The Astoria Riverwalk Has Reopened Months After Buoy Beer’s Partial Collapse

Crews spent months reinforcing the south wall of Buoy’s pub and production facility in order to make the route safe for pedestrians and riders.

Buoy Beer Buoy Beer's new pop-up. Photo courtesy of Buoy Beer.
By Andi Prewitt

Customers still aren’t allowed inside Astoria’s Buoy Beer five months after a devastating partial building collapse. But the public area around the site is once again accessible.

The brewery announced this month on its social media channels that the Riverwalk between 7th and 8th streets reopened to foot and trolley traffic.

Crews spent months reinforcing the south wall of Buoy’s pub and production facility in order to make the route—which is just feet away from the structure—safe for pedestrians and riders.

And the trolley is, indeed, running. After spending a good deal of the pandemic stored in a garage, Old 300—a former San Antonio, Texas, streetcar—is back on the rails. Right now, the trolley runs from 11 am to 5 pm on Friday and Saturday, weather permitting, from Basin Street to 39th Street.

It’s still unclear if or when Buoy’s original location, situated on a pier above the Columbia River and now surrounded by a chain-link fence, will reopen. Part of the former cannery suddenly caved in on June 14, damaging the warehouse, which holds production machinery, goods and brewing equipment. Fortunately, nobody was inside at the time—the pub was closed on Tuesdays.

Last month, Oregon Business examined public records showing the dock pilings that supported the Buoy warehouse had long been in a state of disrepair.

In late June, the brewery began serving customers at the Astoria Food Hub, a center for wholesale and direct-to-eater businesses situated in a historic 27,000-square-foot structure just a short walk from the Buoy pub.

The business began operations in its temporary home with a lineup of beer, cider, wine and mimosas along with packaged sandwiches from Gaetano’s Market and Deli. However, it has since been able to add its own food menu, which includes coast classic, like rockfish and chips, albacore tuna sandwiches, clam chowder and Willapa Bay oyster shooters, as well as typical pub grub (think brats, chicken sandwiches and warm, soft pretzels).

Buoy at the Astoria Food Hub is open from noon to 8 pm daily.

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