The New Gateway to McEuen Park seeks to establish a formal entry along East Front Avenue, act as a way finding device for the park and provide a temporary place for rest. Inspired by the Japanese Torii or ‘bird perch’ which symbolically delineates the transition from the profane to the sacred, the New Gateway is seen as a threshold between the Historic Downtown of Coeur d’Alene and the soon to be completed McEuen Park. 

 

Dressed in the language of the National Park Architecture, developed during the Civilian Conservation Corps program of the 1930’s and 40’s, large rustic stone piers emerge to shoulder a lattice of CAD CAM shaped engineered lumber and rough sawn decking, creating a bed of fertile landscape rising up in tribute to Tubbs Hill. Large stone benches cradled by the massive piers will shelter visitors awaiting friends or a chance encounter. The walls above the bench will carry a map of the park as well as its name.