Columbia Gardens: Port of Kennewick turns industrial zone into wine and food destination

KENNEWICK — On a given day you can see folks on the Kennewick waterfront sipping wine, noshing on tacos or barbecue or just soaking up the sunshine and the view at Columbia Gardens, and they can thank the Port of Kennewick for that. “Our community is growing, and people are saying, ‘Why can’t I have better access to waterfront? There’s other communities that redeveloped their waterfront. We want more,’” said Port of Kennewick Deputy CEO Tana Bader Inglima. Columbia Gardens is located on Clover Island, a little spit of land on the Columbia River in the middle of Kennewick just across the railroad tracks from the city’s historic downtown. It’s home to a lighthouse and a yacht club, wine tasting rooms, food trucks and a barbecue restaurant. Port districts in Washington are generally associated with more industrial and transportation-related work – operating airports and rail lines and attracting manufacturers – than with creating attractive retail space or community gathering places. But Port CEO Tim Arntzen said it’s not as off-the-wall as it seems at first glance.