Escape rooms planned for downtown Astoria

Sep. 28—Escape rooms may be coming to Astoria.

Caitlin Contreras, the owner of Escape Astoria, was given approval by the Planning Commission on Tuesday night to move forward with plans to open downtown.

The business, planned for the Cook Building on Commercial Street, would be year-round family-friendly entertainment with three themed escape rooms in the basement.

Contreras said two to six people would be able to reserve a room. They would be given one hour to find a way to escape by discovering hidden clues or solving a series of riddles or puzzles.

The door would not be locked, rooms would be monitored for safety and people could leave at any time.

"We really just wanted to say how excited we are to be able to add to the downtown business district and to be able to create another family-friendly event, as well as something that's year-round, not weather dependent," Contreras told the Planning Commission.

"We're also hoping that not only will this be embraced by our locals here in Astoria, but also create an additional tourist draw."

Contreras said the closest escape room to Astoria is in Cannon Beach.

"So quite a bit of distance — very popular in other markets, and so we would like to bring that to Astoria, as well," she said.

The Planning Commission approved the conditional use request for the downtown space and wished Contreras success.

"It's an appropriate use and location that's been underutilized for years," Commissioner Sean Fitzpatrick said.

Commissioner Brookley Henri called the business a nice addition to downtown.

"I also think this is just such a perfect theme for historic downtown Astoria in the basement level of a building," she said.