Riverfront Redevelopment Project

The St. Helens Riverfront Project is focused on a 24-acre property that sits on the banks of the Columbia River in the heart of the City's historic Riverfront District. The property provides sweeping, scenic views of the Columbia River, Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and Sand Island. It is the former location of the Boise plywood veneer plant and until recently, has remained fenced off from public access for decades. 

It is a prime parcel of waterfront land which directly borders many key locations and features:

• to the east, the Columbia River
• to the north, the City's historic Riverfront District with popular locally-owned restaurants, businesses, and government offices; Columbia View Park which hosts many of the City's annual community events including the 13 Nights on the River summer concert series, Spirit of Halloweentown in October, and the Christmas Ships Parade; and access to the City's public boat docks
• to the west, a basalt bluff with residential neighborhoods overlooking the river and Nob Hill Nature Park
• to the south, the City's Central Waterfront property and St. Helens Industrial Business Park 

With the City’s purchase of the property in 2015, major planning and design work has taken place to reclaim the waterfront to serve the St. Helens community in new ways. This redevelopment process aims to pay homage to both the past and future of the city by creating new amenities to attract new business and residents to St. Helens and provide guaranteed public access to a larger stretch of the Columbia River.

Current Projects 

The Riverfront Property is the current location of two major infrastructure projects: the Riverwalk Project and the Streets and Utilities Extension Project. 

The Riverwalk Project is a multi-phase project focused on public improvements and maintaining public access along the banks of the Columbia River. The project has been designed with over two years of public involvement on key project components. Once constructed, this project will extend public access along the Columbia River from Columbia View Park to Plymouth Street and Nob Hill Nature Park. It will also connect to the Bluff Trail which is being constructed as part of the Streets & Utilities Extension Project. Together, both projects will create a complete off-street trail loop through the Riverfront Redevelopment site. Phase 1 of the Riverwalk Project will begin construction in 2024.  It will construct the first 300 feet of the Riverwalk within Columbia View Park, connecting to the new traffic circle under construction with the Streets & Utilities Extension Project. Preliminary design (30%) has been completed for Riverwalk Phase 2. There is currently no timeline for construction.

The Streets and Utilities Extension Project is focused on creating design documents, securing permits, and constructing street and utility extensions for South 1st Street and Strand Street through the property. This will include creating safe pedestrian connections, inviting intersection treatments, ample on-street parking, landscaped seating, interpretive and wayfinding signage, and more visible crosswalks. The Streets and Utilities Extension Project is currently under construction with an anticipated completion date of the end of 2024. 

Private Development - The City of St. Helens is looking to partner with private developers interested in constructing mixed-use development on the property.