Putting Vista House in order

Disabled requirement snags reopening of gorge landmark

By Jeanie Senior

The Portland Tribune, Jun 14, 2005, Updated Oct 30, 2009

After a four-year, $3.2 million renovation and restoration project, Vista House at Crown Point State Park, 22 miles east of Portland, is gleaming,almost ready to open for the summer tourist season.

But it looks like the landmarkvisitors center, built 90 years ago as a comfort station for travelers on the then-new Columbia River Highway,will open with a portable toilet in the parking lot.

It’s a touch of dŽjˆ vu for the building that was derided during its original construction as a “million-dollar privy.”

Still, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department officials and the head of the Friends of Vista House say one or two temporary portable toilets are a preferable alternative to an order issued by the city of Gresham’s building inspector May 31. That orderlimited public access only to the main level of Vista House and said that no one could use the public restrooms or visit the gift shop in the basement until alift allowing handicapped access to the lower level was completed later this year.

If the state and Gresham agree on a temporary occupancy permit, however, both levels of the building could open by July 1 or sooner.

ADA rules are the holdup

The Gresham building inspector’s office, which provides building inspection services for east Multnomah County,originally said that no one could use the facilities in the basement until the lift was operational. That launched an urgent round of negotiations between attorneys for the city and the state, and although the relationship remains a bit touchy, Gresham Mayor Charles Becker said he hopes an agreement can be worked out in just a couple more days.

He said he didn’t understand, however, why the state didn’t address rules under the Americans With Disabilities Act a bit earlier in the process.

The restoration of the building was so complicated, state Parks Department spokesman Chris Havel said, that ADA issues weren’t first on the list when the project started. And ADA requirements for a historic building Ñ Vista House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places Ñ can be complex.

Becker said the city wants the state to grant a “hold-harmless agreement” if a temporary occupancy permit is granted Ñ allowing access to both levels of the building after a ramp to the front entrance is done but before the planned lift between the basement and the first floor is installed.

“We want to open up the facility, but we don’t want to take responsibility for it not being in full compliance” with ADA, he said.

Havel said a contract to install the lift already has been signed.

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