Council hears update on City Hall alley plan
March 7, 2017 at 8:04 p.m.
By David [email protected]
At the city council meeting Monday, Assistant Planner Justin Taylor provided the council with an update on the plans for the alley.
In 2013, as part of a design charrette called “Imagine Warsaw” a group of Ball State University students and community members visited downtown Warsaw and imagined what those spaces could be, Taylor said.
One of the areas that was identified was the alley south of the city hall building. “This location is pretty dynamic because it is right next door to the city hall plaza space that offers a location for First Friday events and various events throughout the summer,” he said.
The initial concepts showed the alley as mostly a private space with a fence between buildings primarily for use for adjacent business. But as they looked at the space, Taylor said, they realized it would have value as a public space.
Subsequent ideas included outdoor seating, outdoor group bike parking, and opportunities to promote art and culture downtown, to create public green spaces and to offer public WiFi.
“So we took these needs and opportunities and incorporated them into a new design that featured about 75 percent of the site to be public space,” he said.
A drawing shows a proposed outdoor bike parking area at the entrance to the alley off South Buffalo Street and has planters. Taylor said the arrangement is called a parklet.
“It takes up a small section of the street to offer public green space and an amenity. This arrangement doesn’t take up any parking spaces.?It doesn’t reduce the amount of parking spaces downtown. It just creates a doorway, a gateway through the alley,” Taylor explained.
The site includes a decorative pavement pattern of the same durable material used in the cultural trail in Indianapolis. The planters break up the concrete of the space. Master Gardners are on board to help pick native plant materials and other things that will work in the space, Taylor said.
To the other side of the space is the art wall. The Warsaw Arts Commission is going to help find artists to fill those spaces for public art.
There’s also outdoor seating.
“We tried to create a space that would work for the community, bring different aspects and create a very vibrant destination for the downtown that works for other uses in the area as well,” Taylor concluded.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said he knows the original project was different than Taylor’s presentation, but it was a response to the council’s request during strategic planning for more public space.
“We’re excited about the updated design and again, giving a little bit more of a destination for a place to go downtown, especially at lunchtime,” Thallemer said.
He said there was some discussion at the Warsaw Community Development Corp. and several merchants were excited about the new design plans.
“We look at this as a very vibrant, needed space within our community and I think we’ll attract and draw people to the downtown, even more than we’re doing today,” WCDC and Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce President Rob Parker told the council. “And I think it’s just going to be a huge asset. I’m really excited about the opportunity it provides for our citizens.”
Thallemer said the timeline for the space remains from April 1 to the end of October.
The city would be responsible for maintaining 75 percent of the space, Thallemer said, with businesses using and maintaining 25 percent of the back space.
At the city council meeting Monday, Assistant Planner Justin Taylor provided the council with an update on the plans for the alley.
In 2013, as part of a design charrette called “Imagine Warsaw” a group of Ball State University students and community members visited downtown Warsaw and imagined what those spaces could be, Taylor said.
One of the areas that was identified was the alley south of the city hall building. “This location is pretty dynamic because it is right next door to the city hall plaza space that offers a location for First Friday events and various events throughout the summer,” he said.
The initial concepts showed the alley as mostly a private space with a fence between buildings primarily for use for adjacent business. But as they looked at the space, Taylor said, they realized it would have value as a public space.
Subsequent ideas included outdoor seating, outdoor group bike parking, and opportunities to promote art and culture downtown, to create public green spaces and to offer public WiFi.
“So we took these needs and opportunities and incorporated them into a new design that featured about 75 percent of the site to be public space,” he said.
A drawing shows a proposed outdoor bike parking area at the entrance to the alley off South Buffalo Street and has planters. Taylor said the arrangement is called a parklet.
“It takes up a small section of the street to offer public green space and an amenity. This arrangement doesn’t take up any parking spaces.?It doesn’t reduce the amount of parking spaces downtown. It just creates a doorway, a gateway through the alley,” Taylor explained.
The site includes a decorative pavement pattern of the same durable material used in the cultural trail in Indianapolis. The planters break up the concrete of the space. Master Gardners are on board to help pick native plant materials and other things that will work in the space, Taylor said.
To the other side of the space is the art wall. The Warsaw Arts Commission is going to help find artists to fill those spaces for public art.
There’s also outdoor seating.
“We tried to create a space that would work for the community, bring different aspects and create a very vibrant destination for the downtown that works for other uses in the area as well,” Taylor concluded.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said he knows the original project was different than Taylor’s presentation, but it was a response to the council’s request during strategic planning for more public space.
“We’re excited about the updated design and again, giving a little bit more of a destination for a place to go downtown, especially at lunchtime,” Thallemer said.
He said there was some discussion at the Warsaw Community Development Corp. and several merchants were excited about the new design plans.
“We look at this as a very vibrant, needed space within our community and I think we’ll attract and draw people to the downtown, even more than we’re doing today,” WCDC and Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce President Rob Parker told the council. “And I think it’s just going to be a huge asset. I’m really excited about the opportunity it provides for our citizens.”
Thallemer said the timeline for the space remains from April 1 to the end of October.
The city would be responsible for maintaining 75 percent of the space, Thallemer said, with businesses using and maintaining 25 percent of the back space.
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