California Coast & Ocean

"Now we have one of the most modern fish processing plants on the coast, and we have a great fuel dock, and we've got two relatively new marinas for yachts and fish boats," says Bates. Best of all is the Fisherman's Terminal, "a city block's worth of water frontage" set aside at the foot of C Street as a fishermen's work area. It's under construction now, four yellow cranes already in place. It will include a pier and new dock, where fishermen can land their catches more easily, as well as work buildings, a fish market, and a café. Tourists and local residents will be welcome in this area--but they'll be on the fishermen's turf. If they just stroll up the waterfront, however, they'll find less-fishy amusements.

It took Bates 18 years as a board member of the Humboldt Fishermen's Marketing Association to convince the City to include the fleet in its plans. Others in the fleet worked at it, too, for even longer. In fact, Bates says, a fellow board member recently discovered in an old file a letter written in 1955 from the association to the City, asking for a dedicated waterfront workspace for commercial fishermen.

"The fishermen have always been there," he says. "We were just forgotten."

Of course, there are still many battles to be fought, for now there are many contenders for space on the waterfront. Big-time developers, preservationists and open space advocates, the Wiyot Tribe, and the tourism industry are all jostling to have a hand in the transformation. As the Eureka waterfront begins to assume its role as the centerpiece of an area renowned for its natural beauty, it also is reasserting its place as the economic hub of Humboldt County.

In the City's offices in downtown Eureka, senior planner Sidnie Olson says, "We are in an extremely exciting time right now. As a planner, I've worked for the City eight to nine years, and the entire time has been planning and permitting, planning and permitting. And now, within the next five years, we're going to see the physical changes happening." She talks about the long haul it's been, getting all the renewal projects in line.

The City first focused on Old Town, a couple of streets in from the waterfront, which in the 1990s was a typical waterfront downtown area--fallen on post-industrial hard times and neglected. The City restored and renovated many of the old buildings, and now they house shops, art galleries, restaurants, and coffee houses. The ornate, green-toned old Carson family mansion, bought in 1950 by the private Ingomar Club, still looms at the north end, a winding, cozily landscaped city street leading you to its manicured grounds. Toward the south are several blocks of quaint, renovated old buildings. Beyond that lies the industrial section of town.

Old Town looks pretty, but at night it tends to have a deserted feeling. Once the waterfront is redone, however, planners envision a 24-hour town where people live, work, and play--which in turn will boost Old Town's viability.

At the moment, the waterfront's developable land is a mix of completed new projects, half-built projects, vacant lots littered with weeds, old railcars, abandoned foundations, and trash heaps. A list of what's under way and what Olson says is coming promises a startling difference. A boating safety center and boathouse are under construction, and plans call for a spruce-up of Halvorsen Park, site of the annual Blues on the Bay festival and other City-sponsored events. Part of the park may be set aside for the Eureka--Humboldt Bay Hostel and Sustainable Living Center proposed by the Center for Environmental Economic Development. Next to the City's Wharfinger Building and Eureka Public Marina, completed in late 1999 and used for public events and meetings, could be the Hampton Suites Inn. And then there's the emerging C Street Plaza, with another pedestrian boardwalk that will lead into the new Fisherman's Terminal.