A final design for the Centennial Place downtown corner at Sequim Avenue and Washington Street will come before city councilors later this year using input from a recent open house and ongoing online survey.
Dozens of people shared their opinions on three designs, created by JETT Landscape Architecture and Design, inside the Sequim Civic Center on Jan. 5.
Residents met with architects and city staff to answer questions, and share their most and least favorite elements of each concept — “Farm Yard,” “Flow” and “Woven.”
Hannah Merrill, Sequim’s parks and facilities manager, said the survey will remain online through at least the end of January at sequimwa.gov/1190/Centennial-Place-Park-Design.
“Farm Yard” proposes a porch scene along Washington Street with a “Welcome to Sequim” sign above bench swings, a lawn area, stage, and water feature.
“Flow” shows a large sundial that could double as a spot for the city’s Christmas/holiday tree, a block letter “Sequim” sign, a pavilion/stage, a promenade and lawn through the site, seat walls, and a lavender garden.
“Woven” offers a stage area surrounded by large sculptures alongside a sunken lawn area.
At the open house, visitors shared some pros, cons and wishes for all three concepts, with some saying that they liked the block letter “Sequim” sign, wanted native plants on site, felt the bench swings were unsafe by the road, were concerned about visibility driving around the corner, and liked the large sculpture in “Woven.”
Matt Martenson, senior landscape architect with JETT Landscape Architects, said that he couldn’t remember any of their previous projects using just one concept without edits, and that designers will consider elements people liked from all three concepts for the final design.
Merrill said JETT Landscape Architects and city staff will bring a final proposal to the council at some point this year for their approval.
Once a proposal is approved, they’ll use the final design to seek grant applications either this year or in 2025 depending on the design turnaround.
The estimated designs cost about $2 million each without amenities, and about $2.8 million-$4 million with more design elements, according to city documents.
City staff budgeted $50,000 for creation of the designs, and the city’s 2024-2029 Capital Improvement Program has $100,000 scheduled for continuing progress.
Centennial Place, formerly known as the Gull lot, was purchased by the City of Sequim in 2013 and named for the city’s centennial year.
Find the survey about the designs online at sequimwa.gov.
Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash JETT Landscape Architecture and City of Sequim staff will use input from a Jan. 5 open house and an online survey (at sequimwa.gov) to create a final design proposal for Sequim city councilors to consider at some point this year for Centennial Place.
