New floor for Jed Smith

CRESCENT CITY -- The floor of the visitor center at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park received a much-needed makeover on Wednesday, courtesy of Home Depot. The company donated both the flooring materials and the installation labor.

The new plank flooring is a dramatic improvement toward modernizing the old visitor center as a cheerful and welcoming space while retaining its rustic character.

The partnership between Home Depot, Redwood National and State Parks, and Redwood Parks Association, the nonprofit organization that benefits the parks, began last fall. Employees tackling a massive end-of-season cleaning of the visitor center discovered a section of the badly worn and molding carpet was beyond repair and needed to be replaced.

Unfortunately, both funding and labor were in short supply. When Home Depot learned about the problem, it donated the flooring for the section. Brad Maggetti, a park volunteer, donated his time to remove the old carpet and install the new materials.

However, when Home Depot store managers Alex Campbell and Michael Ekkart visited the center after the first installation, they were concerned to discover a large portion of the center's floors remained old and decayed.

They immediately offered to donate both the flooring materials and labor to renovate the entire visitor center. Store employees also volunteered their time to help clean the center's outside decks, gutters and campfire amphitheater.

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Volunteering with local community projects is an important value for our company, and we love helping the parks. They're part of what makes the Northern California coast such a special place.

The Crescent City Safeway also supported the project by donating fresh deli sandwiches to feed the hard-working volunteers.

Debi White, the North District manager for Redwood Parks Association, said she is extremely grateful for Home Depot's and Safeway's generosity and partnership.

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New floor for Jed Smith