When visitors to Vancouver drive into downtown from Interstate 5 or Highway 14, the first thing they see is a mound of overgrown shrubbery.
“It’s a really unimpressive first impression of downtown,” said Chad Eiken, Vancouver’s Community and Economic Development director.
After a few years of considering improvements, the city was able to save enough money to do something about it. A proposal to improve the entrance at Sixth and C streets is now in the development phase. The city is working with BergerABAM on the initial concepts.
“Everybody’s excited and can see this will be a really nice looking entryway into downtown,” Eiken said.
The proposed changes include a basalt rock wall affixed with 2-foot-tall letters spelling out Vancouver as well as landscaping on both sides of Sixth Street at its intersection with C Street.
This revitalization was identified as a top priority by a group of downtown stakeholders in previous years.
To an extent, Eiken said, the city wants to match any changes to existing improvements in downtown.
There’s also a safety concern, he said.
“We wanted to make sure whatever improvements are made didn’t invite pedestrians to come and hang out there,” he added. The small parcel of land is often used for camping by those experiencing homelessness.
The wall, for example, was originally proposed as a straight line. But city staff instead recommended a curved wall with angular rock to “make it uncomfortable,” Eiken said.
Nighttime illumination will be included for “a little more safety and visibility,” he said.
“At this point we just have conceptual plans,” Eiken said. “We would need to go out to bid and get bids on design and construction.”
The city council will host a workshop on the proposal Monday evening. Once a contractor is secured, Eiken hopes the project can move forward swiftly.
“We would like to see construction happening this summer,” he said.
