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WENATCHEE — The Wenatchee World’s newest team member calls Yakima and Seattle her home — the best of both worlds of Washington, as she puts it — and now wants to build a relationship with the people of the Wenatchee Valley in hopes of writing in-depth, enterprise stories.
The Wenatchee World and Northwest Public Broadcasting were selected to host a reporting fellowship aimed at assisting newsrooms in underserved communities across the state.
Diaz’s work with the fellowship is intended to increase bilingual coverage of civic and municipal issues in Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, and surrounding rural communities. Along with her bilingual work in print, Diaz said she is also excited to be doing radio work with Northwest Public Broadcasting, also bilingual.
“I really want to build a relationship and connections with people, make them feel comfortable talking to me,” she said. “But I really want to empower people who feel like their stories aren’t really being told.”
Diaz has studied overseas in Spain, and reported at the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake and has done legislative reporting in Olympia.
In the Wenatchee Valley, Diaz said she is looking to do more in-depth reporting. For example, she wants to help people better understand the “domino effect” of civic policy.
“I want to understand what is happening underneath that,” she said.
Diaz grew up in Yakima to a Salvadorian family. Her interest in journalism began at the University of Washington in 2018.
Reneé Diaz poses for a photo at the Husky Stadium in Seattle as
a member of the Husky Marching Band.
Provided photo
While at UW, she split her time as a pre-med student as a campus tour guide, saxophone player for the Husky marching band, host of her own musical radio show and her own pandemic-inspired pen pals club.
Her interest turned away from medicine and towards journalism when Diaz took a public health class where she heard information she felt should have been available more people.
But Diaz said her parents — who learned the English language via newspapers and other forms of journalism — would see incomplete pictures of the news because of the limited material available to them.
“That’s not their fault at all,” Diaz said. “And then I thought about the Latino community as a whole. There are so many stories that are untold, that we’re missing.”
This rendering shows 25 S. Columbia St. as Trackside Craft
District. It's building H of the former total
128,000-square-foot former Lineage Logistics warehouse property
(left).
However, the port also received interest in a new concept, north of Orondo Avenue, at 25 S. Columbia St., he added. Private developers, SoCo Crossing, then later JAB Investors and TEAM, presented plans for the site, but those fell through. None could secure funding or tenant mix, according to Stacie de Mestre, port economic development and capital projects director.
“The port recently accepted proposals … and received a handful of well-qualified proposals from breweries eager to locate in the prime location between downtown and the waterfront,” de Mestre wrote in an email.
“Based on that high interest, we decided that it might be worth looking at a craft district,” Kuntz said.
Some other things spurred the port to consider the district.
The Washington State Department of Commerce in December released a strategic plan and “identified $20 million in investments to grow and strengthen the creative economy,” de Mestre wrote. “Examples of contributors to the creative economy include culinary arts and beverages, cultural institutions, fashion, and music/performing/visual arts.”
She added Our Valley Our Future’s 2017-2022 action plan identified a district as an action item and, “the idea of a Craft Brewing District originated with our region’s residents,” she wrote.
On April 9, Wenatchee-based Forte Architects presented concepts of a Trackside Craft District, which could make 25 S. Columbia St. into a brewery and craft district.
This rendering shows the ground floor plan of the proposed
Trackside Craft District at 25 S. Columbia St.,
Wenatchee.
Provided image/Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority
“No matter what and no matter how we skin this cat, this corner of Orando (Avenue) and South Columbia Street is going to be the focal point of this project… it’s going to be the most visual corner,” said Forte’s Ellyn Freed.
She added the firm thought how to reasonably upgrade the approximately 9,000 square-foot building, Building A. It’s part of the 128,000-square-foot former Lineage Logistics freezer and fruit storage warehouse property, which the port bought in 2019.
“The first thing you’ll notice is the way that we’re doing glazing in this building,” Freed said. “And we’re not going to go wild on that either, which I think is part and parcel to working really well with a brewery district because a lot of what we’re going to work on is pretty inwardly focused here… What doesn’t work in this building is really big horizontal openings.”
“The other thing that we did want to lean into was this notion that we are down by the railroad tracks… Instead of trying to hide them and put them away, maybe we use this as a way to treat them like our friends and not try to set it and forget it,” she continued.
“A lot of what we’re trying to do is sell the area to potential tenants, specifically some that have never been here before, have never had businesses here before, breweries or cideries, people that, you know, just aren’t as familiar with how much and how quickly we’re growing,” Freed said.
Area “A” covers about 14,200 square feet, “B” has 4,000 square feet, and “C,” 17,200, Freed said. The plan includes tearing down Building B to create an 8,400-square-foot patio, she said, as the space already has an existing patio that’s twice as large. These buildings actually comprise Building H of the 128,000-square-foot former Lineage Logistics warehouse property.
Other ideas included adding restaurants, tasting areas, a stage, food trucks (on pads near area “A”), ADA-compliant access, and pedestrian areas — all covered for use in the winter, if desired, she said. Area “C” has room for five tenants, she said, as it’s the largest. Parking capacity likely would be around 38 or 46, but parking is available nearby, too, she said.
“The port is working to secure three to four anchor tenants (ideally from the creative sector) and has begun identifying state and federal funding to start the first phase of redevelopment,” de Mestre wrote. “If successful, the port would accept proposals from any businesses who wish to locate in the Craft District to infill the remaining tenant spaces.”
She added Forte’s contract was not to exceed $20,000 for designs and no cost was estimated for construction. “The SoCo Crossing project had an estimated cost at $17 million two years ago,” she wrote. “That did include the full build out. If the Port proceeds, we’d likely do this project in phases and tenants would be responsible for their specific improvements.”
Port commissioner Richard DeRock pointed to the number of hotel rooms and apartments within walking distance of the project that may help market the district to tenants.
“A lot of people could walk to this facility and then also walk to Pybus (Public Market),” Kuntz added.
“We just gotta figure out how many people are truly committed and say, ‘If you build, we will sign a lease’ and then start working on that business model.”
Construction on a new microbrewery and restaurant is underway
next to The Wenatchee World Friday on Mission Street. Owner Peter
Siderius said he expects to finish the 4,000-square-foot
construction project by August, but it was "a moving
target." The name of the brewery and restaurant will either be
Pinnacle Beer Works or Pinnacle Beer Hall. The property currently
has two other suites available for lease. Center Investments Inc.
President Chaun Birks said he's targeting tenants in a
lifestyle service, such as food and entertainment. Suite A is
approximately 3,000 square feet and Suite B is approximately 2,300
square feet. Lease can be established by calling 509-884-6381 or
visiting centerinvestmentsinc.com.
jacobford / World photo/Jacob Ford
Badger and Blewett
According to previous meetings, the lease term for Blewett Brewing Company could be an initial five years with one option of renewal for an additional five years. The monthly rent was $8,418.15, but the “prospective tenant may propose an alternative lease rate or graduated rate schedule to assist with business startup costs,” the Request for Proposals states.
The lease area includes:
Restaurant and bar: about 3,038 square feet
Production area: about 5,635 square feet
Upper level: 1,384 square feet
Non-exclusive parking area 75-by-180 feet
All of the trade fixtures were for sale, too, by Badger Mountain, according to the RFP, and the brewery would remove any unsold items. Those fixtures include 24 beer faucets, shanks, and regulators; refrigerators, freezers, pumps, controls, and piping, and other items needed for a brewhouse and restaurant.
Badger Mountain Brewing closed at the end of 2023. The port inherited tenant Badger Mountain Brewing, which was already in about 9,000 square feet of the former Lineage Logistics warehouse property, called Building A, when the port bought the former freezer and fruit storage space in 2019.
The business at 1 Orondo Ave., owned by Dave Quick, opened in 2013. Sales started declining in 2019, according to a social media announcement by Badger Mountain Brewing. And after COVID-19 restrictions hit, the business didn’t recover.
Erica Moshe, executive director of The Brave Warrior Project,
right, talks to Benny Mendez, left, as he fills out a survey for
the organization at The Brave Warrior Project's resource fair
on Saturday.
Gabe Garcia / World photo/Gabriel Garcia
WENATCHEE — April is National Autism Acceptance Month, and The Brave Warrior Project held its second annual resource fair to connect 32 agencies with services for families with members with special needs on Saturday at its new headquarters.
Erica Moshe, The Brave Warrior Project executive director, said her organization purchased the 5,000-square-foot building at 125 Easy St. from Meyers Enterprises LLC, with a $1.5 million grant from the Dan Thompson Developmental Disabilities Community Services Account on March 29.
Moshe said the building is under renovation to create more space for therapy programs for children and adults with special needs, and for more wheelchair accessibility.
At the event, Moshe handed out surveys to families for input on what other services The Brave Warrior Project could provide with its new building.
The organization rents its current location on 1705 Miller St., Moshe said. She added the organization will move into the new building in October.
Amelia Hernandez, The Brave Warrior Project multicultural family coordinator, was one of the lead organizers of the event. Hernandez has two children, ages 13 and 12, who are autistic, she said. She started working at The Brave Warrior Project four years ago.
She said she previously worked at a fruit packing warehouse and was often denied taking time off work to take her children to therapy. Working at The Brave Warrior Project allows Hernandez the time she needs to take her children to therapy and other appointments with healthcare professionals, she said.
Her role is also fulfilling, she said, because she helps other parents on their journeys of caring for a family member with autism and other disabilities.
“It helps me personally in trying to cope with my own children having disabilities,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez, who is fluent in Spanish, said she enjoys helping families who only speak Spanish learn about The Brave Warrior Project, getting them in touch with other agencies that can assist.
“It’s been a real blessing for me to be able to help families who are low income and don’t have services and don’t know where to go,” Hernandez said. “It’s really nice for me to be able to sit down, help them, and get them from one place to another.”
Hernandez said she also enjoys connecting parents for support.
It’s not easy to be a parent with a special needs child, Hernandez said, and connecting parents who faces the same struggles “gives them strength.”
“When you go to the store because they’re (the kids) crying, and it’s weird because people are looking at you, and the community doesn’t accept you, and your family doesn’t accept you; it’s really hard,” Hernandez said. “But then being in an environment with other parents who have children with special needs gives you strength.”
Sebastian Ruvalcaba, middle, makes bubbles with his dad,
Francisco Ruvalcaba, right. Araceli Cruz, left, is a audiologist
with Confluence Health and handed out bubble wands at The Brave
Warrior Project resource fair Saturday.
Gabe Garcia / World photo/Gabriel Garcia
Maria Ruvalcaba said in Spanish she and her husband, Francisco Ruvalcaba, went to the resource fair to learn more about community services, as their 3-year-old son, Sebastian Ruvalcaba, is autistic.
Maria Ruvalcaba said her son’s doctor provides them with a lot of resources and she heard about some of the agencies at the fair, but wanted to learn directly from the agencies.
Petra Swidler is a pediatrician with a specialty in developmental delays at Confluence Health. She said some of her patients have disabilities like autism and she was at the event to see the families she helps and to talk to people about getting their children a hearing assessment when there are speech delays to make sure a speech delay is not related to hearing loss.
“I think it is very important to know that they (people with autism) have so much to give, and many people think they are not normal or that something is wrong,” Swidler said. “And a lot of the time the families and the children take that on. I always tell them they have so much to give to the community because you have a skill set you can tap into and that is going to make you fly.”
The city of Wenatchee was awarded a $1.9 million grant to be
used towards improving the intersection at Crawford Avenue and
Okanogan Avenue.
Provided image/City of Wenatchee
WENATCHEE — The city of Wenatchee is looking to add a second roundabout on Crawford Avenue near Lincoln Park.
The Wenatchee City Council authorized Thursday the city administrator to negotiate with a Wenatchee-based engineering consultant, KPG Psomas, for an improvement project at the Crawford Avenue and Okanogan Avenue intersection.
The intersection is currently a two-way stop with a posted speed of 30 mph. Both streets are walking and cyclist routes for The River Academy, a private Christian school, and Lincoln Elementary School, according to a staff report.
City staff identified a “number of non-compliant curb ramps ... as well as gaps in the sidewalk facilities immediately north and south of the intersection” along with a need to reduce speeds “for the safety of all modes of transportation, and a need to improve the intersections Level of Service,” according to the staff report.
Funding for the project comes from a $1,965,500 grant by the state’s Climate Commitment Act through their Safe Routes to School Program.
The project includes the construction of a mini-roundabout with accessible crossings at the intersection, installing pedestrian scale illumination, fill sidewalk gaps along Okanogan Avenue near the intersection and rechannelize Okanogan Avenue to include two bike lanes.
Zach Horton, Wenatchee project engineer, said on Thursday that they could not speak to how the intersection will look but they’re at the “conceptual stage” and there’s no design yet.
A mini roundabout was installed at the Methow Street and Crawford Avenue last year. Horton said they hope to schedule a July workshop with a “subject-matter expert on roundabouts” to come and “demystify any concerns or just answer any questions ... about this type of intersection.”
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