_{Thumbnail: Consultants Don Arambula and Gill Williams convinced the new Crescent City Council last month that the gateway should incorporate redwoods into the design. | Screenshot}

Crescent City leaders have scrapped the nautical theme they chose late last year for a gateway, listening to a new consultant who urged them to incorporate redwoods into the design.

Don Arambula, co-founder of the Portland-based architect and urban design firm Crandall Arambula, pointed out that 2.5 million tourists don’t necessarily visit the North Coast for the beach, though it’s important to the local community.

“There’s an expectation for those visitors who are coming from across America and sometimes internationally to see things that they associate with the redwood parks,” he told Councilor Jason Greenough who had misgivings about the new gateway proposal being constructed largely of wood. “If you’re building things in metal and it’s colored and doesn’t reflect that, you’re losing a big opportunity to reinforce this idea that your downtown is the gateway, or the starting point, for any journey that goes into Redwood National Park that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

Arambula and Gill Williams, principal for GreenWorks Design, presented their updated concept for the grand entrance to Beachfront Park and Downtown Crescent City at a May 19 City Council meeting. Arambula is also working with Crescent City on its downtown masterplan and GreenWorks Design is one of the principal consultants for the redesign and expansion of Beachfront Park.

According to Crescent City Manager Eric Wier, it was Arambula who suggested a different design for the gateway project than the waves and dolphin concept the City Council had selected following a community survey in December. 

Arambula’s idea was that the gateway should incorporate elements of Downtown Crescent City, the Crescent City Cultural Center and Beachfront Park, Wier said. But the city manager noted that since the project’s funding source hasn’t changed, Crescent City is under a tighter timeline to get it constructed.

“This is one of those projects that we have one shot [at] to try to get this right for our community,” Wier told Redwood Voice Community News on Wednesday. “We met with [the consultants] yesterday and we’ll meet with them next week for something to push out to the community on what would work. We’ll put that out for a proposal to get a fabricator to build that and our estimate is it will take about six to seven months to build it.”

Crescent City’s gateway project will be constructed using a $3 million Clean California grant. After hearing the presentation from Arambula and Williams on May 19, the City Council unanimously approved the proposed changes to the gateway project as well as a revision to its contract with GreenWorks Design, which is funded by the Clean California grant. 

The total cost for the additional services GreenWorks will be performing is $30,350, according to Wier’s May 19 report to the City Council. Wier said he expected the community outreach component of the project to be part of the Council’s deliberations over the next month before the city starts the bidding process to find someone to construct the project’s components.

Wier said he hopes to bring a proposed contract with a fabricator to the City Council for consideration in early autumn. This will give them enough time to build the gateway and have them finished by April 2026. The grant dollars must be spent by June 30, 2026, he said.

On May 19, Williams said he wanted to evoke a “redwoods meet the sea feel” in a series of gateway elements constructed of wood and COR-TEN steel, also known as weathering steel. 

The signs would be illuminated with gooseneck lamps — something that has a “Santa Monica pier feel to it,” Williams said. The actual verbiage on the signs is still to be determined, but Williams said they will integrate Tolowa messaging.

Wier said that will include informing people that they are visiting the former village site of Taa-‘at-dvn, providing “contextual coordination” with the Tolowa Interpretive Trail that will be part of Beachfront Park.

Williams and Arambula proposed moving the actual gateway arch from K to Play Street so it would be west of the transit center the Redwood Coast Transit Authority is developing near the Cultural Center. A visitor would pass through a procession of interchangeable banners on their approach to the gateway arch, Williams said. There would also be a series of icons on the gateway monuments to let visitors know what area of the city they’re in, he said.

Williams proposed relocating the bike lane to get it out of vehicular traffic. He said the Play Street location for the gateway incorporates a perpendicular connection with the visitor center for Redwood National and State Parks, which will likely be brought into the Cultural Center, as well as the transit center and the pedestrian mall behind the library north of Front Street.

“I think that’s a really important connection because if people drive into the city and need directions and they go to the redwood [visitor] center and they park, it would be great to get them walking and guiding them across Front Street and into downtown,” Williams said.

Arambula said redesigning the gateway monument also creates a “premium system” that separates buses from regular vehicular traffic as well as pedestrians from riders who are queuing up to board. In addition to a bus-only lane, Arambula and Williams proposed an exclusive waiting area with restrooms and ticketing booths for RCTA riders.

Arambula said the proposed new Play Street location for the gateway puts the RCTA transit center closer to the downtown core at 3rd and H streets. Riders are disembarking closer to restaurants, businesses and other amenities and are not getting too far away from Beachfront Park.

“As Gill mentioned, there’s going to be a north-south pedestrian connection across to Play Street and then down to the Cultural Center and all the amenities,” Arambula said. “It’s all linked to that all in one place.”

Arambula said that the material he and Williams were thinking of using for the gateway was cedar and redwood, which “age pretty well.” 

The project’s affordability, especially when it comes to maintaining it, is another reason why they proposed using COR-TEN steel, Williams said.

City Councilwoman Candace Tinkler said that while she liked the previous wave and dolphin design, she researched Crandall Arambula and has become a convert to their concept. She said she understands their advice about looking at the bigger picture when it comes to Crescent City’s gateway and she supported their making the area more bikeable and walkable.

Tinkler, who was the chief of interpretation for Redwood National and State Parks, said she also has experience with COR-TEN Steel.

“We have used COR-TEN steel extensively in some areas of Redwood National and State Parks,” she said. “I understand the concerns about wood, but the COR-TEN steel is almost made for this area. It just gets better looking over time.”