It takes nothing more than a drive from the roundabout to Pier 39 to see that Astoria is enjoying a building boom the likes of which it hasn’t seen for decades.

Heading east on Marine, you see the site work that’s happening on the river side, between KFC and Motel 6. That’s for the Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare office building and 32 units of supportive housing, approved for the site after the rejection of a plan to place something similar in Heritage Square.

After you enter the downtown couplets, you see cranes or crews on the left and on the right. They are at work carrying out:

• The $31.5 million expansion of the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which is adding 26,000 square feet to its education and exhibit space on its prime site near the Coast Guard dock.

• The long-delayed addition to the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority’s Owens Adair 50 apartments for low-income and elderly clients. The project received a $17.5 million construction loan from KeyBank. It would have been underway much earlier but for the opposition of a neighbor whose view will be impaired.

• The fast-moving construction of the two-story, 26,000 square-foot Yakima Valley Farmworkers Clinic where Marine Drive curves near City Lumber. The clinic replaces the small clinic Yakima Valley operates in the Park Medical Building. Officials said the services will focus on behavioral health care and also include dental services and a pharmacy. The $22 million project is scheduled to open by year-end.

• The $175 million expansion of the CMH campus, which is more than tripling its size and expanding its emergency department as well as operating and patient rooms, lab and other services. The expansion is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2027.

• The much-discussed expansion of the Bethany Lutheran Church complex that will add 5,000 square feet of recreational and community space off 34th Street, behind the Customs House replica. The project overcame community opposition and won city approval in 2021.

• Renovation of the Astoria Library, following approval of an $8 million bond measure in 2022. The expanded library will be bigger, airier, have newer technology and be more accessible to users with limited mobility.

• And, not yet underway, the Oregon Film Museum plans a $10 million construction project adjacent to the Flavel House. It will allow the museum to expand its display and educational space and devote the old jail strictly to “The Goonies,” according to Oregon ArtsWatch.

This building boom represents a remarkable convergence of needs, visions and financing that will enrich Astoria for decades to come. In fact, it is enriching the area already, as construction workers spend their wages in the local economy.

It’s striking to realize that each of these projects results from the efforts of either a nonprofit, public-sector or quasi public-sector institution. None is the kind of private-sector project that rebuilt central Astoria after the 1922 fire or created the skylines of Portland, Seattle or other cities.

This is a reflection of the local economy, which is powered to some degree by the nonprofit sector, especially in health care. The percentage of workers in the nonprofit sector is somewhat higher in Clatsop County than in the state of Oregon as a whole, according to census data compiled by economist Shaun Barrick of the Oregon Employment Department. About 11.1% of those working in the county in 2023 were in the nonprofit sector.

The collection of current projects has directly affected the way the organizations have raised money. As the Columbia River Maritime Museum explains online:

“Normally, we would fundraise heavily throughout our local community; however, because there are five other major nonprofit construction projects planned for the same timeframe … we are striving to accomplish as much of our fundraising outside the community as possible.”

Economist Barrick notes further that health care and education employment in Clatsop County is growing quickly, more quickly than in comparable Oregon counties. 

Said Barrick: “From an employment perspective, the health care projects are particularly encouraging. We have a great source for health care workers with the nursing program at Clatsop Community College, so giving those students and other health care professionals more options for employment will strengthen the sector. Those are jobs that often pay above the average wage for the county.”

The demand for such workers starts at CMH, which employs 926 people, making it the largest employer in the city. The hospital expects to add another 50 employees when the expansion is complete, said Sarah Bello, the hospital’s marketing manager.

It’s remarkable to see the face of Astoria changing so dramatically, and heartening to see how many people have dug deep to help make it happen. It’s also great to recognize the coordination of building projects, as officials share information about their progress and seek to avoid conflicts “such as two projects wanting to use the same asphalt or concrete provider on the same day,” said Bruce Jones, the executive director of the maritime museum.

Enjoy it while it lasts, heavy-metal bird-watchers. It’s been a long time since so many cranes have descended on the city.

Mike Francis is a longtime journalist who lives on Astoria’s South Slope. He is a member of the Astoria Planning Commission.