Devil’s Playground: Then and now

Eureka’s most-utilized concrete canvas is no more. 

After a week of work, the colorful, graffiti-soaked ruins of the old Pacific Lumber Company mill behind the Bayshore Mall — decaying structures which, for years now, have carried the perhaps-derisive label Devil’s Playground — have been reduced to a patch of crumbly rubble. 

As we noted yesterday, construction on Phase A of the Eureka Waterfront Trail connecting the north end of the Hikshari Trail to West Del Norte Street is set to begin next month. Thus, in addition to the Palco Marsh homeless camp cleared out earlier this month, the longtime plein air studio for local spray paint Picassos had to go to make way.  

Above: Shots taken at DP in October 2015; Below: DP today

Having grown quite fond of the place over the last few years, LoCO wandered the debris this morning taking photos and coming to grips with the change all around us. We spoke with Randy Younger of Figas Construction who was onsite transporting rubble with a intimadating-looking Komatsu excavator. He seemed surprised how quickly his crew had been able to dismantle the structures — perhaps due to its age, the mill’s concrete walls toppled easily. 

As early as next week, Younger tells us, a large mobile concrete crusher will be brought to the area to ground up Devil’s Playground fragments even further. Utilizing good material reuse practices, the City of Eureka will use the resulting gravel as the foundation of the eight- to ten-foot wide paved trail that will soon pass through the marsh.

But there were some unforeseen scheduling conflicts caused by Devil’s Playground deconstruction. Also during LoCO’s rubble romp this morning, we ran into the man known only as Hippie, course coordinator for this weekend’s Kinetic Grand Championship. Since the official KGC course takes racers through the Palco Marsh, Hippie had come to the area this morning to clear some brush to ensure that the kinetic sculptures had enough space to comfortably pass. Unfortunately, he found a pile of crunched concrete smack dab in the middle of the planned course. 

“That’s not good,” Hippie said upon seeing the debris. Luckily, Hippie was able to flag down Younger who assured him he’d clear a path wide enough to accommodate Kinetic madness. Glory. 

Anyway, RIP Devil’s Playground. For now-historical pictures of the graffiti goldmine in its prime, you can click over to one of LoCO’s previous visits here. STIL, a local head shop, has also compiled a nice gallery here.

And now, depending on your spiritual leanings, here are some photos of the DP wreckage to help you mourn or celebrate.

Above: “Devil’s Playground Will Be Missed!”