Oceanside’s next public art project could be underground, a $231,000 mural proposed for the below-tracks pedestrian and bicycle tunnel connecting two boarding stations at the Oceanside Transit Center.
“The real vision for this project is to ultimately create a better customer experience by making it a more welcoming, safer, aesthetic and less prone to vandalism,” said Iona Tcholakova, a transit planner for the district.
“This would be accomplished through both the art installation itself and by including safety features such as cameras, speakers and, ideally, light within the actual art project,” she said in a presentation last week to the transit center board.
North County Transit District has been allocated a $144,000 state grant that will cover most of the costs including additional security equipment such as cameras and speakers, said Chris Orlando, chief planning and communications officer for the agency.
The agency has partnered with MainStreet Oceanside to create a request for proposals, Orlando said. The nonprofit downtown business association has overseen the creation of several downtown murals through its Art That’s Exciting project.
First of the MainStreet murals was “The Sea Will Always Be With Me” completed in 2017 on the side of the Star Theater building on North Coast Highways. Two others in the project are “The Sacred Offering” on Horne Street, a tribute to women of the Eastside Pozole neighborhood, and “Nautical Neighbors,” a glass mosaic of undersea life on Ditmar Street at Mission Avenue.
The transit center is on South Tremont Street about two blocks south of Mission Avenue. It has stops for Amtrak, Coaster, Sprinter and Metrolink trains, and Breeze buses.
The tunnel is outside the area of the transit center to be redeveloped with apartments, offices and retail businesses, and would not be affected by that construction, Orlando said. The request for proposals for the art project is expected to take about a year and installation could be completed in the summer of 2025.
Board members liked the idea and encouraged the use of local artists with experience on similar projects.
“I’m a big fan of expanding public art in our communities,” said board Chair Jewel Edson, a Solana Beach City Council member. “I think this is terrific.”
