By KEVIN COURTNEY
Register
Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Downtown Napa's future includes two parks totaling 20 acres
with unique features that will set them apart from all others in the
city.
Oxbow Commons, aka the flood bypass channel, will have eight acres
of open space for public events and recreation, but only in the dry months. It
will flood most winters.
Oxbow Preserve, a 12-acre nature park, will
feature a lush river ecology so delicate that public access may be
limited.
An international design firm, the SWA Group, unveiled plans for
Oxbow Commons and Oxbow Preserve last week before 30 members of the public at
Napa City Hall.
Oxbow Commons is the dry weather amenity that the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers will leave behind when it build the bypass channel next
to Wine Train and the Cinedome theater starting in 2008.
Using downtown
redevelopment funds, the city plans to turn the channel into a place where the
public can gather in the late spring, summer and fall for festivals, concerts,
walking and court games.
Nancy Fleming of SWA said there would be
several one-acre grassy areas north and south of McKinstry Street, where large
public events could be held. A half-acre games area is planned between Soscol
Avenue and a planned Wine Train bridge over the bypass.
Anything built in
the bypass has to be strong enough to withstand flood torrents, or else it will
have to be removed before the rainy season. Half the water in a so-called
100-year flood -- 150,000 gallons a second -- will race through the bypass,
keeping the area south of the Oxbow dry.
In average winters, high water
will back into Oxbow Commons once or twice. River overflows from McKinstry
Street are expected every other year, said Cassandra Walker, the city's
redevelopment manager.
Where the bypass enters the river at First Street,
designers will create a tidal zone where marsh plants should thrive.
At
last week's workshop, members of the public voiced concerns that the city
doesn't have enough money to turn Oxbow Commons into an attractive public
space.
"How are we going to light this, or will it be dark all the time?" asked Francie Winnen.
Al Edmister feared that many of proposed SWA's
amenities, such as windmills to pump water through Oxbow Commons during the dry
season, were "unachievable candy."
The redevelopment agency has set aside
$1.2 million in bond money for public improvements tied to the flood project. A
large part may be spent on Oxbow Commons, but it won't buy all that people will
want, Walker said.
Windmills, lighting and other features could turn out
to be unaffordable luxuries, she said. Irrigated lawns, extra pathways and
benches could exhaust city funds.
Winnen, a member of Friends of the Napa
River, said the public may need to raise money to make Oxbow Commons a quality
park.
Bernhard Krevet, president of Friends, said the annual spring and
Labor Day weekend festivals at Veterans Memorial Park may move to Oxbow Commons,
where larger crowds can be accommodated.
The SWA Group, which was paid
$87,000 by the redevelopment agency to work on Oxbow Commons and $240,000 for
Oxbow Preserve, wants to mark the base of Oxbow Commons with a large grid formed
by rocks.
Several audience members feared the grid would be a maintenance
headache and would detract from the natural setting.
More rocks are
planned under the three bridges that will go over the bypass -- First Street,
Soscol Avenue and Wine Train -- to deter homeless encampments. The bed of Oxbow
Commons will be 11 feet under Soscol.
Native trees and vegetation will
be planted along the borders of the bypass channel, but above winter flood
waters.
The Corps of Engineers is scheduled to begin building the bypass
channel in 2008, finishing up in 2009.
The SWA design for Oxbow Commons
is scheduled to go to the flood district's Technical Advisory Panel on Sept. 28,
then to the county flood control board for approval on Oct. 18.
Last
week's public comments will be considered before a refined plan is submitted to
county flood panels, Walker said.
Information about SWA's slide
presentation will be posted soon on the city's Web site, www.cityofnapa.org,
under the Community Resource's parks listing, officials said.
SWA was
hired a year ago to design Oxbow Commons after Friends of the Napa River
struggled with how to make it a major downtown attraction. SWA has worked on
such acclaimed water projects as San Antonio's riverwalk and Victoria Harbour in
Melbourne, Australia.
Oxbow Preserve, further north on the opposite bank
of the river, became possible when the Giovannoni family put the undeveloped
property up for sale. The city purchased the site using $2.1 million in state
recreation grants, including $800,000 set aside for improvements that could
start next summer.
Because Oxbow Preserve would be almost completely
under water in a major flood, it is not suitable for intensive development.
Planners envision a quiet nature park for hikers, bikers and nature
classes.
Public access, with limited parking, will be from McKenzie Drive
off of Silverado Trail. A proposed trail on the east bank may connect to the
park.
Designers propose a pedestrian bridge, south of Lincoln Avenue,
connecting the preserve to a planned trail on the river's west bank from Trancas
Street south to Kennedy Park. Currently, there is no money slated to pay for a
bridge.
The northern part of the Oxbow Preserve would feature restored
grasslands and possibly a caretaker's cottage.
Major ecological
restoration is planned in the southern zone, opposite Copia, including the
removal of large stands of non-native eucalyptus and acacia, and the
construction of a marsh with an island sanctuary for birds.
Because the
south area will be rich with birds and animals, the city may want to allow only
docent-led tours or limit visitation hours, Fleming said.
Chuck Shinnamon
of Napa worried that too many restrictions on public usage will result in the "bad guys" taking over. The city recently removed a half dozen homeless camps
from the preserve.