The historic net shed on the Columbia River at the foot of 31st Street, dubbed “Big Red,” is on the market again.

Sarah Jane Bardy, of Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty, recently listed the building for $129,000.

The price tag is lower than it had been the last few times the building went up for sale. It had been listed earlier this year for $200,000, down from $475,000 in 2017.

“My thought was, you know, it needs a lot of work, obviously,” Bardy said. “But it has such enormous potential. So I wanted to cast a wide net, as far as buyers are concerned, to find the right person with the right intentions.”

Built in 1897 as a fish transfer station and a place to dry and repair fishing nets, the net shed was once one of many buildings built out over the riverfront. Now, it stands alone. It’s been owned for many years by Sarah Nebeker, a former Clatsop County commissioner.

Nebeker’s late husband, renowned artist Royal Nebeker, had used the space as an art studio until the Great Coastal Gale of 2007 ripped the roof from the top floor and damaged much of his artwork. The top of the building has since been replaced with a flat roof.

Sarah Nebeker said that for two years in a row, the building was chosen by the Historic Preservation League of Oregon as the most important structure in the state to be preserved.

“They said at that time that they believed it was the last one of that particular type of building on the entire West Coast,” she said. “So historically speaking, it’s extremely important.

“And the working buildings and working-class homes in this country are all disappearing. There’s very few left. And in order to preserve history about the working people in this country, not just the grand homes and buildings, they have to be preserved.”

Nebeker said she hopes whoever buys the building can find a way to keep it alive for the sake of history, the community and the state.

“We’re not just looking for a buyer, but for, I would say, a steward,” Bardy said. “Someone to pass the torch to, that is going to preserve it, that’s going to save it. That’s what’s most important to everybody, is that this building is around for another hundred-some years, at least.”