Crescent Bar changes prompt conversation

WANAPUM DAM — The design of a new building for businesses on Crescent Bar Island brought an overflow crowd to the regular meeting of the Grant County commissioners April 26.

About 50 people attended the meeting to ask questions about and make suggestions for the design. The building would replace an existing structure that includes a restaurant, shop for recreation wear and other small businesses.

The PUD and leaseholders on Crescent Bar reached an agreement in 2015, ending a long legal dispute over the status of the leases and whether or not people would be allowed to stay on the island. Utility district officials are working on a recreation improvement plan for Crescent Bar, and part of the plan is demolishing the existing business building and replacing it with a new one.

At the April 12 meeting land and recreation director Shannon Lowry said the proposed new building would be 2,500 square feet, as opposed to the 6,500 square feet in the existing building. The new building would be built in a different location, which would be better for pedestrians, Lowry wrote in letters she sent in reply to people who wrote to express their concerns.

That prompted a flood of comment from Crescent Bar leaseholders, both in writing to the commission and by people who attended the meeting.

The proposed building would have room for a campground check-in/visitor center, restrooms, a pro shop and what Lowry called “flexible retail space that could be used for a variety of offerings.” Potential vendors will submit proposals but PUD officials aren’t sure yet which vendors will do that, Lowry commented.

The new building would have additional outdoor space designed for special event use. “We’ve heard from many people that space for these types of events is important as well,” Lowry wrote. She suggested the new space would, or could, have room for food trucks.

All current concessionaires could apply to do business in the new space, said Chuck Allen, public information specialist for the PUD. There’s no guarantee the current concessionaires would be awarded new contracts, but there’s nothing to say they wouldn’t, Allen said.

Most of the people commenting at the meeting asked that the existing building be retained and remodeled, or that any new structure have room for a restaurant and more businesses.

The recreation and public lands employees will study the concerns and bring a proposal back to the commissioners, Allen explained. Utility district employees will meet with representatives of the homeowners associations as part of that process. The commissioners must determine whether a bigger building would be affordable for the PUD, or good for the utility as a whole.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.