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PREVIOUSLY:

• POLL! Should Eureka Rename Snug Alley ‘Flatmo Alley’ to Honor Artist Duane Flatmo?

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“Flatmo Alley” is on hold for the time being.

Last night, Eureka City Councilmember Kati Moulton asked the city’s Parks, Recreation and Open Space Commission to press pause on her proposal to rename Old Town’s Snug Alley to honor artist Duane Flatmo – muralist, sculptor and all-around creative person, arguably the most famous living Humboldt resident.

Why? Moulton – a former member of Flatmo’s Rural Burl Mural Bureau, a program to get kids creating public art around the county – told the commission that in her eagerness to get the ball rolling, she and city staff made an assumption about Snug Alley’s name that proved to be wrong.

Moulton.

“I worked with staff to find something that was appropriate — the Cultural Arts District or some place where public art would be appropriate seemed like where we needed to be looking — and we chose Snug Alley because it seemed to have a name that only referred to what it was,” Moulton said.

Snug Alley is a snug, cozy little alleyway between First and Second streets, and it was assumed that the name was there to describe that.

But after talking to a historian — Steve Lazar of The Humboldt Project — Moulton learned that there’s a more concrete, historical reason for the name. The alley, which was only officially christened in 1977, was named after the “Snug Bar,” which stood on the corner of F Street for a good part of the early 20th century and was a popular watering hole for early Eurekans and backwoods loggers visiting from out of town.

Given that, Moulton said it made more sense to do a more comprehensive search for something to name after Flatmo.

“What I would like to do is withdraw this application temporarily and find a location to honor Duane that is in a culturally active area of town, but also either doesn’t have a name or doesn’t have a name that’s so deeply rooted in our community’s history,” Moulton said. “I wouldn’t have brought it this far had I done enough due diligence, and I’m just glad that I managed to catch an actual expert this morning.”

Commissioner Carol Mayes briefly brought up the example of the renaming of 20/30 Park. But she and Moulton agreed that the situation here was different; in that case, there was a whole community-wide process in place to decide how the park should be renamed.

In following with Moulton’s wish to withdraw the proposal, the commission took no vote on the matter. The commission will likely hear some modified version of the proposal during its regular meeting at the end of January.

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In other matters: Jeff Raimey, the city’s deputy director of community services, told the commission that work is progressing on Grace Marton Park, the new playground and open space facilities planned for the waterfront near the Adorni Center and Sacco Amphitheater. 

The construction work for the project has been put out to bid, Raimey said, and several contractors took a walk-through of the site in the last week. The city’s looking at construction beginning in April

Attending the meeting via Zoom, Commissioner Maxwell Sims [DISCLOSURE: Yes, relation.] asked Raimey if the city has a target completion date. Raimey said that the city’s pretty confident that the park — and associated improvements to the Bay Trail near the site — will be for sure be complete by the end of 2026, and it’s pretty sure that it’ll be done well before winter weather strikes.

And yes, there will be a big party when it’s done, Raimey said.