Downtown is getting a FACELIFT!!!

Downtown Burlington ready for a facelift
July 20, 2010 5:05 PM
Michael D. Abernethy / Times-News
Downtown Burlington’s sidewalks are getting ready for a facelift.
A series of planters, sidewalk extensions and a gussied up depot lawn are planned by Oct. 1. Most of the work will happen on Front Street, but painted mast arms, light poles and banners will cover a 14-block area downtown.
The work will cost about $350,000, with close to $300,000 being covered by Burlington’s share of federal street improvement stimulus funding. The New Leaf Society, a private group that landscapes Burlington thoroughfares, has pledged $50,000 toward the project.
The Burlington City Council gave the go-ahead for the Burlington Downtown Corporation’s landscaping plans Monday. The plans first began as part of the BDC’s 2008 master plan for redeveloping the city’s downtown district.
BDC Executive Director Anne Morris revealed plans that show 19 large planters and 38 small planters placed on Front Street between Lexington Avenue and South Church Street. The plans also show three areas where the sidewalk will be extended for gathering areas with benches and possibly picnic tables in front of the depot, the Paramount Theater and the Company Shops Market.
The gathering areas would remove two or three parking spaces each — the most controversial aspect of the plans. The depot gathering area wouldn’t affect on-street parking, because parking isn’t allowed there now. Morris had spoken to business owners about the plans and said they were initially concerned about losing parking but saw the value of adding areas for pedestrians to congregate near downtown attractions.
The depot lawn, which faces Webb Avenue, will also be re-landscaped to include a fence, planters and small trees. The lawn will also be graded to encourage public gatherings. The caboose there will become the backdrop of a stage, eliminating the bulky ramp that currently leads into the caboose. The ramp is required for handicap accessibility, which the stage will provide when it is complete, Morris said.
Though the council approved of the plans, they want to see the entire downtown landscaped.
“What about Maple Avenue to Webb Avenue on Church Street? It’s kind of barren through there and those are two of the most heavily traveled roads in the city,” Councilman Celo Faucette said. “I want businesses on Church Street to feel a part of what’s going on.”
Morris indicated she would apply for state grants that would help pay to install planters elsewhere downtown. City Manager Harold Owen said the city has about $800,000 available that it could spend on downtown street improvements.
Future phases of downtown landscaping could include curb extensions at each intersection, enlarging and repaving sidewalks and adding trees and underground irrigation downtown.
Most of the work on Front Street needs to be completed by Oct. 1 to qualify for stimulus funding under the city’s road construction contracts.