It's not too early to think about spring home touch-up

The Lower Columbia Preservation Society (LCPS) is sponsoring an Old House Forum at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 18, in the old Commodore Hotel at 1421 Commercial St. Many people know the building as the former site of Chris’ News, a popular book, magazine and smoke shop. Its upper stories were vacant for more than 40 years. Now, the hotel is being renovated by local developers Brian Faherty and Paul Caruana and Portland developer Lance Marrs.

The LCPS “members only” tour will view the renovation in progress. Members will be guided through the building by Faherty, who will describe how he and his partners are retaining the character of the historic structure while preparing it for the 21st century. Participants should wear clothing suitable for a construction site, including supportive footwear. If you are not a member, but would like to go on the tour, you can purchase a membership at the tour. For information about membership, visit www.lcpsweb.org

The Lewis Building, which houses the Commodore Hotel, was constructed in 1925. It was designed by John E. Wicks, Astoria’s most prolific architect. The building was divided into retail on the first floor, a traveler’s hotel on the upper two stories and a meeting space in the basement. Situated half a block from the old Astoria North Shore Ferry Landing and considered located at one of the main entries into the downtown commercial district, the Commodore Hotel and six other hotels hoped to accommodate passengers who were waiting for the following day’s ferry across the Columbia River. The Lewis Building was the closest one to the ferry landing. Traveling salesmen, who rode the train into Astoria, also frequented the hotel.

The last major remodeling of the upper hotel floors in 1928 included the conversion of two hotel rooms into an office and lobby.

In 1943, the Eagles Lodge converted the basement to a meeting space and met there until 1954. In 1959, the Astoria Chamber of Commerce converted a side commercial space into an office space which the Chamber office has not occupied since the early 1970s. From 1948 until 2005, a magazine and cigar shop, Chris’ News, occupied the front two-thirds of the first floor. The upper floors, which housed the Commodore Hotel, were sealed and mothballed in 1964 – two years before the ferry stopped operation and the Astoria-Megler Bridge was constructed between Astoria and the Washington shore.