To: City Council
From: Ashley Wysocki, Director of Community & Library Services CC: Travis Hopkins, City Manager
Date: August 13, 2026
Subject: Supplemental Communication for Item #27 (Approval of the Design and Language for the America 250 Plaque at Pier Plaza)
Office: (714) 536 – 5486 | 2000 Main Street, Huntington Beach, CA 92648 | www.huntingtonbeachca.gov This supplemental communication is to submit the following attachments:
1) Community & Library Services Commission’s suggested edits to the America 250 Plaque
2) PowerPoint Presentation
250th Anniversary of the
United States of America
City Manager
Huntington Beach celebrates
America’s 250th Birthday as a patriotic city,
proudly honoring and thanking all those
who have served our great nation.
Huntington Beach City Council
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
CLS Edits
America 250 Plaque
at Pier Plaza
August 18, 2026
Background
At the July 21, 2026, meeting, City Council approved
Councilmember Item 26-638, setting aside Resolution No. 2017-25 and directed staff to create an engraving template memorializing the Huntington Beach America
Semiquincentennial celebration for one of the black granite panels located at the Pier Plaza monument, with a final draft brought back to City Council for consideration at the August 18, 2026, meeting.
Staff were also directed to collect input from the Historic Resources Boad and the Community & Library Services
Commission.
Additional Background
Working with Mayor McKeon and
Councilmembers Burns and Kennedy (Attachment
1), the proposed plaque is 24” x 36” and includes
the following:
• Huntington Beach America 250 Logo
• Placeholder for a Commemoration Date
• “Huntington Beach celebrates America’s 250th
Birthday as a patriotic city, proudly honoring
and thanking all those who served our great
nation, who remind us that freedom is not free.”
• City Council and City Manager names
• Two cannons
• City Seal
Historic
Resources
Board Edits
On Monday, August 10, 2026,
the Historic Resources Board
(HRB) reviewed and provided
suggested edits to the plaque.
Community &
Library Services
Commission
Edits
Wednesday, August 12, 2026, the
Community & Library Services
Commission (Commission)
reviewed and provided suggested
edits to the HRB iteration of the
plaque.
Recommendation
All components of the first iteration of the plaque designed by Mayor McKeon and Councilmembers Burns and
Kennedy are included in subsequent iterations.
Suggested edits included relocating the cannons and City seal, adding decorative elements between City Council
names and including more than one font to differentiate between the different sections of text.
Approve the design and inscription for the America 250
Celebration plaque at the Pier Plaza Memorial.
Questions?