Title
GRU Kelly Powerplant Redevelopment Site/Depot Avenue/South Main Street/Cade Museum/Depot Park and Historic Depot Building (B)
Explanation
The GRU Kelly Powerplant Redevelopment Site/Depot Avenue/South Main Street/Cade Museum/Depot Park projects are all underway in the area immediately south of Downtown's traditional Central Business District. The neighborhood includes industrial, commercial, business, residential, cultural, and open space. Currently, the most prominent feature of the built environment is the Kelly Power Plant structure, however this landmark will soon be joined by Depot Park, the historic Depot building, and, eventually, the Cade Museum. Additionally, new private investment will follow. The area's emerging trend can already be seen in façade grants, new storefronts, shops, cultural facilities, and restaurants appearing throughout the area. This grassroots private investment, coupled with large-scale public projects such as the Depot Avenue reconstruction, Depot Park development, South Main Street Reconstruction, and others will also dovetail with the planned redevelopment of 16 acres of GRU equipment yards and other space surrounding the Kelly Power Plant. The GRU Kelly Powerplant Redevelopment Site/Depot Avenue/South Main Street/Cade Museum/Depot Park area is truly on the brink of an exciting new era of reinvestment and revitalization, although it currently struggles from the lack of a concise and identifiable identity. CRA staff will address this issue and will provide updates on a number of projects contributing to the revitalization of southern downtown area.
Area Branding
As planned projects become a built realization, the importance of creating an identity to this newly redeveloped section of downtown is becoming paramount. Branding a newly redeveloped area is a common marketing strategy used to attract attention to an area that people may have previously avoided. Furthermore, branding can be used in a comprehensive marketing program where a common logo is used for websites, brochures, and other materials used to attract both current and potential residents, and tourists. The CRA has received logo and branding concepts from a local graphic designer and will review these concepts with the board to gather feedback.
GRU Redevelopment:
Last year, the CRA organized a City/GRU/CRA planning effort for redevelopment at the Kelly Power Plant site in Downtown Gainesville. While the power plant and the GRU administrative building are expected to remain operational at their present locations, approximately 16 acres of surrounding storage yards, work shops, and other accessory uses will vacate the premises when GRU relocates operations to its new N. Main Street facility. Redevelopment of the Downtown properties will likely occur through a phased implementation process. The first steps toward implementation are underway. Staff is examining possibilities regarding land subdivision, pursuing the proper Future Land Use and Zoning designations, and other tasks required to accommodate redevelopment and new uses at the site. (Currently the Land Use and Zoning are both oriented towards the public facilities uses that have been associated with GRU activities at the properties.)
The CRA is also pursuing detailed surveys of 16-acres, because moving towards redevelopment, even at this early stage, requires consideration of the physical layout of the properties. The master plan for the GRU site addresses fundamental urban design: definition of the public and the private realm via the structure of lots and blocks. Properly designed, street, block, and lot dimensions are essential to healthy city development. Cities such as Paris, London, New York, and Savannah have proven that thoughtfully arranged streets and blocks can successfully accommodate endless changes in landuse, social norms, and construction conventions over very long time periods. The CRA has utilized this fundamental lesson in urban design as the basis for approaching redevelopment at the GRU site. By creating a clear delineation of the public and the private realms and identifying the public infrastructure needed to foster both public and private investment, the CRA has created a framework that will allow successful redevelopment of the 16 acres in both the short and long terms.
Depot Park Program: Historic Depot Building and Park Development
The Depot Park Program is a series of projects that address the redevelopment of a 32-acre brownfield site into a premier urban park featuring educational, cultural, and environmental resources. Prior to initiating redevelopment of the parcel, the GRU brownfield reclamation project must first occur. Over the past year, several milestones to accomplish this goal have been completed and GRU has mobilized to begin Phase I of the remediation effort.
Now that redevelopment of the site and surrounding areas is on the horizon, several strides have been taken to move the first phase of the park construction forward. The first phase of park construction focuses along the northern edge of the park parcel and includes the rehabilitation of the Depot Building, the east and west park entrances, walking and bicycling trails, promenade, and a children's play area. Construction documents for the rehabilitation of the Depot Building are well underway, and concepts for the surrounding park area have been developed, approved, and are moving towards construction document development.
The CRA is now focusing attention on the tenant uses for the Depot Building. Potential uses have been discussed over the years through public steering committees, meetings, workshops, survey questionnaires, and stakeholder interviews. The public input process has resulted in providing a framework of use suggestions, goals, and objectives. Among the suggestions is to provide a flexible interpretive/educational space that is available for public use. CRA staff will discuss ideas for the interpretive/educational space with the board and gather feedback on this potential use for the Depot Building.
South Main Street - South of Depot Avenue, the Main Street corridor opens up into a wide and unwelcoming expanse of asphalt. This stretch of roadway is located within the College Park/University Heights Redevelopment Area and it directly fronts Depot Park and the proposed Cade Museum site. Additionally, it serves as a major access way to the GRU Kelly Power Plant Redevelopment site, to the Porters Community, and into the Downtown area. The CRA will address both aesthetic and functional issues at play with the amenities, scale, traffic patterns, and aesthetics along this corridor. Staff is currently formulating a scope for addressing the issue, which may incorporate elements such as medians, traffic calming, beautification, multi-modal opportunities, etc.
Recommendation
1) Receive update from Staff; 2) Provide input as necessary.