If the name “Agripac” doesn’t ring a bell, you don’t understand how important Eugene’s new Downtown Riverfront Park is. For generations Agripac had a vegetable processing plant in this quadrant of the city southeast of the Ferry Street Bridge.

Agripac and its neighboring cannery paid competitive wages in a community that still considered itself primarily agricultural. For those not strong enough to work in the forests or mills, sorting beets, carrots, mushrooms and more was this town’s version of the American dream.

Mayor Ruth Bascom was one of the first to dream aloud of change. She called it Eugene’s “return to the river.” As urban centers across the country turned away from heavy industry as the preferred economic engine, cities discovered that these towering structures stood between them and their waterways.

We dreamed of picnicking on the southern banks of the Willamette River, but achieving that dream took decades of slow, hard work.

Some of us still wish we had a local food processing plant. Consider this: we just opened a pavilion that will keep our farmers market running year-round. A few days later, we bury the memory of the facility that provided food to farmers all year round.

Like the Willamette River itself, our history around its banks cuts through us in nearly every direction.

Alton Baker Park has preserved much of the waterfront on the north side, removing any rush to do anything on the south side. Valley River Center came to trade across the river, leaving downtown a virtual wasteland for decades. Eugene reinvented his downtown into a pedestrian mall, which only made things worse.

During Peter DeFazio’s first term in Congress, he secured federal funding that would allow the Ferry Street Bridge to carry more traffic. Local activists passed a local ordinance banning such expansion, so the funds were used instead to build the pedestrian bridge that bears DeFazio’s name.

Heavy industry continued to move away from the city center. The Register-Guard moved its printing press north of the river. Eugene Water & Electric Board purchased property on the northwest outskirts of town.

Agripac has announced its intention to consolidate its facilities and move its processing north. Eugene purchased the hulk left behind, but it sat behind a chain link for years, eventually making way for the new federal courthouse. The contaminated soil was remediated or transported by truck. The streets have been realigned. Downtown began to emerge from its sad slumber.

Another former mayor, Brian Obie, began investing more in the 5th Street Public Market, which was once a chicken processing plant. Stephanie Pearl Kimmel opened Market, making the northeast corner of downtown a destination.

EWEB began making plans to move out of downtown. The city agreed to purchase the waterfront property from EWEB and then sought a developer. The University of Oregon Foundation was chosen, but it turned out to be too much. A Portland firm took its place. Negotiations are continuing, plot by plot, but construction should begin to appear in the coming months.

EWEB’s steam plant is being refitted by a local team, but every new detail is daunting. The city early identified a park as part of the development, but this required the closure of portions of Ruth Bascom Riverbank Road for over a year, moving the path away from the riverfront.

Downtown Riverfront Park is now open, in time to host the fan festival during OREGON22, the 10-day World Championships in Athletics in July. Restaurants and other amenities are still on the drawing board, but appear safer as deadlines tighten.

I missed many twists along the way, but the point is this. Eugene’s riverside revival has been a long time coming. It is worth celebrating.

Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column every Wednesday and Sunday for The Register-Guard and archives past columns at www.dksez.com.