Thumbnail photo by Persephone Rose Crescent City’s transformation of the Cultural Center into a more inviting, easier place for the public to visit will be underway this spring, but for that to happen the local chamber of commerce needs a temporary home. The Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce is looking to move its gift shop and offices into Suite 2 at the Mason Mall likely by May 1, Executive Director Cindy Vosburg told Redwood Voice Community News on Friday. The organization hopes to be back home some time in November, “but you know how construction is,” she says. “Nobody likes to move, it’s always a disruption, but this is a good workaround,” Vosburg said, adding that parking is plentiful for visitors at the new location. “And when we get to move back, Front Street will be done and it will be beautiful and even more beneficial for people who come to Del Norte County and Crescent City.” The Cultural Center project will coincide with the city’s improvements to Front Street, which also includes creating an official gateway to the Beachfront Park area. These improvements are being funded through a Community Development Block Grant and a Clean California Grant. Four members of the Crescent City Council on Monday approved a resolution authorizing a budget transfer that would ultimately result in an additional $10,000 contribution to the chamber. According to City Manager Eric Wier, that would account for the additional cost of rent and utilities during the chamber’s seven-month stay at Mason Mall. The Council’s resolution also authorizes a budget amendment, allocating $16,000 toward a project that installs permanent doors and redwood paneling. According to Wier’s staff report, these improvements will direct the public between the building’s gathering space and lobby and the chamber’s visitor center and offices. Councilor Jason Greenough left the four-plus hour meeting earlier, saying he had to get to work. Earlier in the meeting, Greenough and his colleagues approved the consent agenda, which included a request for $1.5 million in federal grant dollars for the Cultural Center rehabilitation project. According to Wier’s staff report, city staff submitted applications for Congressionally Directed Spending funding to Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff and to Congressman Jared Huffman. Staff were unable to get Council approval before submitting the applications due to a short timeline, but were asking for “approval after the fact,” according to the staff report. If approved, the funding would come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Community Facilities Grant. Councilors also approved an attached support letter to Padilla, which was a requirement associated with the grant application. Crescent City is using a $3 million Clean California Grant to increase ADA access at the Cultural Center and make it more visible from U.S. 101. The goal is to remove the “obstructing flights of stairs,” add gateway signs, reconstruct Front Street and install pathways and parking areas with landscaped islands, the staff report says. Visitors will be able to access the Cultural Center and the chamber through the facility’s existing doors on its lower level. Once inside, the building’s event space and chamber facilities would be separate, according to Wier’s staff report. “We would still have a full atrium space,” the city manager told Councilors. “You’d still be able to rent it for weddings and for events. You just wouldn’t walk through here and then be lost in the building wondering where the visitor center is.” Outside, visitors will be able to park in front of the building and access it either via an ADA-compliant pathway or by climbing five stairs, Wier said. A trip-planning kiosk and curved seat walls will also be housed in front, he said. A feasibility study found that remodeling the entire building would cost about $13 million, according to Wier’s staff report. At the park itself, Crescent City is using state Proposition 68 dollars to fund the Tolowa Cultural Trail, construct an amphitheater and waterfront plaza and to expand the Kids Town playground. In addition to its annual monetary contribution of $102,500 to the Crescent City-Del Norte County Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau, the city offers the organization in-kind use of the Cultural Center. According to Wier, use of the building is worth about $20,000 and includes utilities other than phone and data. While she’s excited for the outcome of the city’s project at the Cultural Center, the chamber’s move to Mason Mall comes with its challenges, Vosburg said. For one thing, much of the furniture, including its counter and shelves, were built into the Cultural Center and aren’t able to be moved, she said. “It looks like Paragon Coffee will loan us a counter, which the city will build a stand for,” Vosburg said. “If somebody does have extra furniture a visitor center or office could use, we would welcome hearing from them.”