From transit to Turtle Place

A slab of concrete on Seventh Street in downtown Vancouver is now known as Turtle Place.

Turtle Place is the temporary plaza being developed by Vancouver’s Downtown Association in the space that was a C-Tran transit center until last fall. It will serve as a community gathering space until future use of the property is determined, which could take as long as 10 years if the site is needed for a new transit center with the Columbia River Crossing.

The group of downtown merchants took the project on two years ago when its members got word that C-Tran would vacate the space. Lee Rafferty, a VDA board member, said it presented an opportunity to reinvigorate the business corridor.

 “People who have held on in business in this part of town are very hard working, and this will be an encouragement to them,” she said.

Rafferty started her clothing consignment business Spanky’s downtown in 1981. That location has since closed, but even current vacancies near the plaza present opportunities, she said.

“Property owners have been waiting for a breath of fresh air downtown,” Rafferty said. “There are a lot of vacancies across from the plaza that could bring a new element to the neighborhood.”

She and the VDA raised funds for the project through a state tax credit incentive program targeted at reinvigorating Vancouver’s downtown along Main Street to about 15th Street.

The city of Vancouver will manage the 50- by 200-foot plaza, and Carl Dobbs is the project manager. He is a VDA board member with a background in construction project management.

The project’s general contractor hasn’t been announced, but groundbreaking is expected this month, Rafferty said. She hopes to see the project finished this summer so it can be introduced to the community in warm weather.

Designs for the project were done pro bono by Mel Stout, a landscape architect at Portland-based Harper Houf Peterson Righellis Inc., and Clark Public Utilities District contributed the design of an energy-efficient LED lighting system.

Much of the plaza will be built with existing materials. Concrete slabs will be tilted up to create benches and planters, furthering the project’s sustainability theme and the plaza will include three parking spots with chargers for electric vehicles.

“All of the elements can be picked up and moved and taken somewhere else when the plaza has to be taken on to its next iteration,” Rafferty said.

At a studio in Ridgefield, welders and other artists are building a sculpture that will serve as a fountain in the plaza and recycle rainwater from the adjacent 704 Main Street building. The 15-foot sculpture’s materials include recycled objects from Clark PUD, C-Tran and the city, such as old bike racks and fire hydrants, Rafferty said. Meanwhile, preparations are taking place for a mural on the south wall of the 704 Main Street building.

Other project partners include Washington State University’s extension agency, the city parks and recreation and transportation departments and the Esther Short Neighborhood and Uptown Village associations.

“We’re telling the public we’re delivering a project worth at least a quarter of a million dollars when you add up all the donations, time and cold, hard cash,” Rafferty said.

Turtle Place is a translation of the indigenous name for the area that now includes the Vancouver National Historic Reserve and parts of downtown, according to VDA. The area was an access point for the Columbia River for fishing, gathering food, trade and a temporary residence.

Charity Thompson can be reached at cthompson@vbjusa.com.

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