Workers are finishing up Auburn’s biggest downtown building project in decades
And folks who’ve waited a long time to see the South Division Street Promenade done are preparing to cheer.
Mayor Pete Lewis, members of the Auburn City Council, assorted dignitaries and the project’s architects and design team will celebrate the grand opening at 3:30 p.m. next Thursday, April 12 at Plaza Park, across from Auburn City Hall.
Local restaurants will provide snacks.
A vital part of downtown redevelopment plans, the promenade, extending along South Division Street from the edge of the City Hall Plaza to 3rd Street Southeast, takes a chunk of the downtown vision that the Auburn Downtown Plan foresaw in 2001 and turns into actual concrete, benches, street trees, a big overarching welcoming sign and more.
City leaders say it’s about encouraging revitalization and supporting existing businesses.
“The South Division Street Promenade Project is a major investment by the city of Auburn to upgrade streets, sidewalks and utilities to help facilitate the redevelopment of adjacent city blocks,” Lewis recently told the Auburn Reporter. “When completed, the promenade project will give developers, residents, and businesses another compelling reason to invest in downtown Auburn.”
One of the proposals the City no doubt has in mind is Spencer Albert’s nearby multi-block Auburn Junction proposal.
Here are some of the promenade’s features:
• Reconstruction of South Division Street, including roadway pavement, crosswalks, sidewalks, street trees and tree grates, potted plants, pedestrian lighting, street lighting, City-owned fiber conduits, storm drainage improvements, and aesthetic treatments at the intersections of 2nd Street and South Division Street, 1st Street and South Division Street, and Main Street-South Division Street.
• Relocated City-owned sewer lines and enlarged City-owned water lines.
• Colored traffic circles to emphasize the intersections.
While on-street parking remains, the City has widened the sidewalk on the west side of the street, making it curbless. To provide right of way, the City two years ago bought the old Marvel building on the northeast corner of South Division then razed it to provide room for the widening. Councilman Rich Wagner pushed to include one technological advance: a mixture of conventional gray and pervious concrete, that slurps up storm water before it seeps into the ground below the street. Workers installed underground utilities, replaced old clay pipes and buried aerial wires.
To pay for it all, the City has tapped $3 million in grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) and $3 million in local revitalization funds.
“This is a big deal, an exciting new chapter for downtown Auburn,” said Kevin Snyder, City planning director.
