PORT ANGELES — A new Port Angeles city park proposed for the downtown waterfront area west of the ongoing improvements on Railroad Avenue could go out to bid as soon as spring of next year, the park’s designers said this week.
Designers contracted with the city presented preliminary design plans for the proposed West End Park, set for the waterfront area between North Oak Street and the Valley Creek estuary, at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Bill Grimes, lead designer for the project with Spokane-based design firm Studio Cascade, said the project is about 30 percent designed and is well on the way to a 60 percent design milestone.
“We would like you to proceed to 60 percent design, and we love what we’ve seen so far,” Mayor Cherie Kidd told him.
The city Community and Economic Development Department is seeking grants to pay for the estimated $3.2 million park.
At full build-out, the park is expected to include a new paved plaza abutting Oak Street, a circular gathering area surrounding the existing whale vertebra sculpture and the creation of two public beaches separated by a rock-lined jetty.
“Certainly, we’re going to do our best to obtain grants in a timely fashion,” said Nathan West, Community and Economic Development director.
West said the city also will explore private funding sources for the park.
About 500 feet of the Waterfront Discovery Trail is expected to run through the park, which also will feature a vertical jet-fountain play area designed for children and a grove of ginkgo trees to honor Port Angeles’ sister city in Japan.
The West End Park is the next scheduled phase of the city’s larger $17 million waterfront transportation improvement plan, which is the impetus for $3.9 million worth of improvements currently being made to Railroad Avenue along the Port Angeles downtown waterfront.
“With a few minor exceptions, we have all the permits in place to move forward with any portion of the waterfront project,” West said.
Questions from council
City Council members generally reacted positively to the West End Park design as presented, though they raised questions about the total cost of the project and the feasibility of some of the park’s elements.
City Councilman Dan Di Guilio, for example, said he was concerned about the water jet park proposed for the east end of the park, saying the fountain maintenance could cost the city more than it would be able to pay.
“I would hate to burden the city with something we would not be able to maintain,” Di Guilio said.
“So I would be very concerned about those jets, even though I appreciate them and like them.”
West said the phasing of the project is still to be decided, meaning the city could hold off on the fountains until their long-term costs are studied.
Councilwoman Brooke Nelson spoke in favor of this route, saying sponsors could be found for even minor aspects of the park, such as light poles.
“I just think those would be very interesting and fun things for people to privately invest in,” Nelson said.
In addition to funding sources, City Council members also asked how the West End Park could fit in with the marine research and public outreach center floated for vacant property just abutting the proposed park to the south.
West said the designs for the West End Park have been built around the property as one of the possible sites of the marine center, proposed by the Feiro Marine Life Center and the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.
“What we have done throughout the waterfront project is to open the door for that integration,” West said.
“When they have a preferred site in mind, we’ll make sure it plugs in nicely.”
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
