IMPERIAL BEACH PIER PLAZA
Imperial Beach, California 1987
The Plaza reconnects the center of the town with the beach that gives it its name. Groves of Mexican Fan Palms (Washingtonia robusta) and Guadalupe Island Palms (Brahea edulis) define the plaza's inland edges and offer shade beneath the rustling sound of fronds in the breeze. At the edge of the grove is a fountain formed by a shallow circular basin in a square concrete monolith. The water action in the fountain simulates the surging ebb and flow of a tide pool, overflowing periodically to send a foaming wave sliding over the seaward edge. From the fountain edge, the watercourse is delineated within the plaza's textured concrete paving and by ribbons of deep blue and green tiles which weave and swirl towards the sand at the seaward edge. Four huge river washed granite boulders recall the Coronado Islands offshore. Jets of water, controlled by a remote valve, can be activated to erupt among the boulders. Concrete seat walls wrap and hold back the drifting sand. A single strip of light under the molded edge subtly illuminates the curving wall at night.
