Eddon Boat preserves city’s maritime past

THE City of Gig Harbor had a vision for the Eddon Boatyard site five years ago, and representatives sold it to local voters, who approved a $3.5 million bond to help the city buy the property. Five years later — and after clearing many roadblocks — the former boat house is about to resurface as the city’s latest park, with many public features.

The city did its homework many times over, applying for and receiving many grants for work at the site. And they were needed, because ecological and historic preservation issues bubbled to the surface — probably more than most anticipated.

A study by the state Department of Ecology found many contaminants at the Harborview Drive location, both in the tidelands and in the water. Cancer-causing agents such as heavy metals, tributyltin (TBT) — a substance used in anti-fouling paints for boats — plus more than 100 different chemicals formed during the incomplete burning of coal or other organic substances, and a group of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that are no longer produced in the United States but can persist in soil and the environment for decades.

Clearly, all that waste needed to be removed from the area, and the city worked with state agencies and their time schedules to get that accomplished.

Under the Voluntary Cleanup Program, the city drafted a plan to dredge the area near the boatyard and haul away any contaminated portions of the railway, pier and dock. A small chunk of ground north of the boathouse was removed due to contamination, and bulkheads also were removed from south of the site.

Then came the restoration, which we had been anxious to see. Aside from bringing the building up to code, a fresh white paint job with a red roof spiced up the building that will soon be the home of the Gig Harbor BoatShop.

Public events and educational workshops are planned at the site, from boat building to restoration. The city went beyond the original intent of the project, aiming not only to return the Eddon Boatyard building to its historic scope but to keep historic features alive once the restoration was complete.

Gig Harbor voters should be proud of the way their money was spent because of the public space it created, and also because of the environmental aspects of the cleanup. SHKS Architects and Rush Construction Co. also played integral roles, and the Gig Harbor BoatShop — a non-profit — plans to provide public benefits at the park for 20 years, with a lease agreement of just $1 a year.

While construction likely will finish this month, a grand opening ceremony won’t be held until September in order to give the Gig Harbor BoatShop a chance to move in. More improvements are coming, too: the brick house next door will be turned into public restrooms, and more grant money likely will pay for a new dock next year.

It may have taken five years to see the results of the $3.5 million bond, but voters will be rewarded for their patience.