Maya Lin and the Confluence Project bring stature to Cape DisappointmentMany continue to doubt whether Lewis and Clark will have much effect on our economy and society now or 10 years in the future. No one knows. But the intense interest of a New York designer ups the ante.

Maya Lin is mostly known for her remarkable achievement in Washington, D. C., the starkly beautiful memorial to the American dead in the Vietnam War. The selection of her design was a surprise on the order of an unknown rookie hitting a grand-slam homer in the ninth inning of the seventh game of the World Series.

Such reputation-making public projects are rare in the life of any architect, but Lin may have found another in the Confluence Project. A multi-state plan to commemorate Lewis and Clark while also celebrating American Indians and the Western landscape, the Confluence Project has met with its greatest tangible support in the Washington Legislature, which is providing $5 million.

Much of this will be spent in Cape Disappointment State Park, which was already in the midst of a large-scale redesign forced by beach erosion and other issues. Rather than simply plopping down a monument, Lin is playing a major part in developing a comprehensive new vision for this remarkable natural asset.

For a designer of Lin’s caliber to devote herself to such a thing is a huge stroke of luck, but also points out something this region already knew – that Cape Disappointment is a natural and historical asset of the first order.

It also is a major recreational area both for tourists and locals, many of whom feel shut out of the park thanks to a new $5 parking fee. This fee, at least as it pertains to local people, should be reexamined, and Lin and State Parks ought to bear in mind that this beloved area is part of the cultural heritage of the Lower Columbia.

Around the world, too many parks are designed for tourists instead of surrounding communities. It will be ironic indeed if the descendants of Chinook Indians and early settlers are discouraged from visiting this park ostensibly designed in their honor. This is especially a concern on the Long Beach Peninsula, which has Washington’s widest gap between the rich and poor.

Aside from this nagging issue, Maya Lin and the Confluence Project are likely to be manna from heaven for our region. An inspired architectural masterpiece – designed with deference to this subtle meeting place of land, river and ocean – promises to elevate the Columbia estuary to the top class of national destinations.