Team C: GGLO

south side of the beach; a hardscape/event space and stage area alongside an amphitheater in the center of the park; a location for the Carousel of Smiles; and — notably — a large circular boardwalk encompassing the swimming area on the east side of the beach with a promenade for fair and market activities, concessions and a protected swimming/ sunbathing lagoon.

The third team in the competition embraces a concept it calls “The Blue Necklace,” defined as “a uniting thread that ties together the many jewels of Sandpoint,” from the Granary District to City Beach.

The design includes building out Farmin Park to include an “event corridor” on Oak Street leading to Main Street and into an “arts and culture district” on Second Avenue near new mixed-use development and a public parking structure at the current Sandpoint city parking lot.

A new intersection at First Avenue and Bridge Street would enable angled street parking to the south and a First Avenue “gateway” with sculptural elements and signage pointing the way to downtown and City Beach.

Team C’s vision emphasizes mixed-use development along the west bank of Sand Creek, though fronted with vegetative plantings to restore the riparian habitat while refurbishing Farmin’s Landing and establishing a terrace at Cedar Street featuring public space and plantings, along with the potential location for a small restaurant.

The most dramatic element of Team C’s vision for Sand Creek includes a reconstructed bridge with large vertical elements evoking a suspension structure, over which vehicles would travel while a second route beneath the roadway would be reserved for pedestrians.

The Carousel of Smiles would be located adjacent to the existing parking area on the east side of Sand Creek.

At City Beach, the GGLO-led team expands parking, moorage and launches for both motorized and non-motorized watercraft, and also proposes a nature playscape on the northern portion of the park with a nearby “ice ribbon/roller sports course.” The center of the park would be given over to a “great lawn” with an event pavilion to the west; tennis and pickleball courts to the south; sand volleyball courts to the east; and a native pollinator meadow, community forest, picnic pavilions and a native landscape plantings on the point to the southeast.