Heritage plaques on John Stanger’s home vouch for the historic significance of the structure, which was built in 1867.
A memorial at Vinson Weber’s grave, in the side yard of the home he shared with wife Jane, notes his death in 2000.
Those markers commemorate the two families that have owned the waterfront property since the 1840s.
For years, the future of that property, known as the Jane Weber Evergreen Arboretum, has been under discussion. Options in the conversation include a city park, a return to private ownership as the site of a family home, or continuing its current role as a nonprofit’s community green space.
Weber bequeathed the six-acre property, which slopes from Southeast Evergreen Highway down to the Columbia River, to the Clark College Foundation. He wanted it to become an arboretum honoring his wife, who died in 1974. The dentist and Clark College instructor also envisioned the property becoming an academic resource for the college.
Then Weber set up a board of five oversight trustees to ensure that his wishes would be followed.
Kelly Punteney, one of the trustees, has gotten a start on landscaping. He also lived on the property for seven years as a caretaker. The project benefits from the hands-on support of volunteers such as Anne Devereaux and Linda Heglin, who showed up a few days ago to work on their favorite garden areas.
“Sometimes it takes me an hour to get from my car to my area,” Devereaux said. “I see things to do.”
“Mostly, I pull a lot of weeds and keep the blackberries down,” said Heglin, whose home adjoins the Weber property.
But despite good intentions, the split ownership-oversight roles are not looking like a great fit for the partners.
“It’s an awkward position to be an owner, but not feel like we can make decisions we might (need to) make,” said Lisa Gibert, president and CEO of the Clark College Foundation. “We can’t do this any more.”
Punteney said that the trustees have been looking for donors to advance the cause, but “It’s not easy getting grant money when grant agencies don’t know the future.”
The trustees “have been patient, but we will be at a point” when they’ll have to make a move, he said.
Punteney, a former parks official who has had a long career as a landscape architect, has been urging Vancouver to take over the property as part of the city park system. But those talks are on the back burner, said Julie Hannon, director of Vancouver Parks and Recreation.
“We have our hands full, so we will delay any conversations for two years,” she said. “We have the waterfront (park project) and some type of construction on six other parks.”
Many nearby residents are hoping that the city park option is off the table for good.
“At least 70 of the closest neighbors voiced their opinion and didn’t think (a park) would be a proper use of the space,” said Dean Irvin.
Irvin and his wife, Susan Courtney, said that the city already lacks funding for parks, he said. During a meeting a couple of months ago, “They were talking about $10 million in unfunded maintenance right now.”
Public safety is another issue. In terms of infrastructure, “It is a very primitive neighborhood: no street lights, no sidewalks, no shoulders on the road,” Courtney said. If a worker or delivery truck happens to park on the street, “It becomes a one-lane road.”
And if public misbehavior were to mirror what goes on at nearby Wintler Park, they said, the arboretum’s neighbors wouldn’t have a lot of confidence in rapid police response.
If all else fails, Punteney said, the final option would be to sell the property as a building site.
“If there is no system to operate and maintain an arboretum, we are obligated to get the best return,” Punteney said.
That’s what neighbors would prefer, Irvin said.
“The neighbors would rather have a residence, where people have an investment and keep the place up,” Irvin said.
In the meantime, anybody can stroll the grounds. It’s open daily to the public.
“I drive into that property and step out onto those grounds and I am so at peace there, immediately,” Devereaux said. “If I feel that way, I would think other people would feel the same way.”
