Thumbnail photo: A $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation will allow Crescent City to finish the Tolowa Interpretive Trail, city officials said Wednesday. | Screenshot Crescent City received a $2 million grant that officials say will extend the Tolowa Cultural Trail in Beachfront Park to Battery Point where many Tolowa were imprisoned in the 1850s. Councilors unanimously accepted the grant from the Mellon Foundation at a special meeting Wednesday. They also approved an agreement with T.B. Penick & Sons Inc. to install lithomosaic basket patterns at the entrance to the visitor center and as a welcome to the Tolowa Cultural Trail. T.B. Penick & Sons will also create a special lithomosaic pebble pattern at the Tolowa Cultural Trail welcome station, City Manager Eric Wier said. “That pebble mosaic is going to be one of those things that we don’t think people are going to realize what they’re seeing at first, but once they do they’re not going to forget it,” Wier said. “On the first part of this path you’ll have 2,400 pebbles. The 2,400 pebbles represent the Tolowa population pre-colonization… and then you have 121 [pebbles] as part of the 1905 census. That represents the population in that census. As you walk through you’ll be able to see that element and then read about as you’re looking at the various interpretive panels.” Efforts to incorporate indigenous history into Beachfront Park’s Proposition 68 grant-funded expansion date back to the city’s first community meetings on the endeavor back in 2019. City staff formed a committee consisting of representatives from the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Tolowa Nation and Elk Valley Rancheria as well as the Del Norte County Historical Society in 2022. Also in 2022, the city contracted with GreenWorks Planning Consultants to design the park’s new features. The landscape architect firm, along with its subcontractor SeaReach Ltd. envisioned an interpretive trail that extends from the Cultural Center to Battery Point. The trail would include seven interpretive nodes providing the visitor with access to video of Tolowa people describing poignant moments from their history. However, though it had a $200,000 California Coastal Conservancy Coastal Stories grant to obtain those interviews, Crescent City lacked the funding to fully realize GreenWorks’ vision, prompting the pursuit of more funding. Now, not counting the latest award from the Mellon Foundation, Crescent City has received more than $8.7 million from eight grants allowing for a “fully immersive” interpretive experience that includes public art, such as a 20-foot tall redwood tree replica, and the opportunity to hear Tolowa spoken. On Wednesday, Wier said the $2 million Mellon Foundation award will allow the city to complete the Tolowa Interpretive Trail’s welcome station and entry as well as add more interpretive nodes — these would include information about tsunamis as well as a dance house replica, the city manager said. It would also allow Crescent City to make improvements to the parking lot near Battery Point Lighthouse. About $216,345 from the Mellon Foundation grant would be used to create a 10-foot lithomosaic basket at the entrance to the Tolowa Interpretive Trail as well as the pebble pattern depicting the Tolowa population pre-colonization versus at the 1905 census. If funding is available, Wier said, staff propose using $157,163 in Clean California grant dollars to complete a 14-foot lithomosaic basket pattern at the entrance to the Cultural Center. T.B. Penick & Sons Inc. answered a request for proposals the city issued in June to design, fabricate and install the lithomosaic patterns. According to a staff report from Bridget Lacey, the city’s grants and economic development manager, the San Diego-based firm developed the technique of embedding mosaic tiles into concrete. The firm has also worked with SeaReach, Lacey’s staff report states. Crescent City is using the bulk of its $3 million Clean California grant to build a gateway and install monument signs welcoming visitors into the Beachfront Park and downtown areas. According to Lacey, Crescent City has until the autumn to complete the Coastal Stories and Art in the Parks projects — the video interviews of Tolowa people and the three interpretive nodes. A grant deadline for the Arts in the Parks project has been extended to Nov. 30, while a request for an extension is still pending with the California Coastal Conservancy, she said. Wier said the lithomosaic murals that will be part of the Tolowa Interpretive Trail will likley be finished in late September or early October to meet those grant deadlines. The second lithomosaic basket pattern near the Cultural Center is part of the bigger Clean California project, which, if funding is available, won’t be installed until 2026, he said. Also on Wednesday, Crescent City councilors also appointed Candace Tinkler to serve as a stakeholder as the city moves forward with a master plan for its downtown area. Spearheaded by Crandall Arambula, the master plan will focus on infrastructure concerns within Downtown Crescent City’s core at 3rd and H streets as well as uses such as retail, housing and lodging for visitors. Consultants will consider land-use alternatives and present them to the community. Stakeholder input is the project’s first phase, however, according to Crandall Arambula co-founder Don Arambula. Wier said Crandall Arambula is also seeking input from a member of the planning commission as well as downtown business owners. Tinkler asked to be involved in the process. “I really am fascinated by urban planning,” she said.