Gathering cabana
A modest covered gathering place with outdoor seating, green crab soup and oysters, educational events, and community conversations.
Future projects
Empire Bay Park
A community waterfront garden connecting food, recreation, stewardship, and education in the Empire neighborhood of Coos Bay.
An emerging community vision
Ocean Mineral is imagining a small coastal botanical garden in the Empire neighborhood of Coos Bay—a place where seaweed, native plants, water, art, and community can come together.
The proposed Empire Bay Park would transform an underused space into a welcoming garden featuring a pond, native coastal plants, seaweed-inspired displays, walking paths, and places to pause and enjoy the landscape.
The park could become a living classroom where residents and visitors learn about the plants and marine life of the Coos Bay estuary. It could also provide a setting for workshops, neighborhood gatherings, art, and hands-on environmental education.
The vision
A garden shaped by the bay.
- A pond and small coastal wetland garden
- Native plants that support birds and pollinators
- Seaweed and estuary education
- Walking paths and quiet gathering spaces
- Art created with and inspired by coastal materials
- Community workshops, volunteer days, and seasonal events
Explore the emerging vision
A small park with many ways to connect.
Share a bowl of green crab soup, learn about the bay, follow an oyster-shell trail, or pause in a garden shaped by coastal wind and water. These proposed features bring everyday enjoyment together with care for the estuary.
Bay learning trail
Interpretive signs introduce seaweed, eelgrass, oysters, and clams—including the gaper clam—and connect visitors with the life of the estuary.
Community features
Benches, places to pause, and a proposed fire ring create welcoming settings for storytelling, learning, and time together.
Sensory garden
Coastal flowers, ferns, salal, and textured foliage invite visitors to notice scent, color, touch, and seasonal change.
Oyster-shell trails
Paths using crushed oyster shell connect gathering and learning spaces while highlighting a second life for a local coastal material.
Windbreaks and tidal water
Layered coastal shrubs offer shelter. Observing wind, drainage, and King Tides will help guide future planting, paths, and infrastructure placement.
Wind garden
Swaying grasses, a kinetic wind sculpture, and a bench offer a place to experience the movement and sounds of the coast.
Help bring the garden to life
Join Friends of Empire Bay.
Empire Bay Park is currently a future project. We are beginning conversations, developing partnerships, and exploring possible locations and funding.
We welcome neighbors, gardeners, artists, educators, environmental organizations, and community partners who would like to help shape the project.
Join us at the Sunshine Corner of Coos Bay!