To move forward with the proposed $6 million South Division Street Promenade project, the City of Auburn is seeking proposals from qualified consulting firms to provide professional services for design and construction engineering.
An integral part of downtown redevelopment plans, the promenade realizes a part of the vision for downtown established in the Auburn Downtown Plan adopted in 2001.
Council members already have developed and approved cross sections and preliminary architectural renderings for the project, which will begin at the edge of the City Hall Plaza and run along South Division Street to 3rd Street Southeast. The deadline for proposals is 5 p.m., April 20.
The project calls for:
• Rebuilding 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. All this work must square with the City’s Promenade plan and the adopted Downtown Sidewalk Guidelines.
• Relocating City-owned sewer lines, enlarging City-owned water lines, restoring of public facilities needed to accomplish these improvements, and coordinating with private utilities regarding relocation work and the undergrounding of power facilities.
Work is expected to begin this December and must coordinate with the City Hall Plaza project.
To make the $6 million project a reality, the City is seeking $3 million in grant funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The balance will be paid with $3 million worth of local revitalization funds.
All design and construction must meet the requirements of the EDA. The EDA in fact has authorized the City to move ahead with design phase ahead of any grant award, and there’s no guarantee that by moving ahead the City would be assured the money.
“We still don’t have the award yet,” said Elizabeth Chamberlain, senior planner for the City of Auburn. “We’re at the stage in the process where EDA headquarters is reviewing the application. So it’s back in D.C. right now for that stage of the review. Once that process is complete, I believe they will notify the regional office that they can proceed with the award.
“We have the local revitalization funding and that’s what the city’s portion toward the project will be, and that’s what we’re using to begin the design phase. We’re moving through the process. It’s slow, but we’re getting there,” Chamberlain said.
