PORT ANGELES — It’s not the waterfront as we know it.
After three months of work and several public meetings, consultants hired by the city of Port Angeles to makes suggestions for its downtown waterfront unveiled the almost-final draft of their concept Thursday evening at the Red Lion Hotel.
The concept, which appeared to get the approval of the approximately 65 people present, calls for several changes.
Perhaps the most noticeable would be transforming vacant public land east of the Valley Creek estuary.
Other changes are:
• Expanding Hollywood Beach.
• Turning City Pier into a “market destination.”
• Turning Railroad Avenue east of the ferry terminal into a plaza for pedestrians and buses.
• Expanding the sidewalk west of the terminal and creating an esplanade where people can access the water.
The unkempt 1.88-acre strip of land east of the Valley Creek Estuary, which is owned by the state Department of Natural Resources, is lined with rip rap and mostly used by dog walkers and kite fliers.
The consultant team, made up of six companies and headed by Studio Cascade of Spokane, is proposing to turn it into a landscaped park with beach access, an expanded pier and water jets.
It also would be the new home for the Arthur D. Feiro Marine Life Center, which would be moved from City Pier.
The waterfront improvements are part of the city’s Waterfront and Transportation Improvement Plan, which also involves new directional signs, entryway monuments and, as the name suggests, a new citywide transportation plan.
The two-phase plan is expected to cost about $778,000.
The waterfront concept shown at the meeting — to be tweaked one last time before the City Council considers approving it either next month or in January — was exactly what Bill Freeley has been waiting to see happen.
“Get on with it already,” the 63-year-old life-long Port Angeles resident joked after complementing the consultants.
Paul Cronauer, owner of The Landing mall, called the consultants “talented designers,” but said that what matters to him is whether it becomes a reality.
“That’s all great planning, but any plan is just a plan until you implement it,” he said.
Nathan West, city economic and community development director, said he’s hoping to begin some of the improvements next year.
But he also acknowledged that not all of it would be done at once, and how much gets done depends on funding.
The city is budgeting $500,000 in economic development funds in 2011 for the project, expected to be a multi-million-dollar effort.
West said the funds are intended to be used to match grants.
He also acknowledged that the city will need some funding to maintain any waterfront improvements.
“We want to make sure, at the end of the day, these features are low-maintenance,” West said.
Asked if the city can afford to maintain a new park, he said the city could look at getting a sponsor.
“We will look at public-private partnerships where we can to make some of these work,” West said.
“But we’ll have to get creative.”
The city expects to have “construction-ready documents” for the improvements by summer.
The City Council at its Dec. 7 meeting is expected to consider approval of new “way-finding signs” being proposed by the consultants.
About 40 to 50 signs, which includes 12 downtown kiosks, will be put in place, beginning in January, said Jonathan Mugmon, wayfinding studio leader for AECOM of Orlando, Fla.
About 110 directional signs are expected to be removed at the same time, he said.
The consultants also are designing new “entryway monuments,” expected to be put in place by 2012.
The city has estimated that the new signs and monuments will cost $200,000.
A city transportation plan is expected to be completed next year.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.