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Daily Astorian: Landmark Set to Grace Astoria Waterfront
By KATE RAMSAYER
The Daily Astorian
kramsayer@dailyastorian.com
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LORI ASSA — The Daily Astorian
Robert “Jake” Jacob is the developer of the 46-room hotel. |
Developer’s dream comes true with construction of Cannery Pier Hotel
More than a dozen supporters of the Cannery Pier Hotel joined architect and developer Robert “Jake” Jacob Tuesday for a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of the future hotel.
There was no actual ground to be broken, however, because the hotel will be built 600 feet from the shore, above the Columbia River. Instead, city officials, financiers, and others who have helped the project through its development gathered at the end of a plywood walkway laid over the new dock posts that will support the hotel.
“This is another example of teamwork in Astoria,” said Astoria Mayor Willis Van Dusen. “I can envision this beautiful hotel, it’s going to be another landmark for Astoria,” he added, before leading the crowd in a cheer for Jacob and the project.
State Rep. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, added her congratulations to Jacob, and predicted that “this hotel’s going to become a destination stop,” because of its location among working fishing vessels in a working harbor.
The hotel’s location on a pier at the end of Basin Street, once home to the Union Fishermen’s Cooperative Packing Co., had a big influence on the design of the hotel, Jacob said.
“We’re trying to reflect the cannery design,” he said, adding that he had “traveled all around to see how you can reflect the history of the area.”
Jacob had the idea of building a hotel along Astoria’s waterfront 10 years ago and spent a lot of time walking up and down the riverfront and researching properties that could potentially support a hotel.
Former state Rep. Ted Bugas suggested that he look beyond the shore and build on a dock, Jacob said, and the developer has been focused on the current property for the past seven years. It was also Bugas who told Jacob Tuesday that Jacob’s late father worked at a cannery located on the same dock where the hotel will be built.
The dock was rebuilt last year, and the next phase of construction is scheduled to start today with a delivery of steel and later the pouring of a concrete slab to form the building’s foundation. After the slab is set, the construction of the building is expected to take six months.
Jacob said the 46-room hotel should be open for business in May or June 2005, in time for the summer tourist season. |
