Crescent City accepts $2 million Mellon grant and approves litho-mosaic contract for Beachfront Park

Crescent City on Monday accepted a $2,000,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation to help complete improvements at Beachfront Park and the Tahlequah Cultural Trail, and the council authorized a professional services agreement to fabricate and install litho-mosaic interpretive elements.

The council’s action implements a staff recommendation to use the Mellon funds to fill remaining gaps in a multi-grant funding package for the trail and associated park features. "So this first item is to accept the Mellon grant, in the amount of $2,000,000," the staff presenter said during a detailed presentation of the project. The motion also adopted Resolution No. 2025-29 to amend the city’s FY 2025–26 budget to reflect the award.

Why it matters: The funds will be used to complete several interpretive nodes and site improvements along the California Coastal Trail to Battery Point, including a welcome station, a pebble mosaic, a burden-basket node and a canoe interpretive structure intended as immersive, site-specific exhibits. The project bundles previous awards, including a California Coastal Voices grant for recorded tribal-elder videos and an arts-and-parks grant that staff said totaled $300,000 but was insufficient to cover all fabrication costs.

Staff outlined the design approach and schedule. The litho-mosaic approach allows more intricate imagery than conventional pavers, officials said, and will be installed as part of a phased contract. The presenter described the pebble mosaic as an interpretive device: "So on the the first part of this this path, you will have 2,400 pebbles. The 2,400 pebbles represents the total population, pre, pre colonization, pre contact," the presenter said, adding 121 pebbles to reference a 1905 census figure.

Funding and timing: Staff said one grant deadline remains September 30 (one extension was pending) and another was extended to November 30. Bids for the construction contract were scheduled next month; staff said concrete and related site improvements were expected to begin about mid-August, with mosaic installation planned for late September or early October to meet those grant deadlines. The council was told that the front-street roadway and cultural-center frontage work could follow later, dependent on additional funding and bids.

Contract approval: The council authorized a professional services agreement to fabricate and install the litho-mosaic elements, with the motion noting the work would proceed "contingent on if we have enough funding" and on bid outcomes. The motion as stated on the record named the contractor in the motion text; the staff report referenced the contractor by a similar name during the presentation. The contract authorization passed on a recorded vote with five ayes.

Vote at a glance: The council approved acceptance of the Mellon Foundation award and adopted Resolution No. 2025-29. The motion to accept the grant and amend the budget passed (recorded yes votes: 5). The subsequent motion to authorize the litho-mosaic services agreement also passed on a recorded vote (recorded yes votes: 5).

Next steps: Staff will return with bid results and finalize the contract if funding levels and bids align with the project budget. Concrete site work is slated to begin in mid-August; staff said additional elements and front-street work will proceed as funding becomes available, potentially in 2026.