Blueberry Bridal completed its purchase of land at Vista Field in the Port of Kennewick. The bridal shop will provide about 4,000 square feet of retail space focused on brides and grooms. Vista Field was once the port’s airport but was decommissioned about a dozen years ago and is being developed for other purposes.
Courtesy photo/Port of Kennewick
February 18, 2025
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Port of Kennewick celebrates 110
Port officials focus on eliminating duplicated effort to improve quality of life in South Central Washington
KENNEWICK — Tim Arntzen, CEO at the Port of Kennewick, said he’s excited for March 2025 when the port celebrates its 110th anniversary. He said the port he leads is not just an economic stimulator for Kennewick, but a place with a long heritage of innovation and community service. “When we started, when this port started, it was meant to simply provide water access to Kennewick for the shipping of goods, so it stayed real close to the original mission of ports,” Arntzen said. The port was founded March 6, 1915, according to its history website. At the time, 282 of the area’s 379 voters – it was a much smaller population back then – voted in favor of the formation of the port. The port allowed Kennewick and the surrounding area to leverage the then-recently-completed Celilo Falls Canal to access other canals and West Coast ports in and around Portland. By the summer of that same year, cargo and passengers were passing through the port’s docks.