More than a thousand people attended the grand opening of SE Pioneer Way in downtown Oak Harbor Saturday.

The all-day event saw activities ranging from fun-runs and sidewalk art to a ribbon cutting ceremony and a free salmon lunch for the public. The fish, which was barbecued by members of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, was especially popular.

“The salmon was wonderful,”  said Ron Apgar, president of the Downtown Merchants Association. “The line was huge.”

At one point, it stretched an entire block from Dock to Hathaway streets. City officials confirmed that over 500 pounds of salmon was cooked, and judging by all the smiling greasy faces, very little went to waste.

Rhonda Severns, the city’s merchant liaison, confirmed that none of the fish was paid for with city funds. It was purchased with private contributions, a large amount of which came from project contractors, she said.

Under a rare sunny October sky, the mood downtown was positive and celebratory. People everywhere seemed to be having a good time. Oak Harbor resident Kathy Merrill was having so much fun she couldn’t help but do a little jig. She said she loved the street and was excited about the future.

“If they have more events like this, I think it will be big boon to Oak Harbor,” Merrill said.

Even some of the most vocal city and project critics seemed to put away their hard feelings for the day and join in on the celebration. Oak Harbor resident Shane Hoffemire, who has become a regular at city council meetings, said he still disagrees with the way some things were done, but decided to attend the event with his family anyway to support downtown merchants.

“My ax to grind isn’t with businesses,” he said.

A dream for for nearly 35 years, the $7.7-million project recently reached the milestone of “substantial completion.” A lot of work still needs to be done, from removing power lines to paving the archaeological area between SE Ireland Street and Ilwaco Alley, but the term basically means the street is open for its intended use.

Although public support for the project has been mixed, hundreds turned out for the ribbon cutting. Led by Mayor Jim Slowik, the ceremony was kicked off with a presentation of the colors by personnel from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and with a cheer by the Oak Harbor High School spirit team.

Slowik thanked attending state and county dignitaries for their support before going on to credit the city council for all its efforts. With vision and foresight, they weathered a “mighty debate” and saw the project through to completion.

“They are a courageous group,” he said.

Slowik also singled out city employees whose efforts were instrumental. He said City Engineer Eric Johnston “poured his heart and soul” into the project as did engineers Larry Cort and Joe Stowell. And the project could never have been completed without the hard work of Rhonda Severns, the city’s merchant liaison, Slowik said.

The mayor talked about the strengths of the project, such as how the new infrastructure and green building practices will help reduce pollution in Puget Sound. He also noted that the city was recently informed it is to be the recipient of a transportation planning award from the American Planners Association and the Planner Association of Washington.

Slowik passed out a few awards of his own as well. A handful were presented to a variety of project participants, from Strider Construction to Perteet, a Seattle-based design and consulting firm.

Finally, Slowik made special note of the difficulties the roadwork has posed for downtown merchants. Store and property owners struggled through about seven months of heavy construction and there is still more work to do.

“Merchants on Pioneer Way get a special purple heart, in my opinion,” Slowik said.

Apgar said the months of construction have been difficult but that the celebration exceeded all his expectations, both in the number of people that showed up and the support shown for downtown shops.

Stores were packed with shoppers and people seemed positive about downtown again. Apgar said the event was great because it showed the public all that the historic shopping district has to offer, both today and in days to come.

“I think it gave people an opportunity to see the kind of events we can have downtown,” Apgar said.