Patrick Morley showed me a wall in the clubhouse dedicated to the indigenous Calapooians.
Like every place in the mid-valley, the site of The Banks, a 120-unit apartment complex nearing completion on the Willamette River in Albany, is built on land once occupied by indigenous people.
The developers have acknowledged the connection with an Indian-themed display in the clubhouse of what they intend to be not just apartments but a “riverfront community.”
Patrick Morley made that point about the community when I ran into him on a bike ride Sunday. He is one of the principals in Willamette River View Holdings LLC, the developers, and he showed me the clubhouse and one of the apartments.
In August 2021, a team of achaeologists conducted a dig that delayed construction in a section of the site for several weeks. I asked Morley about that. What prompted it, and what if anything was found?
He wouldn’t say. He made an agreement with three tribes, he told me, to keep the matter confidential.
The involvement of the tribes — the Grand Ronde, Siletz, and Warm Springs — suggests that it was indigenous material that prompted the archaeological investigation. That’s surprising considering that this was hardly undisturbed land. For years it was used by a sand and gravel operation and then by the Cemwood industrial plant.
Now, the place is about to get new inhabitants. One of the eight three-story apartment buildings was being painted Sunday. Morley told me the first tenants were expected to move in this coming weekend.
Some of the other buildings were also nearing completion. Morley expects the entire complex to be complete by next February or March.
It will be the end of a long road, which for the current owners started in 2017.
How much have they invested? The only thing Morley would say on that point was: “A lot!” (hh)
Among the clubhouse facilities, there’s a room tenants can use for video conferences.
People living here, on the third floor, will have this view of the Willamettte River.
This building, one of eight plus the clubhouse, overlooks the main parking lot and the river.
‘The Banks’ honors indigenous people
Patrick Morley showed me a wall in the clubhouse dedicated to the indigenous Calapooians.
Like every place in the mid-valley, the site of The Banks, a 120-unit apartment complex nearing completion on the Willamette River in Albany, is built on land once occupied by indigenous people.
The developers have acknowledged the connection with an Indian-themed display in the clubhouse of what they intend to be not just apartments but a “riverfront community.”
Patrick Morley made that point about the community when I ran into him on a bike ride Sunday. He is one of the principals in Willamette River View Holdings LLC, the developers, and he showed me the clubhouse and one of the apartments.
In August 2021, a team of achaeologists conducted a dig that delayed construction in a section of the site for several weeks. I asked Morley about that. What prompted it, and what if anything was found?
He wouldn’t say. He made an agreement with three tribes, he told me, to keep the matter confidential.
The involvement of the tribes — the Grand Ronde, Siletz, and Warm Springs — suggests that it was indigenous material that prompted the archaeological investigation. That’s surprising considering that this was hardly undisturbed land. For years it was used by a sand and gravel operation and then by the Cemwood industrial plant.
Now, the place is about to get new inhabitants. One of the eight three-story apartment buildings was being painted Sunday. Morley told me the first tenants were expected to move in this coming weekend.
Some of the other buildings were also nearing completion. Morley expects the entire complex to be complete by next February or March.
It will be the end of a long road, which for the current owners started in 2017.
How much have they invested? The only thing Morley would say on that point was: “A lot!” (hh)
Among the clubhouse facilities, there’s a room tenants can use for video conferences.
People living here, on the third floor, will have this view of the Willamettte River.
This building, one of eight plus the clubhouse, overlooks the main parking lot and the river.
Tags: apartments, Calapooians, Indians, Indigenous people, land use, River View Holdings, The Banks, Willamette River