NORTH BEND — The city laid another conceptual plank in its boardwalk dream this week, when officials and community members chose design elements for the project.

City councilors, staff members and a few other North Benders met with OBEC Consulting Engineers to review design options for the boardwalk/pier. The project, to be located on Harbor Avenue between California and Virginia streets, will be a 700-foot elevated pier and continuous boardwalk. It’s expected to be completed in 2010.

Together, they chose an alignment that extends the boardwalk over the water, set several feet beyond the shoreline. Councilors directed OBEC to use a predominantly gray stamped concrete for the walkway, possibly incorporating another color as an accent; steel cable railing with built-in lighting; and some period light poles similar to those already featured on Harbor Avenue.

The city’s eventual goal is to link with a boardwalk to be constructed through the Coquille Economic Development Corp.’s Ko Kwel Wharf Project. The city’s project eventually may include moorage for boats.

Armed with this new information, OBEC’s engineers will return to the city with a 30 percent engineered design in September, along with construction estimates, for city approval.

City Administrator Jan Willis emphasized that the meeting produced no final decisions. Those will be made in September and will be followed by a bidding process in July 2009. She also noted that community members had great ideas on how to make the boardwalk unique to North Bend, such as incorporating decorative maritime features.   

Mayor Rick Wetherell said he also appreciated the citizens’ input, but he was disappointed more people didn’t attend to weigh in on the project. He has higher hopes for the next meeting.

“That time, we hope to have more citizens out to voice their opinions,” Wetherell said.

He and Councilor Howard Graham said they were partial to the selected design options — specifically the alignment of the boardwalk — because they would give locals and visitors alike a new view of the waterfront. The less popular alignment hugged the waterline, rather than extending past it.

“We can walk along the shoreline anytime,” Wetherell said.

Graham said the tentatively chosen alignment has more advantages but a heftier price tag of about $1.3 million.

The result of a partnership with the Oregon Department of Transportation, the waterfront project will be partially funded by $860,000 in federal highway money, which  ODOT will administer for planning and construction.

Longtime community member Pat Choat Pierce, who attended the meeting, said she is impressed.

“It’s really going to enhance the livability of the downtown area,” she said.

She noted the alignment chosen by the council will make North Bend’s boardwalk distinctive from Coos Bay’s.

The waterfront area is due for a makeover, Choat Pierce said, especially considering how important the area was to the city’s development. It was once a major terminal for ships coming to Southwestern Oregon.

“This has been neglected for quite some time, our very important waterfront area,” she said. “This will certainly remind the citizens of our past.”

Staff Writer Jessica Musicar covers North Bend issues for The World. She can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 240; or by e-mailing to jmusicar@theworldlink.com.