Kennewick, WA – Two birds one stone. These two ideas don’t necessarily go hand in hand, but somehow it worked. It was a economic development venture first, but city officials decided to use it to help law enforcement too.
The nine buildings located at 305 Columbia Drive in downtown Kennewick that would eventually be taken down were being used for SWAT explosives training.
The Port of Kennewick acquired the land recently as part of the bridge-to-bridge, river-to-railroad revitalization project, built in the 1940s when Duffy’s Pond was the shoreline of the river.
Port officials says removing the buildings is a big step in the re-development of the area.
But they’ve worked with Washington State law enforcement to help them get some needed training before the eventual demolition.
Cmdr Steve Arbuthnot of Federal Way SWAT said, “My guys got exactly what they were looking for. They used multiple charges on multiple doors to gain entry in a short amount of time.”
Port of Kennewick Commissioner Skip Novokovitch said, “They were going to be torn down anyway. Now we have the chance to offer it up to regional SWAT members who can practice their explosives demolition. It helps us, it helps them so so there’s no downside.”
The final plan for this property includes creating a trail around the pond and installing wildlife viewing areas.
“This is a long term plan, but I think people as they’re driving down Columbia Drive say that’s waterfront – I had no idea that was the original shoreline and I can see the water from Columbia Drive. So maybe there’s some interest and I think it will really spur people to be excited about what’s going on,” said Tana Bader Inlgima, Director of Marketing for Port of Kennewick.
The port also hopes to attract private investors like restaurants, brew pubs, and wine tasting to really make it a waterfront setting.