![Architect’s rendering of Port Angeles’ proposed West End Park looking south shows Oak Street at the left and Valley Creek Estuary Park at the upper right. [Studio Cascade Inc.]](https://giftsnap.shop/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/news_305289994_AR_0_0.jpg)
PORT ANGELES — City planning staff have secured another chunk of funding for a park proposed along the downtown waterfront as part of larger planned pedestrian improvements in the area.
The $167,000 grant, awarded last week through the state Department of Transportation, will pay for the portion of the Waterfront Trail that will run through the city’s proposed West End Park, Assistant City Planner Roberta Korcz said.
The park is the second phase of the city’s larger $17 million waterfront transportation improvement plan and is slated for the waterfront area between Valley Creek Estuary Park and North Oak Street.
First phase
The first phase is the ongoing $3.9 million esplanade project, which will improve the surface of West Railroad Avenue, add parking spaces and extend a concrete promenade out over the water parallel to the road.
The grant award comes as staff from Spokane-based architectural firm Studio Cascade Inc., the city’s lead design firm on the West End Park project, prepare complete park designs that should be ready to be presented to the Port Angeles City Council by next month, Korcz said.
Korcz said the fact that designs are almost complete, with construction possibly starting as early as this summer, was one of the factors that secured the grant for the city as state Department of Transportation officials reviewed applications last week.
“I think we were really given the advantage, [because] we’re ready to go with this,” Korcz said. “We have our permits in place, and our engineering substantially completed.”
With the $167,000 grant included, the city has collected about $1.5 million in city funds and other grants to pay for the first two prioritized pieces of the park: two small beaches closer to Valley Creek estuary and a paved portion of the Waterfront Trail running through the park as part of the Olympic Discovery Trail that eventually will link Port Townsend with LaPush.
City planning staffers expect construction of these two park elements to cost about $2.4 million while completion of the park, which will include circular gathering areas near the existing whale vertebra sculpture to the west and paved plaza and spray fountain abutting Oak Street, is expected to total $3.2 million.
Remaining funds
City planning staffers have applied for $911,000 in grants to provide the remaining funding for the first two elements of the park, Korcz said, adding that she expects to know if the city was awarded a $200,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in July.
The remaining $711,000 in pending funding would come from a $500,000 state Recreation and Conservation Office grant and a $211,000 federal security grant that will fund lighting and security cameras at the park.
“All these funding possibilities are helping us close our gap,” Korcz said, adding that she could not say for sure when the city will know if it has been awarded the $711,000 in combined grants.
Business sponsorships
In February, Port Angeles City Council members approved a city policy that would allow residents and certain businesses to make tax-deductible donations to “sponsor” sections of the park, ranging from $500 for individual benches, bike racks and drinking fountains to $20,000 for one of the two planned beaches.
Korcz said residents and businesses have approached city planning staff about sponsoring park elements, though no donations have come in.
“We’ve had quite a bit of interest but no follow-throughs with actual filled-out applications or dollar amounts,” Korcz said.
“But we aren’t relying on just sponsorships to fund the rest of the project.”
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
