ilani breaks ground on new gas station, store

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Already a destination for gambling and entertainment in Clark County, ilani and the Cowlitz Tribe are ready to roll the dice on an 18-pump gas station and a 5,500-square-foot convenience store next summer.

Several tribe members, community partners and guests attended a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday.

“This is opening in the spring of 2019 as a state of the art facility. I think the community will find it very impressive,” said ilani general manager Kara Fox LaRose.

“My favorite part of this event was watching the tribe have the opportunity to continue to achieve success and really be able to provide for their tribal membership and for their community. They really have worked a long time to get to this place to have a position where they can give back,” she added. “They have always been believers of working with neighbors in the community and working together to make a positive impact. It’s nice to see that the tribe is moving toward a sustainable program that can continue to evolve those efforts.”

Project manager Taylor Morelli said the store will sell snacks, drinks, groceries, beer, tobacco products, fruit, fried chicken, deli sandwiches, fresh brewed coffee, tea “and a few other surprises we are still working on right now.”

Cowlitz Tribe Chairman William Iyall was thrilled to take part in the ceremonial dig. It’s just one step closer to bringing this dream to reality.

“In the entire state of Washington, this is the fastest growing community right here,” he said. “We’re happy to be a part of it and to provide as many services as we can.”

City of Ridgefield Mayor Don Stose is excited to see the station will provide ethanol free gas.

“Right now you have to drive all the way into Portland to get that, so it’s going to be in our backyard,” he said.



Stose adds the store and gas station is opening up just in time for the new Ridgefield Raptors West Coast Baseball team playing at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreational Complex.

“We’ll have the best college baseball players in the country coming to Ridgefield, and then those folks will leave the baseball game and go to ilani,” he said. “Any time you can provide great services like this to the community and people passing through, it’s a win-win for everybody.”

City of La Center Mayor Greg Thornton touched on the 152 acres of developable land across the freeway from ilani. Waverley Homes and JB Homes are building new neighborhoods in those areas. 

Those new homeowners are going to benefit from this new one stop shop.

“With this new development, I see more people wanting to live here and more opportunities for jobs,” Thornton said. “This will be a big step forward for the tribe and a great addition to North Clark County.”

Spiritual Leader Tanna Engdahl said Thursday’s groundbreaking brought back memories of a time when the Cowlitz tribes had strongholds in the north, south, east and west from the Lewis River to the Columbia to the foothills of Mount St. Helens.

“When we have a ceremony and when we open the earth for any reason, we call upon our ancestors because we know we stand on their visions and their legacy and what they left us as determination to continue, continue, continue and to never, never give up,” Engdahl said.

“We have a 22 member council of highly educated and very forward thinking people,” she added. “And what we do in our thinking process is make sure that all our communities are represented because we don’t really take one step forward that we don’t all come together and go forward together.”