CARLSBAD — The City of Carlsbad hopes to use the high point at Veterans Memorial Park to create a space for thought.
Gordon Huether, a Napa-based artist, said his design – called “The Ring” – would both welcome visitors approaching the park due to its size and placement, as well as provide the opportunity to observe and reflect for those looking out at nature.
“What I was really trying to do was frame a really beautiful, contemplative view that you just want to stop and sit and enjoy – maybe even meditate a little bit,” Huether said.
The view west through the center opening of the art piece would allow the Agua Hedionda Lagoon to serve as a reflecting pool, taking advantage of the natural setting.
The Carlsbad Arts Commission unanimously approved the final design at a public meeting on Thursday.
Veterans Memorial Park is an in-development, 93.7-acre park that would be bound by Faraday Avenue to the south and west as well as part of Whitman Way to the north, according to city documents.
Once completed, it will be the city’s largest park and over half of the site will remain undisturbed habitat.
Nick Stupin, parks planning manager for the City of Carlsbad, said that the park would have two hemispheres – to the north and south – as well as large, connective pathways throughout the park.
Each hemisphere would have its own parking, playground and restroom facilities. In between the hubs would be a natural, rustic playground.
The southern hub would be built around a nature-inspired bike park, according to Stupin.
The northern hub would be built around the Memorial Plaza that aims to include several displays honoring veterans and service members of the six military branches.
It will feature mottos and imagery from each branch as well as remembrances to veterans, though Stupin said the final design for those storytelling elements has yet to be completed.
The highest point of the park – in the northern hub – would contain an upper plateau. This is where the sculpture would reside, surrounded by landscaping and other design elements that will be decided upon later.
Huether said the Memorial Plaza would “not only honor our veterans, but also give a place to gather for all kinds of activities.”
One of the themes identified by the city was to use the art to invite engagement for all. Huether said some confusion he has observed around the goals of the sculpture stem from a misreading of its name.
“It’s not the Veterans Memorial Sculpture, it’s a sculpture in the Veterans Memorial Park that really wants to embrace the veterans and the whole community,” he said.
Part of that inclusive approach includes accessibility. Huether said the sculpture’s opening on the ground would be wide enough to allow a wheelchair to pass through.
“We would never make something like that that you can’t get a wheelchair through,” he said. “People that are in wheelchairs are entitled to have the same experience that we on our feet have.”
Another design feature will be three strips of steel that protrude about an inch on the lower, inside portions of “The Ring,” aimed at deterring skateboarders and bikers from riding the piece of art.
“I know when I was a kid that’s the first thing I would do with my skateboard,” Huether said.
He said the addition of the steel strips “makes it totally impossible” to pull off such tricks.
The accessibility and safety concerns were raised during the public input portion of the process. Between April 24 and June 4, the city had 589 respondents who either live, work or frequent Carlsbad, according to Krystal Roa, manager of the Public Art Program. Roa added that 59% of respondents identified as veterans or affiliated veterans.
The City of Carlsbad sought the public input to understand how well the three designs submitted by Gordon Huether Studios – “The Arch,” “The Ring” and “Spires” – exemplified the themes it hoped the project would embody. Those themes include how well the piece honors military service; tells a meaningful story; encourages reflection and respect; reflects the unique character and values of the Carlsbad community; invites engagement; and fits into the park’s natural setting.
“‘The Ring’ … was the most favorable within each of those concepts,” Roa said.
Another concern raised by the public feedback was the orientation of “The Ring.”
Huether said he specifically angled the piece so that looking through it would avoid power lines to the left side of the field of view and a housing development to the right.
“We want to be reminded of nature and be embraced by nature rather than of development and the presence of humans,” he said.
Some elements of the design are not yet known.
While the shape of the piece has been approved, the final size has yet to be determined.
Huether said that a diameter “somewhere around 16 feet would be pretty sweet.”
“I don’t think there’s a need to have any fears about it being too big,” he said. “You have almost one hundred acres – there’s plenty of room for it to breathe. So we’re only constrained by costs, we’re not constrained by anything else.”
The land surrounding the sculpture has also yet to be finalized. What kind of surface on the ground surrounding “The Ring,” seating, and landscaping will all be sorted at a later date.
Huether said his team is “looking forward to collaborating with the city, with the community, with the landscape architects” on those questions, but that answers will depend “on the collaborative, creative process.”
Next, the design of the sculpture will go before the City Council for approval.
Huether estimated that construction of the piece would take around four months to complete, once all the proper approvals happened.
Stupin said that the plan is for construction of Veterans Memorial Park to begin at the end of the year. He added that current projections anticipate construction of the park to take between 18 and 24 months.
“I feel very passionate about [‘The Ring’],” Huether said. “I believe that it will be loved by the community for generations to come.”
