8A • April 21, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Tolovana, Ecola Court ramp
improvements proposed
City and state
talk possible
ownership
transfer of
Tolovana
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
The road to Ecola State Park was closed due to heavy
spring rains.
Ecola State Park
road reopens
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
A draft of major design
changes and improvements
to Tolovana Beach State Rec-
reation Site and Ecola Court
ramp have been presented to
the people of Cannon Beach.
The sites were proposed at
an open house Thursday, April
13, as a part of the parks mas-
ter plan to be proposed to the
city council.
The open house, lead by
Otak architects Maggie Daly
and David Haynes, outlined
long term improvements for
the well-used park and ramp
after collecting public input
for more than a year.
Costs and project timelines
were not a part of the pre-
sentation, though each were
labeled as high priority proj-
ects if they were to be chosen.
The proposals are drafts of a
master plan that serves as a
recommendation for the city
council if they were to adopt
it, Haynes said.
“These places were iden-
tified as high-profile sites,
and these plans help answer
the question ‘what could this
area be if we could raise the
funds?’” Haynes said.
Transferring
Tolovana
Casual conversations about
transferring Tolovana to the
City of Cannon Beach have
started, according to Cannon
Beach Public Works Director
Dan Grassick, though no for-
mal plans or agreements have
been made.
These conversations stem
from the community’s desire
to have more liberty to pursue
upkeep projects, such as in-
creasing the amount of green
space in the park which is
mostly composed of an asphalt
parking lot. Other improve-
Proposed
rain forest
reserve gets
$45,000 grant
A $45,000 grant from the
Conservation Alliance to the
North Coast Land Conservan-
cy will hep protect a proposed
natural area adjacent to Oswald
West State Park. The proposed
Rainforest Reserve is part of
a 3,500-acre summit-to-sea
corridor originally envisioned
by Oregon’s first state parks
superintendent, Samuel Board-
man, nearly a century ago.
North Coast Land Con-
servancy is one of 20 organi-
zations from throughout the
country to share $850,000 in
support this spring from the
Conservation Alliance, a Bend-
based group.
The conservancy was nomi-
nated by Manzanita-based pho-
tographer and alliance member
Justin Bailie.
Access was
blocked due to
heavy rains
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE
Ecola Court ramp.
ments include cementing the
boat ramp, moving the acces-
sible ramp in accordance with
the Americans with Disabili-
ties Act, moving the bathroom
farther away from the beach
and adding a promenade, foot
washing stations, more picnic
areas and an event space.
“We think it would be a
nicer park [if Cannon Beach
took responsibility],” Parks
Department Lead Utility Kirk
Anderson said. “A city’s iden-
tity is often portrayed by its
parks.”
The idea is that city would
be able to do maintenance
more consistently than the
state can provide, Anderson
said. The city already does
maintenance on parts of the
park it owns — the playground
and boat ramp — as well as
continually clearing driftwood
that blocks the ADA ramp.
Some members at the pub-
lic house voiced concern about
the financial commitment that
would mean for the city.
“There is already unbud-
geted money spent on main-
taining Tolovana already,”
Anderson said, referring to
when crews have to clean up
after immediate issues, like
downed trees or built up drift-
wood.
Mayor Sam Steidel, who
was in attendance, said that the
city has the ability to consider
these type of projects.
“We’re not desperate for
funds,” Steidel said. “We
have the ability to do projects.
Where this one in particular
falls in the line of priorities we
don’t know.”
Oregon State Parks Asso-
ciate Director of Communica-
tions Chris Havel said he has
heard of Cannon Beach’s de-
sire to manage Tolovana and
is interested in pursuing the
conversation.
“We’re always interested
in hearing from local partners
to improve public service and
government efficiency. We
hope to learn more from Can-
non Beach in the next couple
of months when they send us
more information about this
idea,” Havel said.
Because the conversations
are so early in the process,
there is no clear timeline of
when a transfer would happen
at this stage.
Turning a
ramp into art
The other high priority
recommendation would be
installing infrastructure along
the retaining walls at the Ecola
Court ramp that would display
art celebrating the 50th anni-
versary of the Oregon Beach
Bill.
The design would be con-
ceptualized by the public arts
committee, which has about
$15,000 in budget to carry out
the vision.
What that vision is remains
to be seen, committee member
Hank Johnson said, but the
general goal is clear.
“The idea is to dedicate
this art to public beaches and
past governors who supported
them,” Johnson said.
Haynes said his goal is to
have the concept for how the
art would be placed solidified
by the 50th anniversary cele-
bration on May 13.
Other improvements sug-
gested by the public in this
plan were to install bollards—
waist-high poles—to discour-
age cards from driving down
the ramp, as well as installing a
wheelchair storage unit.
While most of these plans
are still up in the air, Steidel
said the process has been solid.
“I’m impressed with the
community involvement in
this process,” he said. “There
have been new faces at every
open house.”
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The road leading into
Ecola State Park closed
April 12 after heavy winter
and spring rains caused sec-
tions of the road to start slip-
ping downhill, Park Manag-
er Ben Cox said.
“The road was built over
active, slow-moving land-
slides and we’ve long had
trouble spots,” said Cox.
“This year’s rainy season
and subsequent ground
movement have made the
road nearly impassable and
unsafe for visitors.”
This ground movement
has created severe dips in
the road that Bob McEwan
Construction began to fill
with compacted gravel sur-
face on April 17. The repair
will cost under $10,000.
Pending any weather-
related delays, the road should
reopen this week, Cox said.
Repairs of this nature
have stretched back many
years, Cox said. He said
state parks are exploring
long-term solutions for the
road. In December, heavy
rains damaged temporary
repairs made to the trail be-
tween Ecola Point and Indi-
an Beach trail after a series
of storms. The rains caused
sinking and sliding on Eco-
la Park Road and erosion
around the Canyon Creek
culvert.
“There will periods of
unexpected closures, espe-
cially if it keeps raining,”
Cox said. “We are aware of
iconic status of park, and
we’re making sure people
will have access to the park
as soon as we can.”
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