Sacred Grove, Sacred City
by Jay Raskin
Travelling down the path of being an architect has the
benefit of requiring me to closely observe how people
live with each other and with their surroundings. The
editors of this worthy newspaper (or should I say
worthy editors of this newspaper) are allowing me to
muse on these observations and to reflect on issues
relating to architecture. I am talking architecture in its
broadest sense, including the art of building, and the
design of buildings and landscape and cities around
them. - Jay Raskin, architect and author
A recurring theme in human settlement has
been that of sacred precincts, special areas
which were separated from the rest for their
beauty and intrinsic value. The tradition can be
seen today in a more secular tradition of the
setting aside of parks and wilderness areas.
There is another tradition, less widely
recognized, of seeing a city itself as separate and
special. The Romans (whose ideas on
architecture and town planning often inderpin
western thinking on these matters) set their
cities in the landscape by establishing two major
streets that followed the cardinal points of the
compass. To emphasize the streets of importance,
the forum was located at their crossing. The
town itself was set off from nature at its
founding by plowing a furrow where the town
wall was to be, lifting the plow where the gates
would be located. Within the walls civilized life
took place; the Romans took care with the
planning and design of their cities, many of
which were of a quite modest size.
The City of Cannon Beach, with considerable
foresight, is looking for where it should locate a
number of civic needs, primarily a new grade
school and sports park, but also an arts center,
public works yard, and open space. A Blue
Ribbon Commission was appointed to search for
and evaluate potential sites. Its
recommendations were recently sent to the City
Council. It is interesting to note that the issues
of Cannon Beach, as a special place and of special
places within the city, played a large role within
their discussions.
The primary issue was the location of the
school. The school district is seeking to build a
new grade school to replace the existing facility
which is aging and inadequate. Unfortunately,
they cannot build on the existing site since it is
located in the tsunami flood path. The
commission recommended three sites for the
location of the new grade school: the RV Park
located east of the highway, the Impact site
(located on Spruce Street between the wetlands
and the Presidential streets), and the Shorewood
site (the land directly behind City Hall).
The Commission had broad based
representation* and was split evenly between
combining the School with the Sports Park on
the RV site and keeping the school west of the
highway, at either the Impact or Shorewood
sites. In the latter scenarios the Sports Park
would have a separate location. While the RV site
has its advantages, a major reason for the
selection of the site was leaving the Impact Site
as open space. It is for this reason that the
Commission's recommendation shifted to the
Shorewood site if the RV Park proved
unavailable.
While all three sites would make good choices,
I believe that the Impact site is the best solution,
for both the school and the reinforcement of the
sense of village character that is important to
the community.
The Impact site is seen by many as a "sacred
grove" and a special place within Cannon Beach.
Ironically, this special character is also a major
recommendation for those wishing to locate the
school there.
The Impact site is about nine acres and is a
good example of coastal old growth forest located
next to a coastal wetland. It is irregularly
shaped, with the majority of it lying south of
Jefferson street and a narrow portion lying
north along Spruce to Taft Street. Its northern
boundary contains some wetlands. It does show
signs of human impact with a foundation in the
southwest comer (once intended for a Cannon
Beach Historical Society building; went on to
become the site of the now-defunct Community
Garden), and more recently the excavation for a
sewer connection that cut through from Elm
Street to the sewer ponds. Several trails cut
through it and it is the home of numerous
childrens' hideaways. The site has been
considered as a location for the grade school and
for an arts center in the past.
It seems appropriate that a sacred grove be
used as a place of learning since its meditative
aspects are conducive to study and, in a more
scientific vein, it offers an ideal place for study
of the natural environment and systems. The
students at the grade school already make the
wetland a study area.
This location would keep the school near the
downtown, which is a valued and distinctive
feature. It would be ironic for Cannon Beach to
move the school away from the downtown
community center at the same time that
educational reform is trying to establish
stronger contacts between the school and the
community, in particular the business
community.
Of course, the fear has been that the school
district would cut down all the trees on the site
due to state requirements. Fortunately, this is
not the case. The State has gotten out of the
business of setting specific school standards and
will let the individual school district determine
its own needs. In addition. Cannon Beach will
have a say in the design of the new school
through its representatives on the school board,
an active PTO which is also committed to the
town, and City control in terms of agreements of
land transfer and the Design Review process.
The Impact Site is large enough that the school
can be placed towards the northwest portion of
the site and leave a minimum of a 200-250 foot
buffer of old growth treees between it and the
neighboring residential area. The current
school site is a bit over 2 acres (including the
play areas) and the district projects a 25%
increase in the size of the school. This means
that the majority of the impact site can be left
untouched. The school district has indicated that
it is open to preserving as many trees as possible
and to considering two story buildings to reduce
the impact on the site. The impact of the
playground area could also be lessened by using
an unused portion of the sewer pond adjacent to
the site.
During the Blue Ribbon Commission
discussions, the use of the school as an Art Center
and Community Center was proposed. From an
urban design point of view keeping the Art
Center/Community Center near either Downtown
or Midtown would be an important element in its
success. The fact that the Impact site would also
offer a beautiful natural environment would
make the facility all the more attractive. It is
these connections and relationships that go to
creating village character.
There is also a strong environmental
argument that we should build cities so that
major elements of the town should be within
walking distance to reduce the necessity of cars.
Keeping the school near the Downtown would be
in keeping with this. So would be locating the
Sports Park at the RV Park and building a bridge
across the highway that would connect the
Sunset area to the Downtown at a highpoint that
is fortuitously located at the southeast comer of
the Impact site. The RV Park is large enough to
have a full sized soccer field and separate
baseball diamond.
Given all this there still is the voice that says
that perhaps this area should be left as it is, that
as the surrounding forests are cut it is good to
leave a piece of forest intact within the City. As
in all things, a balance needs to be found. With
the beach, Haystack Rock, the nature preserve
above the Haystack area, and the proximity to
Ecola Sate Park, Cannon Beach already has a
large endbwment of sacred places. Given that
the majority of it can be preserved, locating the
School at the Impact site would create a unique
and beautiful addition to the City, adding to the
specialness of Cannon Beach.
It's time to put the peas in, put the
stock up in spring pasture now that the
roads are clear, and time for the boys to
hit up the Peak Restaurant for some
steady nights through the spring to get
their chops together before the summer
onslaught of music-hungry tourists.
Over on the north coast, where the
temperatures allow you to move your
fingers all winter long, the pickers and
grinners are more than ready to lend
their talents to the seasonal stream of
celebrations.
Places like Camera Bluff and Cannon
Beach have always attracted artists, and
those in the performing arts are no
exception. They play in fewer venues,
and to smaller audiences than their
fellows in major cities, but they place
great value on the place they live, and it
helps impart great value to their music.
If you and your friends are planning
to visit us this year, we happily suggest
availing yourselves of the talents of our
many local musicians. Ask around about
public performances, and if you're
planning a most special event, enhance it
with music.
If the event might be just a bit casual,
and not everyone is aquainted, and you
want to avoid those dead spaces in the
conversations but there really isn't room
for a piano, just drop Gary a card care of
The Edge, and you can have a violinist
play 20th century American music with
Jazz frosting, thereby correcting any
errors in ambiance.
If you do it soon, he'll probably get
over his guilt about shameless plugs and
horn-tooting, and we don't really need to
see him suffer, now, do we?
The City Council has set up a public meeting on
Tuesday, April 7th, to discuss the
recommendations with the Blue Ribbon
Commission and the public.
QUALITY TOOLS, INC.
2966 Hwy. 101 N.
738-3074
saws
Seaside, OR 97138
DRILLS
* The author was the Cannon Beach Arts Association
representative to the Blue Ribbon Commission. He also
is a practicing architect in Cannon Beach.
GRINDERS
Tom Brownson
COMPRESSORS
President
STATIONARY EQUIPMENT
AIR TOOLS
I sales, service and sharpening
2& 4C Y C LE
(Editors' note: This writing represents a good argument
for only one of the sites mentioned. We would like to
stress that this is one person's opinion and may or may
not be the opinion of us here at the Edge. [We are
particularly interested in knowing what, exactly, the
name 'Impact Site' implies]. The Sacred Grove is too
precious to touch even a needle of one oldgrowth tree
without serious reason; and thought, also, to the people
who live and have lived nearby for years and their
feelings on having a school and public footbridge set
down within their midst. The cutting down and paving
of any portion of Cannon Beach's public woodlands must
- for the sake of everyone, and especially the children
-- be kept at a minimum.)
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