by Sierra Lauder, Director of Events and Downtown Development, Tillamook Area Chamber of Commerce
This week on Main Street we are seeing exactly how big of a deal the vault underneath the corner of Third and Main is! Monday crews boarded up the Main St windows of Sunflower Flats to protect the windows during the excavation. The Sunflower Flats team rushed over to Rosenberg’s and purchased spray paint to create some temporary signage, where they highlighted that they are open, that there are parking opportunities on Pacific, and their website, where folks can place orders and request deliveries. Tuesday morning the excavators came rolling in, and the sidewalks were demolished and rubble scraped out. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, crews will be on site building forms for the footings in that vault, and then next week forming the walls while setting the footings in the next two (much smaller) vaults just to the north in front of Everything Pets and Tangled Yarns. Because of the depth and size of the corner vault, it will take a few weeks for all of the concrete work to be poured and cured prior to the final fill. All fingers are crossed that the rain will be minimal.
The need for dry weather extends to manhole work and grading on Front Street. The rain we had last week provided a glimpse at areas that would be inundated if opened during a storm, so crews are watching the weather closely as they move equipment around the site and planning where to start based on forecasts. The extension in front of the museum property on the corner of Pacific and First is also on deck for grading in preparation of the radial concrete work that will be done there, although progress may vary depending on weather.
This week will also include the installation of more railing throughout the project. Black railing has been unloaded in Second Street Plaza that is destined for the stretches near Wells Fargo and Little Cheese Coin-op Laundromat. Installation of the orange railing on the bridge is also anticipated this week. Preliminary reports indicate that it will be hard to miss.
As you navigate the downtown area, you may notice that the City of Tillamook has begun to install the parking signs from the Temporary Parking plan that was adopted last fall. Hopefully this will help guide visitors (and locals) to the available parking along Ivy and First. Simultaneously, Public Works has been re-striping many of those lots to maximize public utilization. We’ve certainly noticed an increase in the use of those lots from the foot traffic through the Visitor’s Center.
Due to the Chamber’s move downtown, we have a front row seat for most of the action downtown, and have been able to capture some interesting footage of the excavation work. We are doing our best to get that video up on our Tillamook Area of Commerce Facebook page, and will continue to upload interesting video and pictures that we take. You can access these visuals regardless of whether you are a member of Facebook by clicking here: https://www.facebook.com/TillamookChamberOfCommerce/
