Cleanup, business expansion on tap for Fairhaven waterfront

Bellingham Herald article written by David Gallagher

A link to the full article can be found here.

"The Port of Bellingham awarded a $12.5 million contract to IMCO General Construction to dredge and make infrastructure improvements around the Fairhaven Shipyard property near the Bellingham Cruise Terminal on Harris Avenue.

The project has several parts and will take two years to complete because cleanup and construction work will stop at different times of the year in order to protect marine life in the area, including salmon, said Brian Gouran, director of environmental programs for the port.

Crews will remove a 10,000-square-foot building that sits over the water, remove contaminated sediment and replace the wooden portion of the pier with concrete. Fairhaven Shipyard and the port worked with the Washington State Department of Ecology to finalize the details of the project.

The project’s first major step is expected to happen in June with the demolition and removal of the 10,000-square-foot Carpenter Building, currently the home of Fairhaven Shipyards, which is moving into a bigger building nearby. That facility is currently home to All American Marine, which is in the process of moving into a new building on Hilton Avenue.

The removal of the Carpenter Building is key to restoring near-shore habitat for salmon recovery efforts, Gouran said. The over-water shading the building creates hampers restoration efforts. Eliminating the building also means crews can more efficiently remove historic contaminants, he noted. That structure was originally built in the early 1900s as part of a fish cannery."