It’s a year into Tom Beckwith’s 18-month, $135,000 contract to implement the city of Oak Harbor’s ambitious plan for redeveloping, branding and marketing the city’s downtown and waterfront areas.

Few residents have probably noticed any progress implementing the strategy known as the Windjammer Plan, but those closest to the process are very pleased with the work that’s been done — which includes a new Web site, slick style guides for marketing materials, as well as a plethora of new, refined or reconfigured designs for larger projects.

Next month, 26 new signs with the Windjammer logo will be installed in the city, at a cost of $23,000. More importantly, the plan has already spurred private investment downtown.

But even some of the biggest supporters admit that the process will take much longer than originally envisioned.

“It’s such a laborious process that it appears to not be moving at times,” said Oak Harbor Councilman Larry Eaton, chairman of the Windjammer Committee, “but it is, it’s just that laying the foundation takes time.”

Jill Johnson, Chamber of Commerce director and a member of the Windjammer Committee, said she’s also pleased with the progress, and especially the quality, of Beckwith’s work. But she’s also realistic.

“I think it’s going to be a longer-term process than any of us had envisioned,” she said. “I don’t think the timeline was very realistic.”

There are also skeptics who keep pointing to the money question: Where will the millions of dollars come from? They also feel that city leaders have divided their attention between too many big ideas. The city has a list of nearly $90 million in non-essential projects, including the $32 million Windjammer Plan and a $20 million marina redevelopment project.

Gloria Carothers, owner of the Jewelry Gallery in downtown Oak Harbor, said it’s time to stop investing money and time into concepts and finally pick a project to move ahead with, which may mean asking the voters to fund it.

“A lot of people have put their hearts and souls into these projects,” she said. “They deserve to see some results.”

She said a vote would be a good way to gauge if the public truly does support Windjammer.

So far, the city has spent $155,000 on Windjammer. About $367,000 remains in a fund the city council set up specifically for the plan, though the council currently has no way to raise larger sums without a levy. Money needed to generate councilmanic bonding capacity was cut from this year’s budget.

Mayor seeks private funding

Oak Harbor Mayor Patty Cohen said she is encouraged by the progress that’s been made on Windjammer, but she agrees that money is the biggest stumbling block. She said much of the project will have to rely on private investment by entrepreneurs or community groups, especially in light of the city’s budget problems.

“The indication I’m getting from the council,” she said, “is that we’re going to go as far as we can go to coax private investment into the community.”

The city also has hired a grant writer who can help find state and federal money for projects, but grants are limited and usually require matching funds.

And grants may have to be paid back if a project isn’t completed. The city, for example, will have to pay back more than $500,000 in grant money, which has been spent, if the proposed municipal pier isn’t built in eight years — which is a very real possibility.

The most hopeful sign of success for the Windjammer plan is that it has helped lure major investment in downtown by a restaurateur. Other developers have proposed two separate large-scale, mixed-use developments on Bayshore and Fidalgo.

Another hopeful sign, Johnson said, is the continued enthusiasm she sees in those involved, including the members of the Windjammer Committee and especially downtown merchants.

“There is definitely resolve to see it happen,” she said.

The effort to revitalize the downtown and waterfront area began in the fall of 2004 when the Oak Harbor City Council hired a consultant, Roger Brooks of Olympia-based Destination Development, and paid him about $48,800 to create a master plan.

The council adopted Brooks’ Windjammer Plan in March of 2005. It’s a sprawling, some say visionary, plan that calls for $32 million in improvements, including an outdoor amphitheater, a water-view hotel, an expanded RV park, a giant playground, a pier, and redesigning and beautifying Pioneer Way.

The council hired Beckwith, a LaConner consultant, a year ago to implement the plan.

What’s been

done to date

So what has been done so far?

The city has a new tag line, “Oak Harbor — Come Ashore.” The tourism-boosting Web site, www.oakharborcomeashire.com, is up and running, though it’s not complete and potential visitors probably won’t be able to find it yet through Google or any search engine.

The city has artistic new designs for marketing materials which uses variations on the double-sail theme Brooks created for the city’s logo.

The same theme extends to new designs for informational kiosks downtown — including a cool furled sail kiosk — and gateway signs for the two main entrances to the city and the entrance to the waterfront park.

Beckwith has also done a lot more work designing, re-designing and refining Brooks’ ideas. He and City Development Director Steve Powers have worked with the merchants and other stakeholders of Harborside Shops, the new name for the downtown, Pioneer Way business district. The street committee has spent countless hours creating a pedestrian-friendly streetscape design with angled parking along a stretch of Pioneer Way.

“They have given tirelessly of themselves,” Powers said of the merchants.

Beckwith is working with the group on a document for storefront design guidelines with overall design principles — including things to avoid — but including specific ideas for each building.

“The theme, if anything, is Main Street eclectic,” he said.

Next, Beckwith wants to find a source of low-income loans, possibly a local bank, for downtown business people who want to remodel their storefronts.

A community group has also stepped forward.

“The Rotary would like to make a major commitment to renovating the surrounding lagoon,” Beckwith said, though he added that the group is still only exploring the idea.

Major convention center nixed

This gesture, Beckwith said, made him realize that much of the work of remodeling and improving Windjammer Park can be done by service groups like the Rotary and Soroptimists. It’s an idea he intends to explore during his final six months on the job.

Beckwith also commissioned a market study of the hotel, convention center and RV park. As a result, he’s scaled down Brooks’ centerpiece plans for the linked hotel and convention center, as well as Brooks’ ideas for Windjammer Park.

Beckwith said there simply isn’t a big demand for convention centers.

“The original proposal was a little overblown for the market,” he said. “We’re scaling it back to more of a community facility.”

Instead of a big waterfront hotel, he envisions a privately-owned, “boutique” hotel.

“I can see a Langley-style inn and an events center all within one block,” he said.

His new plan places the hotel and events center on the block where Koetje Real Estate, West Marine and a vacant piece of land now sit.

Beckwith’s plan also shrinks the expansion of the RV park so that less public land is taken up for use by private, RV-owning individuals.

In another big change, the new plan calls for the extension of Bayshore Drive along the northern edge of the park. The extension, which has long been in the city’s comprehensive plan, would connect Bayshore Drive from behind Whidbey Island Bank, located across the highway from Blockbuster Video. When complete, Bayshore would span all the way from the bank to where it meets Midway Boulevard.

The road extension would make the waterfront park much more accessible, but it would mean some park land and private land will become road.

Despite the changes, Beckwith said Brook’s original vision remain intact.

“It’s not a new master plan,” Beckwith said. “It’s an evolution of the plan.”

A year ago, Beckwith had envisioned that, during the 18 months of his contract, the waterfront hotel and special events center be designed, financed and possibly under construction; the streetscape project on Pioneer Way should be underway or completed; and the city’s RV park may be moved and expanded.

The most tangible sign that Windjammer is moving ahead will probably occur next month when city crews put up new wayfinding signs all over the city featuring the city’s new logo.

The colorful signs should make it much easier for visitors to find downtown and the waterfront, as well as the all-important restrooms.