RCAC Home Page > News and Publications >

RCAC LOAN GREEN-LIGHTS CRESCENT CITY HARBOR RECONSTRUCTION

PROJECT WILL CREATE MORE THAN 200 JOBS AND RESTORE NORMAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY IN CRESCENT CITY

October 18, 2012

Media Contacts

CRESCENT CITY, Calif. – Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) announced that it provided a loan for reconstruction of the Crescent City Harbor, which underwent major damage following the 2011 tsunami resulting from the 8.9 earthquake in Japan. RCAC’s short-term $3.7 million gap loan and $8.1 million revolving line of credit will keep the project afloat between federal and state disaster funding disbursements. NCB Capital Impact a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) is participating in the line of credit by providing half of the loan capital.

Watch RCAC's video:

Repairing the harbor, a major commercial fishing port for both Del Norte County and Northern California, is urgent in a county with 13.5 percent unemployment and a median household income of $20,133. Two hundred jobs depend directly on harbor facilities, and another 100 jobs indirectly. RCAC financing is critical to restoring the local fishing and tourism industries, and making health happen in the communities that rely on them.

New and stronger pilings, and docks designed to survive a 50-year tsunami, promise to make this an infrastructural investment that residents like Ruth Campbell can count on. Campbell was a maid at Crescent City’s Sea Side Hospital when she survived the 1964 tsunami that claimed 12 lives and destroyed 30 city blocks. "It was the scariest thing I ever saw," she told the LA Times in 2011 as the tsunami approached the town of 7,500: "I wouldn't even think about going down there now— it's too dangerous."

Sadly, Campbell’s caution was well founded as the Tohoku earthquake responsible for so much devastation in Japan made its impression on California’s northern coast. One person was killed, five were swept out to sea, 35 boats were destroyed, and the harbor, already under repair from a smaller tsunami in 2006, suffered major damage.

Reconstruction of the harbor, only possible in a six-month window, could not have begun without RCAC’s short-term loan; the harbor district had to be sure it could pay its major contractor, subcontractors, suppliers, construction designers, and engineers.

“RCAC’s financing enabled us to get started on time and be confident that we could pay our contractor on time.  Due to the tight window available for construction, this was critical for the project,” said Crescent City Harbormaster Richard Young.

Claim processing times, rules, and a match-funding requirement left about $3 million in costs without funding. Though USDA Rural Development committed funds for this gap with the Community Facility program, the loan could not close in time for the first contractor payments. RCAC’s short-term gap loan patched that funding hole, allowing construction to begin.

RCAC’s loan was made possible with a guarantee provided by The California Endowment. The Endowment is investing in fourteen communities across the state – including Del Norte – to change the way Californians think about and practice health in their communities. The Del Norte and Adjacent Tribal Lands Building Healthy Communities hub is focused on developing the local economy and improving employment opportunities.

RCAC is a CDFI, operating a $75 million loan fund that finances affordable housing, community facilities, water and wastewater systems, and small businesses.

Because the Crescent City Harbor District operates a variety of community facilities, from the local fisherman’s gear store and full service RV park to the Harbor Art Gallery and the South Beach Outfitters surf shop, this reconstruction project dovetails with RCAC’s mission.

####

About Rural Community Assistance Corporation
Founded in 1978, RCAC provides a wide range of community development services for rural and Native American communities, and community-based organizations in 15 Western states. RCAC’s core services are housing, environmental infrastructure (water, wastewater and solid waste), leadership training, economic development and financing.

About The California Endowment
The California Endowment, a private, statewide health foundation, was established in 1996 to expand access to affordable, quality health care for underserved individuals and communities, and to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. Headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, The Endowment has regional offices in Sacramento, Oakland, Fresno and San Diego, with program staff working throughout the state. The Endowment challenges the conventional wisdom that medical settings and individual choices are solely responsible for people's health. The Endowment believes that health happens in neighborhoods, schools, and with prevention.

About NCB Capital Impact
As a nonprofit organization and a certified Community Development Financial Institution with a national presence, NCB Capital Impact improves access to high-quality health and elder care, healthy foods, housing, and education in low-income communities across the country.

Back