AUBURN - Color and warmth will return to downtown as an ongoing project strives to draw more people to the heart of Auburn, said Michael Moore, who is overseeing the undertaking.
Jennifer Meyers / The Citizen
Glenn Quinn, left, and Lloyd Rice, of Rizzo Construction, work at demolishing the sidewalk on Genesee Street in Auburn.
Glenn Quinn, left, and Lloyd Rice, of Rizzo Construction, work at demolishing the sidewalk on Genesee Street in Auburn.
The downtown improvement project will touch Genesee Street, Loop Road and South Street. Workers broke ground last month after five years of discussions and planning toward the design.
Bricks are a key design element, as they will go in near intersections and some sidewalks. The clay bricks will give the downtown its new look come October, when the project is slated to reach completion, but also posed the project's biggest challenge, Moore said.
Crews from the general contractor, Auburn company Rizzo Construction, are tearing up old cement and fixtures and pouring concrete. Then the subcontractor sends workers to install the bricks.
“There's just a lot of brick to put down, and that's throughout the project,” Moore said, estimating 100,000 square feet of sidewalks will have some amount of brickwork.
Bricks will continue to go in until the end. Moore said despite huge preparation efforts, most people only see the progress once those blocks hit the sidewalk.
“It's a beautiful look. It will bring warmth and earthy tones into the city,” he said.
Crews also are only replacing broken or worn segments of concrete. Fewer than five business owners have asked to add their sidewalks at their expense.
The contractors made maintaining accessibility to shops a priority.
“The last thing we want to do it hurt these businesses,” Moore said.
They also are keeping an eye on the parking situation, only taking away parking spots in the immediate areas where they are working. Workers likely will not replace parking meters along East Genesee Street near Wegmans. The Auburn City Council agreed to purchase 10 parking kiosks for that road, although Auburn Police Chief Gary Giannotta predicts it will take three months to get them. Another kiosk is slated to go in the parking lot south of the parking garage.
Currently, Auburn's only parking kiosk is on State Street.
Moore hopes the renovated Exchange Street Mall, along with State Street will create more pedestrian traffic.
The new Exchange Street Mall's design alternates rustic-colored concrete pavers, similar to the circular designs on State Street, and flat concrete areas, broken up trees, planting beds with bushes and shrubs, and other lighting improvements to make it more people friendly.
“This will soften it up, give downtown a whole other character,” Moore said.
Once completed near the end of the total project, people can sit on benches and seating walls in the “urban park.”
“Hopefully, it will be a nice people place ... Pedestrians will have some place to go,” Moore said.
Mayor Timothy Lattimore said downtown will look beautiful after all the work is done. The project failed after a 2-2 vote and the mayor's abstaining vote in September 2006.
“The original design was too Disneyland. It was too much,” councilor William Graney said.
As an example, he pointed to the brickwork with granite that stretched across intersections, rather than the current design where brickwork is only in a portion of the sidewalk.
In the first vote, Graney and councilor Matt Smith voted the project down. Councilors David Dempsey and Thomas McNabb approved the $1.86 million project.
The amended design saved the city money and received four votes, with only Dempsey voting against the plan in April.
While construction crews are hard at work, Verizon and New York State Electric and Gas are taking advantage of the project by upgrading their facilities in the area.
They've pulled out unhealthy trees, but kept the strong ones. Crews will plant trees and shrubs and do landscaping as the last stage of the project.
“There's a lot of bang for your buck. For $1.3 million, we're touching a lot of areas,” Moore said.
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
Brick by Brick
The Downtown Improvement Project kicked off last month, and will continue through October, if everything goes as planned.
This following is the expected path for construction.
Project inspector Michael Moore stresses this is just the surface work details. There's more to the improvements than meets the eye.
1. Began at East Genesee Street near Wegmans
2. Work west to the corner of South Street and East Genesee Street
3. Work along South Street to Loop Road
4. Back to the north side of East Genesee Street
5. Work west all the way to William Street
6. Start at the south side of Genesee near the parking garage back towards Genesee Mall
7. Continue at Genesee Mall and work south to the corner of South Street and Loop Road
8. In the meantime, crews will continue to work on Exchange Street Mall
Bricks are a key design element, as they will go in near intersections and some sidewalks. The clay bricks will give the downtown its new look come October, when the project is slated to reach completion, but also posed the project's biggest challenge, Moore said.
Crews from the general contractor, Auburn company Rizzo Construction, are tearing up old cement and fixtures and pouring concrete. Then the subcontractor sends workers to install the bricks.
“There's just a lot of brick to put down, and that's throughout the project,” Moore said, estimating 100,000 square feet of sidewalks will have some amount of brickwork.
Bricks will continue to go in until the end. Moore said despite huge preparation efforts, most people only see the progress once those blocks hit the sidewalk.
“It's a beautiful look. It will bring warmth and earthy tones into the city,” he said.
Crews also are only replacing broken or worn segments of concrete. Fewer than five business owners have asked to add their sidewalks at their expense.
The contractors made maintaining accessibility to shops a priority.
“The last thing we want to do it hurt these businesses,” Moore said.
They also are keeping an eye on the parking situation, only taking away parking spots in the immediate areas where they are working. Workers likely will not replace parking meters along East Genesee Street near Wegmans. The Auburn City Council agreed to purchase 10 parking kiosks for that road, although Auburn Police Chief Gary Giannotta predicts it will take three months to get them. Another kiosk is slated to go in the parking lot south of the parking garage.
Currently, Auburn's only parking kiosk is on State Street.
Moore hopes the renovated Exchange Street Mall, along with State Street will create more pedestrian traffic.
The new Exchange Street Mall's design alternates rustic-colored concrete pavers, similar to the circular designs on State Street, and flat concrete areas, broken up trees, planting beds with bushes and shrubs, and other lighting improvements to make it more people friendly.
“This will soften it up, give downtown a whole other character,” Moore said.
Once completed near the end of the total project, people can sit on benches and seating walls in the “urban park.”
“Hopefully, it will be a nice people place ... Pedestrians will have some place to go,” Moore said.
Mayor Timothy Lattimore said downtown will look beautiful after all the work is done. The project failed after a 2-2 vote and the mayor's abstaining vote in September 2006.
“The original design was too Disneyland. It was too much,” councilor William Graney said.
As an example, he pointed to the brickwork with granite that stretched across intersections, rather than the current design where brickwork is only in a portion of the sidewalk.
In the first vote, Graney and councilor Matt Smith voted the project down. Councilors David Dempsey and Thomas McNabb approved the $1.86 million project.
The amended design saved the city money and received four votes, with only Dempsey voting against the plan in April.
While construction crews are hard at work, Verizon and New York State Electric and Gas are taking advantage of the project by upgrading their facilities in the area.
They've pulled out unhealthy trees, but kept the strong ones. Crews will plant trees and shrubs and do landscaping as the last stage of the project.
“There's a lot of bang for your buck. For $1.3 million, we're touching a lot of areas,” Moore said.
Staff writer Jessica Soule can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 267 or jessica.soule@lee.net
Brick by Brick
The Downtown Improvement Project kicked off last month, and will continue through October, if everything goes as planned.
This following is the expected path for construction.
Project inspector Michael Moore stresses this is just the surface work details. There's more to the improvements than meets the eye.
1. Began at East Genesee Street near Wegmans
2. Work west to the corner of South Street and East Genesee Street
3. Work along South Street to Loop Road
4. Back to the north side of East Genesee Street
5. Work west all the way to William Street
6. Start at the south side of Genesee near the parking garage back towards Genesee Mall
7. Continue at Genesee Mall and work south to the corner of South Street and Loop Road
8. In the meantime, crews will continue to work on Exchange Street Mall
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