Ramping Up for ADA Access in Hood River, Business Raise Concerns Over Loss of Curb Appeal
Contributed photo.
By Cole Goodwin
Hood River, OR, August 23, 2023– The Hood River City Council met on August 14, 2023 for an update on the ODOT curb ramp construction project to improve ADA accessibility on Oak St., Cascade Ave., and Route 30 in downtown Hood River.
Design for the court-ordered, $4.8 million project is part of a statewide effort to improve ADA accessibility, and its design is to be completed in 2024 with construction to follow later the same year. The City has prepared a memorandum of understanding to allow for temporary easements for the work area for three years or for the duration of the project.
The project has garnered some concern from business owners whose curbs will be impacted.
The old Butler Bank is a historic building in downtown Hood River that is currently home to the 301 Gallery. Property Manager Steffan Lunding, spoke passionately on the subject saying that the Bank’s historic protections should be a priority in the project.
“Its character-defining features and historic significance cannot be overstated,” said Lunding.
Lunding spoke to the time and money that he and other local historians have put into maintaining the property.
“I’m very personally invested in this because of all the work I’ve done on that building, and on the landscaping… I sourced sandstone from the original historical quarry. I had a $20,000 landscaping upgrade for the one-hundred-year anniversary of the building and the bridge, this year,” shared Lunding.
Lunding said that the preliminary designs he had been sent by ODOT would involve removing the bench and landscaping, on the corner of 3rd and Oak St and then subsequently constructing new landscaping consisting of planter boxes on the corner.
“ODOT wanted to turn it into a big concrete slab all the way up to the building, remove unique, character-defining features and to replace those features with generic ODOT planters. Where uniqueness existed, cookie-cutter conformity will be substituted,” said Lunding.
He also had concerns about what would happen to the concrete in front of the building which contains the ashes of Chuck Shuepbach, the former owner and founder of Schuepbach Builders and Custom Concrete.
Contributed photo.
Lunding said that ODOT had proposed removing and regrinding a portion of the existing concrete and replacing it in the same location to avoid displacing Chuck’s ashes. A request is being made of the Schuepbach company and family to respond to the request.
Lunding said he felt the project should seek wider public input before removing the landscaping and lamented that the sidewalk and some landscaping features had already been spray-painted for removal in front of the building.
Steve and Jan Bickford, and Sally Reichmuth also submitted written comments objecting to the removal of the landscaping. The Law Offices of Nathan James Neiman, representing Redtail Holdings, LLC, the owner of the Butler Bank building, also submitted a letter to the City Attorney concerning the project.
ODOT maintained that they will work directly with each impacted property owner to address concerns.
In addition, Lunding shared that after some back and forth with property owners, ODOT has managed to achieve a redesign that would protect the existing landscaping wall around the Butler Bank.
City Councilors also voiced some concerns on Monday saying it was important to them to maintain the unique charm of the historic downtown and minimize impacts to business owners while also updating the sidewalks to be compliant with ADA requirements.
One councilor specifically spoke to concerns over the potential community, character-defining and cultural impacts of closing the crossing that grants access to businesses on the 500 block of Oak St., including Ruddy Duck, and Mike’s Ice Cream.
Mike’s Ice Cream and Ruddy Duck in downtown Hood River, OR. Photo Credit: Cole Goodwin
Mike Kitz, the owner of Mike’s Ice Cream and the Ruddy Duck building in downtown Hood River, said he was paying close attention to the project and is engaged in many conversations with ODOT trying to work on minimizing the impact to the businesses. Kitz said he hoped that ODOT would consider his suggestions on timing to help minimize the impact on businesses.
“They are purchasing a bunch of our property, taking out plantings, and a chunk of our hillside,” said Kitz.
As a result, the grassy slope on the Eastern corner of 5th and Oak will become a retaining wall and may necessitate the removal of the gazebo located on that corner.
Photo from Google Images showing the corner of 5th and Oak.
Kitz said he wanted it to be clear that he supported improvements to ADA accessibility in Hood River, and that he wasn’t against the project's overall goal in any way, stating that his primary concern was over the timing of the proposed construction project. Kitz said that ODOT had told him that construction would not occur between Memorial Day (May 27) and Labor Day (September 2nd).
“I’m really concerned about their timing and the impact on our loss of business,” said Kitz. “I’m happy to see it get done; I just want to see it done in March or December and not during our busy season.”
Other impacts of the project included shoulder and lane closures, detours, business access during construction, garbage can impacts, some permanent property rights changes, the temporary closure of seven crossings across U.S. 30, and some permanent closures to some areas that were not designed to be crossings.
Kitz said he wasn’t sure if some of the proposed crossing closures were truly necessary, noting that the area in front of his business in particular was impassable due to the steep wall that lines the 500 block of Oak St. on the north side of the street.
“People are pretty good about using the sidewalk. The city has learned to be pretty pedestrian-conscious. Everything works pretty well on our corner here. I mean if there’s a problem by all means fix it, but … I just haven’t seen it ever be a problem on our corner,” said Kitz.
