The committee charged with overseeing development of the Picture Point Wayside will unveil the preliminary drawings and designs of the park at the library 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Landscape architecture firm Bettisworth North submitted a conceptual plan to the borough earlier this month depicting a park split into three sections: north and south pullout areas with restrooms, pavilions and other amenities, and a third section with a trail system leading toward town.
The ad-hoc Picture Point Design Committee met last week to discuss the design and give feedback to the architects before Wednesday’s meeting. One issue that was clear – and admitted by the architectural firm – is all the elements of the design would not be feasible with the project’s roughly $350,000 budget.
Committee member Rob Goldberg, representing the Haines Borough Planning Commission, said the design will have to be cut down.
“Architects being architects, they got very creative here and I think drew in a lot of things that are beyond our budget, so we’re going to have to really make a list of priorities here of what we want most and what we can afford,” Goldberg said.
In addition to two pavilions, two sets of restrooms, paved lots and trails, bonfire pits, picnic tables and interpretive signage, the design includes totem poles, a concrete patio with an inlaid map of the Chilkat River area engraved into the stone and an installation of pilings jutting out into the water to echo an old dock.
Judy Heinmiller, who represents the Tourism Advisory Board on the committee, said she doesn’t think these artistic flourishes will likely make it into the final design.
“I would be personally really surprised if that ever happens, because concrete doesn’t hold up here,” Heinmiller said of the patio area with the Chilkat River map engraving. “Why put something on the ground you need to look down at?”
The pilings (which Goldberg described as sort of an art installation which would gradually acquire barnacles and serve as landing platforms for birds) also seemed excessive to Heinmiller, especially because of the expensive permitting with the Army Corp of Engineers that would be involved.
“I was sort of like, ‘Why?’ It seemed to me like it was a really unnecessary thing,” Heinmiller said.
Heinmiller said she is looking forward to seeing how the public responds to the drawings and hearing what they like and don’t like so the committee can develop a priority list that best reflects what the community wants.
Goldberg developed his own personal priority list along with rationale and forwarded it to the rest of the committee. Sitting atop the list was picnic tables, some featuring grills and Plexiglas windbreaks to allow people to enjoy the view without being buffeted by the strong winds that routinely rake the point.
“It can definitely be a factor in your experience of enjoying the point there. If there were at least one or two picnic tables at each of the pullouts with a windbreak it would be much more comfortable,” Goldberg said.
Paving of the north and south pullouts is also unnecessary and expensive, he said. “Vehicles can already be parked at both pullouts on the existing surface. Putting a large chunk of our available funds into paving doesn’t make sense to me. I would rather see the money spent on things that people can use to enjoy the area.”
Executive assistant to the manager Darsie Culbeck said the committee has already received some input on the conceptual design from the public. “They wanted to have bikes and motorcycle parking. They wanted to use driftwood instead of dimensional lumber for benches; maybe a communal fire pit with parking around it instead of a bunch of little fire pits,” he said.
Culbeck also doesn’t want members of the public to be alarmed by the slick-looking drawings of the park. “They look kind of modern, maybe more urban than we’re used to. But that’s just how they look… We’re not looking to do something super urban here,” he said.
After the public gives input on the current design, the committee will take the comments and integrate them into the plan. The architects will then present a further modified design, Culbeck said.
The goal is to begin construction by this summer, he said.
Aside from Goldberg and Heinmiller, the design committee is composed of Brad Ryan (Takshanuk Watershed Council), Barbara Mulford (Haines Chamber of Commerce), and Jon Hirsh (Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee).