Looking downriver from the viewpoint at Monteith Riverpark on the evening of Aug. 16, 2024.
The view from the new platform at Monteith Riverpark is nice, someone observed in an email. But what about that ugly piling sticking up in the middle? Will it be removed?
No, that pipe will stay where it is until the end of days, I’m pretty sure. Plans for the Albany Waterfront Project do not mention getting rid of the remnants of what once was an elaborate floating dock.
The dock was a downtown attraction back in the day, especially when it was the home port of the Willamette Queen, an 87-foot sternwheeler, from March 1998 to November 1999.
The pilings were driven and the dock was built as part of the creation of Monteith Riverpark in 1982.
In September 2000, the Albany Parks Department locked the gate and put up a sign: “Dock Closed Due to Dangerous Undertow.”
In the Democrat-Herald I wrote at the time: “The shifting currents of the Willamette River have turned the floating dock at Monteith Riverpark from an attraction into a potential death trap.”
Parks Director Dave Clark had hopes of saving the dock by getting the river dredged to divert the current, which was hitting the dock broadside and had pushed at least one kayak under the float.
Nothing came of the dredging. Instead, the place where the Willamette Queen, smaller boats and even a float plane once tied up, became a gravel bar and now a piece of land covered with brush.
So no, let those pilings remain. They remind us of the past and of how this river changes with time. (hh)
On March 29, 1998, the riverboat Willamette Queen docked at the Monteith Riverpark floating dock for the first time. (Albany Democrat-Herald)
And here’s a wider view of the pilings that remain today.
I had wondered that myself the last time I was there for a concert. By the way, maybe you could do a historical piece on the blue high voltage line towers and how those towers used to support a bridge that crossed the river at that spot. I think it was even known as the “Steel Bridge” (not to be confused with the current Steel Bridge in Portland).
Thank you for providing interesting information about Albany happenings. You are appreciated!
Take a chain saw and cut them off!
… and then you leave behind a hidden navigation/swimming hazard when water levels cover the stump.
Why?
Just say it has something to do with the confederacy and the libers will bring it down asap.
I remember taking our two young children on the Willamette Queen when it was docked here in Albany. We went one time for a special tour/event when the Captain was taking children in the pilot house and they had a chance to put their hands on the ship’s wheel. They got some certificates that said they piloted the Willamette Queen. I think I still have those papers put away somewhere.
I love the shot of the riverboat Willamette Queen docked at the Monteith Riverpark, but in 1998?
Yes. The boat was built in Newport in 1990. It spent part of 1998 and ’99 in Albany, then was moved to Salem. Some time ago I read that it was for sale. That’s the last I heard about it.
What happened to the Willamette Queen? Where did it end up?
https://www.willamettequeen.info/
Mike, it’s at the Riverfront Park in Salem, Oregon
And the Willamette Queen is currently for sale.
I’m sure it would cost too much but I would like to see the pilings removed.
Many years ago we had a Chamber of Commerce dinner on that boat and the Captain told us that he was required to tell us where the life preservers were in case there was a problem. After his disclosure, he told us that if there was a problem that we should enter the water and walk to shore as it was very shallow. We survived and had a good time.
Dave Schnebly