McGOWAN, Wash. Contractors continue to put the finishing touches on the National Park Services Washington expansion of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park in preparation of its grand opening Saturday.

But something about the place is already compelling motorists to slam on their brakes as they pass by it.

Maybe its the flurry of activity taking place next to the distinctive-but-unassuming St. Marys Catholic Church along U.S. Highway 101, where excavators are stockpiling driftwood. It could also be the sight of the unfinished traditional Chinook Indian plank house, skeletal as it looks in its uncompleted stage.

The three concrete canoes situated on sand beds near the roadway might have something to do with it, too.

But perhaps its the sense that something is nearing completion after being long awaited.

Some would say for eons.

Located in McGowan, Wash., the parcel of land between the Astoria Bridge and Chinook, Wash., Middle Village and Station Camp Park connects hundreds of years of history, starting with the people of the Chinook Nation who originally inhabited the area all the way to its transfer to American inhabitants, such as those who belonged to the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Jim Sayce, a liaison to the project for the Washington State Historical Society, says the park is already attracting history buffs ahead of Saturdays opening.

A tour bus pulled in here just the other day, Sayce says as he walks around what will become the 280-acre park, pointing out the new features.

He doesnt know how the bus got past the gate, which wraps around the historic church and is cordoned off by strategically placed orange traffic barricades. But the bus driver wasnt even the first intermeddler who wanted a peek at the park ahead of its Saturday opening.

Hailing from British Columbia, an expert woodworker with First Nation status in Canada turned his van around when he saw the canoe sculptures recently.

Built out of concrete, the three faux canoes were constructed to represent both ocean-faring and smooth-water-traversing crafts. Theyre for kids to touch and climb on, like historically themed jungle gyms.

Sayce says the two types of canoes represented by the sculptures would have been used for everyday use by the Chinook Nation people.

With 10 to 12 paddlers, theyd scoot right along the river, Sayce says.

The tourist who turned his van around to take a closer look was familiar with the style of canoe, Sayce says, and was impressed the designs could be captured so well in concrete.

For those who worked on the project, every aspect of Middle Village and Station Camp Park is impressive.

After more than a decade of work on the project, which encountered delays early in its life when historic archeological artifacts were found at its location, its satisfying to finally see some excitement about the place, Sayce says. On Saturday, it will become the latest addition to the two-state national historical park, joining Dismal Nitch and Cape Disappointment on the Washington side, and the Salt Works, Fort to Sea Trail, and Fort Clatsop on the Oregon side.

Sayce says the layout of the roadside park is intended to give people a broad understanding of the cultural and historical importance of the site.

An 8-foot-wide, wheel-chair-accessible trail connects the parking lot to the parks overlook sites and features a number of informational placards along the way.

Although work at the park will be done by Saturday, some aspects of the park will require additional oversight in the future.

For one, the plank house that is situated on a path leading to a second overlook area surveying the Columbia River sits uncompleted. It wont be planked essentially roofed and walled until next spring when project developers can obtain suitable cedar to perform the work.

Long-term plans also call for the park to eventually be connected to nearby Fort Columbia via a trail. Project developers have obtained permits for the work, but the easement for construction hasnt taken place yet, and it probably wont for a couple more years, Sayce says.

The National Park Service will also have to keep up maintenance on an undisturbed part of the park where a field is located. A main challenge there will be dealing with weeds.

So far, the park service has had to clear 12 to 15 tons of Scotch Broom thats grown in the field, according to Chris Clatterbuck, chief of resources for the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.

Because Scotch Broom is an invasive species, that work will have to continue in the future.

One of the ongoing challenges will be continuing to keep it at bay, Clatterbuck says.

Celebrating history

Although finding archeological artifacts of cultural and historical significance put a temporary hamper on the project in 2005, it also made the park a more enriching place, Sayce says.

After all, Middle Village and Station Camp Park is named first for a centuries-old Chinook Nation village and later for the site where the Lewis and Clark Expedition first set eyes on the Pacific Ocean.

Walking through Middle Village and Station Camp Park, a person learns about the three distinctive periods of the sites history. The first period concerns the Chinook people. When European settlers discovered the area in the late 18th Century, they turned it into a trading post. It was an easy place for ships to get to because of the areas of deepwater offshore. It became a popular trading establishment 13 years before the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Trade at the site verified by archeological findings included cream ware and gunflints from England, porcelain and trade copper from China and trade beads from Northern Europe. What these items tell historians is that the site was seeing activity from all over the world during a very early time period.

David Szymanski, the superintendent of the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, calls the shores of the Columbia River near Station Camp the location where the first 30 years of the West Coast experience in America happened.

Thats significant for history buffs and researchers alike because it means Middle Village/Station Camp was, at least for a time, among the busiest intersections of cultural exchange on the West Coast. This is where the cultures came together, says Szymanski, pointing toward the park.

Later, the area was purchased by Patrick McGowan. He built his house there, along with a cannery, and the church took its roots there shortly thereafter.

The park had been identified for years as a culturally significant area.

The idea to expand the national park began prior to the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial in 2005.

The thing that changed was around the time of the bicentennial there was a push to celebrate everything Lewis and Clark around the anniversary to promote it and get people to visit the region, Szymanski says. But the Lewis and Clark Expedition was also part of a larger story. I think what were trying to do here is tell that much larger story, which is that you had this extremely sophisticated and populous culture living here. Lewis and Clark see it and record it, but its really gone in 20 years.

Festivities planned

for Saturday

Saturdays dedication of the park will be attended by a number of dignitaries and project partners who helped put the project together.

The day will start off at 11 a.m., with a traditional Chinookan blessing.

Attendees of Saturdays dedication will include Jennifer Kilmer, the director of the Washington State Historical Society; Sam Robinson, vice chair of the Chinook Nation; David Nicandri, the previous director of the Washington State Historical Society; Bill Garvin, a fifth-generation descendent of Patrick McGowan, an early modern settler of the land after whom the village was named; Karen Snyder, the president of the Pacific County Friends of Lewis and Clark; Brian Baird, the former congressman who represented the 3rd District; Schuyler Hoss, a representative from Gov. Christine Gregoires office; and Ray Gardner, the chairman of the Chinook Nation.

For Sayce, the importance of Middle Village and Station Camp Park is clear.

Its one of those interesting nexuses and focal points of American history, Sayce says. The park represents three different stories.