You’ll dig this.
Friends and supporters of the Lincoln City Cultural Center are invited to a momentous and celebratory event this Saturday, Feb. 25 — the official groundbreaking for the Cultural Plaza project.
The big day for the Cultural Plaza has been nearly five years in the making, with construction scheduled to begin in March.
“This is going to be a special moment — the launch of a beautiful new resource for Lincoln City and our nonprofit cultural center,” said Dorcas Holzapfel, board president. “It’s happening because our whole community pulled together, the City of Lincoln City supported us and our legislators championed the cause. Donors, foundations and fundraisers are making this dream a reality. We hope they will all come and celebrate with us.”
Mayor Susan Wahlke, Rep. Dave Gomberg and Sen. Dick Anderson will be turning the ceremonial sod, along with board members and project managers from the City of Lincoln City, Civil West Engineering Services, Shapiro Didway Landscape Architects and Cascade Civil Corp.
The Cultural Plaza project will transform the outdoor space around the historic Delake School building, home to the Lincoln City Cultural Center since 2007. By the end of 2023, the 2.6 acres around the brick schoolhouse will be transformed into a pedestrian-friendly outdoor space, filled with dedicated installments of public art, gathering spaces with seating and sponsored spaces for education and performance, all connected by a drive-able meandering pathway. The site plan, formed with community input in 2018 and 2019, offers a redesigned parking area and traffic flow, along with islands, lighting and other upgrades required by city code.
The cultural center is also working with the Rotary Club to provide outsized outdoor musical instruments in the northwest corner and the Kiwanis Club of Lincoln City is leading the charge for a playful children’s outdoor arts classroom on the east side.
More than 300 donors sponsored commemorative bricks, benches and trees, as part of the ongoing Invest in Inspiration campaign.
The first step will be the removal of trees from the project site that are either in the right of way or interfering with power lines, as well as coastal pines that have been over-limbed and are in poor health.
“It will be hard for me to see those old trees go,” Executive Director Niki Price said. “But I know that we’ll be planting back nearly three times that amount, with a greater variety in deciduous and conifers, all throughout the property. And removing those older pines will allow us to bring in more utilities and access and irrigation so that the future trees will stay healthy.”
The center is scheduled to remain open throughout the construction period.
Saturday’s ceremony will begin at 10 am on the west lawn of the cultural center, 540 NE Hwy. 101. A reception with coffee and sweets will follow. For more information, go to lincolncity-culturalcenter.org or call 541-994-9994.