The City of Bellingham and Port of Bellingham joined forces to redevelop 137 waterfront acres acquired by the Port early in 2005. The 20-year vision: a new city neighborhood with homes, shops, offices and light industry, as well as parks and promenades, a healthy shoreline habitat along Bellingham Bay, and a new marina.
In January 2005, with the city’s commitment to partner on planning and infrastructure, the Port of Bellingham acquired 137 acres of heavy industrial property from the Georgia Pacific Corporation in the center of the downtown waterfront. This property had been used by GP for pulp and chemical operations, before those portions of the plant closed in 2001.
Even before the Port acquired the property, community leaders recognized that partnerships at the local, state and federal levels would be essential to creating a healthy, vibrant waterfront. Beginning in 2003, the City and Port jointly hosted an 18-month community visioning project led by a citizen’s committee. The Waterfront Futures Group did an outstanding and extensive job of researching waterfront redevelopment efforts across the country, gaining broad community perspective and presenting a citizen-led vision for the future of the waterfront.
City and Port officials are committed to working together to establish new zoning, permitting and master planning documents that incorporate the Waterfront Futures Group’s work. The two governments signed a landmark agreement in 2004 that defines specific steps they will take to bring this redevelopment vision to reality.
For example, the City agreed to provide extensive new roads, utilities, parks and trails. The Port agreed to conduct a comprehensive environmental cleanup of the site and the waterway in keeping with goals defined by the Bellingham Bay Pilot Project, and to develop new visitor and permanent moorage.
These are major commitments that promise decades of cooperation and the beginning of an exciting new era for Bellingham’s waterfront. Already the project has received strong support from the state for railway relocation, demolition and planning, and environmental cleanup. In addition, the federal government has awarded funds for major transportation improvements needed to access this site.
