Piedmont’s City Council on Monday night unanimously approved an overall budget of $417,250 for the Sidney and Irene Dearing Memorial Project. The Walter Hood Design Firm’s “Dearing Portal” — a sculptural structure that uses elements of a home (a doorway, a window, and a mailbox) to evoke what was lost when the city’s first Black homeowners were forced out of town in 1924–1925, will be installed in Triangle Park at the intersection of Wildwood and Magnolia avenues.
The Hood Design firm delivered its conceptual design to the city in 2023. The Studio’s second phase of work includes development of engineered design documents, shop drawings for fabrication, production of technical specifications, and construction administration services, and other administrative tasks.
The scope of the budget includes the final design, structural engineering, construction support and fabrication, delivery, and installation, including the foundation, said Public Works Director Daniel Gonzales on Monday night. He said some costs associated with this project — inspections, biological surveys, possible sidewalk repairs — are not covered in the budget. The Piedmont Beautification Foundation is fundraising for the project to help offset some of the costs.
A fabrication and installation proposal will be considered separately once final design is completed, the city said. The project does not require environmental review — none of the redwood trees in the pocket park will be removed, although some perimeter landscaping might be disturbed, said City Administrator Rosanna Bayon Moore.
The city’s work to recognize and memorialize the Dearing family’s experience in Piedmont began in May 2022, when the City Council directed the Park Commission to develop recommendations for a physical memorial to the Dearing family to be constructed in Triangle Park. In 2023, the city engaged the services of famed architect Walter Hood and his Bay Area-based Hood Design Studio.
Moore said delays on the community pool and the new public safety dispatch center projects derailed forward momentum with the Dearing Memorial project, but the city is now prepared to prioritize its completion.
The Hood Design Studio’s proposed schedule provides for three months of design and engineering, and an additional four months for fabrication, delivery and installation. Based on this schedule and an expected January award and start date, the city said it anticipates that design work will be completed in the spring and fabrication and installation to occur in summer 2026.