Toledo Depot. The museum will honor and preserve Toledo's heritage as an industrial town where marine, rail and roadway modes of transportation intersect. The proposed museum would be operated by Yaquina Pacific Railroad Historical Society. The plan is for a 2,800 square foot building to house revolving transportation history displays, retail area and meeting space.

The grant application also provides for construction of 1,420 feet of paved walkway along Toledo's waterfront on Depot Slough. Here, a pirate at our annual Wooden Boat Show discusses his water-borne potato cannon target with a festival-goer on the existing gravel path.
The paved path will enhance the waterfront considerably and will promote walking and bicycling activities. Plans include interpretive signage, benches, lighting and the restoration of native landscaping. As specified in the Toledo Waterfront Connectivity Plan, the path increases connectivity between Main Street, Butler Bridge Road, and NW 1st Street to the Port’s waterfront developments, including the Marina, Waterfront Park and new Transient Dock. The Park and Transient Dock are currently in design stages with construction starting this spring.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is seeking input from the public on 85 projects from around the state for consideration for funding. Here is a link to their news release (PDF), which includes a link to their online survey. Please take a few moments to post your comments. The last day to comment is January 28, 2011.