LA CENTER — It was standing room only Monday night at the La Center Public Work’s building, as concerned residents got their first listen at possible design ideas for the upgraded Interstate 5 La Center junction.
Eric Eisemann, a planning consultant working with the city, said he counted at least 90 people at the meeting, where Eisemann and a team he assembled revealed ideas from their three-day intensive planning session that started Nov. 1.
“I’m thrilled with the turnout,” La Center Mayor Greg Thornton said. “It shows how engaged our community is. There’s a lot of energy when it comes to this topic.”
The team presented an idea to build a new Main Street-like area just off the junction east of I-5, with space for retail, restaurants and offices. It would be in close proximity to the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s Ilani Casino Resort, which is on pace to open in April. Major construction on the interchange already is underway.
City officials want a plan to take to developers showing what residents would like to see at the interchange.
“We want a flexible framework that allows for a variety of uses to come in,” Eisemann said.
Eisemann’s team was made up of planners, engineers and landscape artists, including Laurence Qamar of Qamar Architecture and Town Planning in Portland, Michael Mehaffy of Structura Naturalis Inc. in Portland, and Sam Nielson and Darren Sandeno, both of Parametrix.
Part of the city’s problem, according to the team’s presentation, is that it isn’t visible from the freeway. The planning team hoped visitors to the casino, west of I-5, could be enticed to explore more of La Center.
In addition to the $510 million casino, the Cowlitz tribe also is paying $32 million for upgrades at the junction, which includes new offramps, partial relocation of a few roads and a new freeway overpass.
Mehaffy said the new development south of the casino could act as the “front door” to the city.
Public reaction
Public comment about the idea was mixed at the meeting.
A few residents asked the team if the current cardrooms and the rest of downtown La Center are part of their plan. Eisemann said their plan isn’t to take anything away from downtown, but instead try and draw more people to it. He said the next step could be to come back and look at the downtown area.
“We don’t want to see the existing downtown cannibalized by new development,” Mehaffy said.
“It will be,” one audience member replied.
Another resident asked why anyone would want to visit downtown La Center if the casino’s plan is to also include entertainment and shopping options.
“The goal is not to compete,” Eisemann said, but to attract some of the influx of people into La Center. Another resident said she wants to see La Center remain “quaint” and let all that new development stay on the other side of I-5.
Others who spoke Monday appeared on board with the plan or offered new ideas based on it. One resident suggested a shuttle to the casino from the east side of I-5. Another man said that maybe developing the I-5 junction could help bring back some lost cardroom revenue to the city.
The team will continue to work on its plan, presenting it to the city’s planning commission in December and city council in January.
