PORT ANGELES — Last Tuesday, the City Council gave the go-ahead to the start of a new plan intended to transform downtown’s waterfront.
But the $4.3 million price tag for the construction of the proposed improvements may keep the whole project from happening unless state and federal grants come through.
The Port Angeles Downtown Waterfront Development Project includes a promenade on Railroad Avenue between Oak and Laurel streets, a new 2-acre park on the east side of the Valley Creek estuary, completion of the Olympic Discovery Trail’s downtown route, and a slew of other streetscape improvements.
Nathan West, city economic and community development director, said the city can’t afford to pay for the waterfront makeover itself, which is why it is aggressively seeking state and federal funding.
A federal appropriation request for the whole sum, minus a $877,000 match from the city, has already been submitted.
Additionally, city staff presented the plan to the state Recreation and Conservation Office in Olympia recently.
The board allocates grant funds for park and recreational projects.
The city is also pursuing other possible grants, with the hope of starting the waterfront improvements next summer.
West said he is confident that the funds will come through in time.
“I don’t feel that it’s up in the air,” he said.
“I think . . . we will get the funding sources to make it work.”
But if not enough funding comes through, West said it would be up to the City Council to decide whether to try again — or put up more local funds.
The city’s contribution would come from its lodging tax and economic development funds, West said.
The two funds are intended for projects that promote tourism and private investment.
They don’t affect the general fund, which covers the lion’s share of staff pay and benefits, police and fire services, along with some of the parks and street budgets.
The city is also using lodging taxes and the economic development fund to pay for the design of the proposed improvements.
The design work, costing roughly $200,000, is included in the broader Waterfront and Transportation Improvement Plan.
That also includes the design of new entryway monuments where U.S. Highway 101 enters Port Angeles; six new way-finding signs to help direct traffic to shopping, civic and recreational destinations; and the creation of a new transportation plan.
The Waterfront and Transportation Improvement Plan — which doesn’t include the construction of the waterfront improvements — is projected to cost a total of $778,000.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
