In spite of official and popular blame being placed on Chinese residents, it is now thought that the fire was more likely an act of racially-motivated arson. On August 2 of the following year, the Great Fire of 1873 started at a furniture store on Front. The area damaged by the 1872 fire acted as a buffer, aiding in containment efforts. In spite of this, over 20 blocks were destroyed. The prevalence of wood as a building material was a large factor in the fire's spread, and efforts to rebuild the affected area heavily employed brick and iron in an intentional effort to improve construction quality. Builders also became increasingly focused on architectural aesthetics, and by the 1880s, both sides of Front's commercial core were lined with multi-story buildings featuring decorative cast iron fronts and wooden colonnades. Repeated floods of the Willamette, including a major one in 1894, encouraged commercial development to move further away from the river. In addition, the arrival of the railroad meant that the river was no longer the primary means of shipping. By the turn of the century, much of the river's shipping traffic had moved north, the commercial core had migrated west to Fourth and Fifth Avenue, and many buildings along Front sat abandoned. Many of the wharves along Front were torn down in 1929 in order to build a seawall and sewer interceptor. The seawall remedied problems with flooding, but loss of the wharves substantially diminished commercial purpose for the area. The Great Depression led to further decline in Front's commercial importance, and many of the multi-story buildings that remained occupied were vacant except for the ground floor storefronts. As part of an effort to rejuvenate the street, the city built the Portland Public Market in 1933. Front Street was renamed Front Avenue in 1935. The 1942 opening of Harbor Drive cut Front Avenue completely off from the river, and replaced it as the main thoroughfare along the waterfront. Front was also widened as part of this project. All 79 buildings between Front and the river were torn down as a result, including the Portland Public Market. By 1968, the Portland Bureau of Planning recommended the elimination of Harbor Drive, in order to expand the city's park system and give the public access to the waterfront. Interstate 5 was completed in 1964 on the east bank of the river, and I-405 was completed on the west side in 1969. Completion of the Fremont Bridge in 1973 completed the city's current freeway loop, drastically reducing the need for Harbor Drive as a thoroughfare. Harbor was closed in 1974 and demolition began to make way for Tom McCall Waterfront Park, once again making Front Avenue the nearest street to the west-side waterfront.