| Crissey Field State Recreation Site |
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| OPRD's park-a-year addition for 2008 |
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| The welcome center at Crissey Field takes shape. |
The final touches are in place on a building at Crissey Field State Recreation Site that will become Oregon's newest welcome center. The 40-acre park and 15 acres of ocean shore, five miles south of Brookings, is bounded by U.S. 101, the California border, the Winchuck River and the Pacific Ocean. The park opened in early December.
An unimproved park until work began in 2007, the park opens as a day-use facility. Part of a nature preserve with wetlands and a river estuary, the park parallels a flat, sandy ocean beach stretching for miles north and south.
The welcome center will house a reception area, public restrooms, exhibits, coffee bar, office space and break room. The building plan includes space for the U.S. Forest Service and the Oregon Travel Information Council. The parking area accommodates 49 cars and 14 RVs.
The project is transforming the abandoned site of a short-lived airstrip built in 1950. The property is named for W. L. (Bill) Crissey, a pre-World War II lily bulb grower. OPRD acquired Crissey Field in a 1993 land exchange with a private timber firm.
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| A "green" welcome center |
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Solar panel on welcome center roof.
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Workers place the components for geothermal floor heating .
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Crissey Field's centerpiece is a 4,500-square-foot welcome center. The $2.4 million building is a showcase of sustainable features to reduce impacts to the environment, including;
- Geothermal radiant floor heat;
- Solar panels to generate electricity;
- Solar water heater;
- Passive ventilation;
- Natural light with light sensors;
- Carpet made with 40 percent post-industrial recycled nylon;
- Low-fixture plumbing features;
- Waterless urinals;
- Pipes made of recycled plastic;
- Bioswale for storm water run-off;
- Low VOC (volatile organic compound) paints;
- Concrete pigment stains made from recycled materials.
Electrical power generated by the solar panels will go into the Brookings area electrical grid. OPRD will receive a credit on its bill from the Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative, Inc. for the electricity to help heat and light the building.
The innovative power exchange promises to be as effective economically for OPRD as it does from a sustainability perspective. With a geothermal radiant floor heating and cooling system, natural lighting and a solar water heater, the building is designed to use less electricity than most structures its size.
The center's myrtlewood countertops will likely attract the most visitor attention. Produced from trees less than 20 miles away, the countertops were cut from raw, seasoned myrtlewood planks.
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| Trails |
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From the parking lot, visitors can walk on a nature trail that passes by a wetland. The wetland was created to replace a natural area disturbed by the entrance road construction.
A future trail will lead from the welcome center to the beach. Views from the beach can extend as far north as Cape Sebastian and as far south as Point St. George in California. The 362-mile Oregon Coast Trail that begins at Fort Stevens State Park ends at Crissey Field.
Another trail will eventually connect to an existing trail leading from a bridge on U.S. 101 to the Winchuck River estuary and the beach. This trail offers views of unique native plants and wildlife.
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| Where is Crissey Field? |
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