G-P demolition moves to next stage

All old tissue mill buildings will be knocked down in coming months

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The next phase of active demolition at the Georgia- Pacific waterfront site has started and will create dramatic new views of The Waterfront District planning area.

The sides of several large warehouse buildings in the former tissue mill complex have been removed to give access allow paper machines to be recycled as metal salvage.

During the last phase of active demolition at the mill, 1,800 tons of scrap metal were recycled. Eighty percent of reusable machinery and equipment was removed and sent to other G-P facilities or sold to other companies for reuse worldwide.

All the tissue mill buildings are scheduled to be knocked down during the next several months as metal recycling is completed.

During this phase of active site work, access to the planning area will be strictly controlled to ensure public safety.

STREET PLANS TAKE SHAPE

In a presentation to the Port Commission last week, consultants presented revisions to a proposed street layout that meets a number of port and city objectives, including close and active connections between downtown and the waterfront, new view corridors to Bellingham Bay, pedestrian and bikefriendly streets with large public open spaces, and road connections that do not have to be rebuilt when the railroad tracks are relocated along the bluff.

The consultant’s presentation is available on the port’s Web site at www.portofbellingham.com in the Waterfront Redevelopment section.

LEED SUMMIT

Port and city staff participated at a regional summit for LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot projects last week in Seattle.

Bellingham’s waterfront redevelopment was selected as a pilot project for its environmental strategy for sustainability at the neighborhood level.

About 240 developments nationwide are part of the

pilot project.

ADVISORY GROUP MEETS

The citizen-led Waterfront Advisory Group will meet from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday to discuss revisions to the proposed Waterfront District street layout, density, amount of parks and open space, and the project schedule.

The meeting, which will open with a public comment period, will be in the Harbor Center Conference Room, 1801 Roeder Ave.

The group will hear updates on sustainable redevelopment strategies, the status of demolition at the G-P site, marina design and the draft environmental impact statement.

It also will discuss interaction with the city’s proposed Waterfront Public Development Authority, which would develop city property and infrastructure in The Waterfront District.

The meeting will be recorded and will air on the city’s cable television channel, BTV10.