CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Week ending November 7, 2014

 

 

Public Works Staff Participates in Equipment Expo and Training

Public Works staff recently competed in the annual American Public Works Association snow and equipment expo training and competition.  Staff made a good showing against competition from other NE Kansas cities.  See attached Staff Memo for more information and photos.

 

 

Public Works Annual 2014/2015 Snow Presentation

Mark Thiel, Assistant Director of Public Works, will present the 2014/2015 Snow Removal and Ice Control Preparedness Report.

 

 

9th Street Corridor recommended design team meeting set

The City of Lawrence, and its partners in the development of the 9th Street Corridor, will receive a presentation from the recommended design team on Thursday, November 13 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. 6th Street.  The public is welcome and invited to attend. 

 

Project Background:

In July, the Lawrence Arts Center received a prestigious ArtPlace America grant award for creative placemaking efforts as part of the reconstruction of east 9th Street in Lawrence, Kansas. This 9th Street Corridor area has been identified as an important connection between historic Downtown Lawrence, the East Lawrence Neighborhood, and the redeveloping Industrial Historic District (commonly called the Warehouse Arts District). The corridor is located in the city's recently designated Cultural District, an area with a high concentration of artistic, cultural, historic and natural amenities. The corridor includes three designated historic districts - the Downtown Historic District, the North Rhode Island Street Historic Residential District, and the East Lawrence Industrial Historic District.

 

The city, and its partners, solicited proposals seeking a creative team with experience in urban design, complete streets, civil engineering, creative placemaking, and public art to work with the City of Lawrence, the neighborhood boards (ELNA and DLI), and other community stakeholders to create a design for the six blocks of east 9th Street, from Delaware Street to Massachusetts Street. The 9th Street Corridor project will create a multi-modal connection utilizing accessible complete streets concepts and upgraded amenities. In addition, the public art component of the project will be designed in tandem with the infrastructure, developing platforms for visual and performing art and engaging local artists. The majority of comments received from this public meeting were incorporated into the document.

 

Proposals were received from six interested design teams; three of the teams were interviewed for consideration.  Of the three teams, the committee reached a consensus in favor of the design team led by el dorado inc out of Kansas City. Their team includes lead artists Charles Blanc and Tristan Surtees of Sans Façon (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) and civil engineer firm Bartlett & West (Lawrence, KS). El dorado will subcontract with Dennis Domer, a local historian, and Luke Dubois, an engineer and artist who teaches at NYU. The team will also include landscape architect Coen + Partners (Minneapolis, MN) and indigenous plant specialist Kelly Kindscher (Lawrence, Kansas).

 

The next step in the process is for the recommended design team to give a public presentation to the community for review.  After the public presentation, the city staff will seek consent from the City Commission to negotiate a scope of work and contract with the design team to complete the 9th Street Corridor plan.  The presentation will be held on Thursday, November 13 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at Lawrence City Hall, 6 E. 6th Street.  The public is welcome and invited to attend. 

 

For more information on the 9th Street Corridor Project, visit www.lawrenceks.org/9th-street-corridor-project