PORT ANGELES — The city of Port Angeles is in the beginning stages of re-evaluating the Laurel Street stairs, City Manager Nathan West said.

But plans to replace them — and potentially the nearby mural — haven’t been made, he said.

“The City Council authorized the replacement of the Laurel Street stairs as part of our Capital Facilities Plan and Transportation Improvement Plan, which set into motion allowing staff to begin the design development and to work in conjunction with a consultant,” West said.

The City Council approved a $50,000 contract amendment with Sargent Engineers in February that included the Laurel Street stairs project in its scope of services, which also included two consultants and conceptual architectural designs.

The consultants will prepare a survey of the hillside where the stairs are located, prepare two conceptual designs complete with costs, provide structural support and review those concepts.

The work will be funded through money approved in the Capital Facilities Plan and the Transportation Improvement Plan.

West said city staff is still at the beginning of the process and that no designs have been brought before the city council or any other city board or committee.

Questions raised

Rumors that the mural and fountain would be removed began to spread following questions asked at a Port Angeles Business Association candidate forum on July 11, when business owner Edna Petersen asked specifically about the Laurel Street mural.

Incumbent candidate Navarra Carr responded to the question and focused on the infrastructure of the stairs but added she would like to see an updated mural in the future.

“The stairs are one of those areas where it’s clear that those pieces of infrastructure just have to be changed and upgraded,” Carr said. “Personally, I hope that what we get in the future is an updated mural that is also nice and maybe even done by the same artist.”

Carr noted that no plan for stairs, the mural or the fountain has come before the city council and that the first public hearing on any design would likely go before the Planning Commission before the council sees it.

“We haven’t yet had the conversation at city council about why the Planning Commission is having that conversation, but I can follow up on that,” Carr said.

City staff did meet with stakeholders and Elevate PA in June to discuss the project, but beyond that, no public engagement has occurred, West said.

“The designs for the stair replacement and other aspects are still under review,” he said.

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Reporter Ken Park can be reached at kpark@peninsuladailynews.com.