By: Deborah Johnson Wood
The Louis Campau promenade and two adjacent pedestrian areas in downtown Grand Rapids will soon be attractive new pedestrian gateways between the JW Marriott and Monroe Center and beyond. All told, the three projects, which are happening concurrently, will run some $905,000.
“It’s been on our drawing board for quite a while to update the promenade,” says Jay Fowler, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority. “The landscaping wasn’t thriving and the paving was deteriorated and out of date.”
The promenade is a small patch of concrete that runs east-west between Monroe and Campau, and north-south between Founders Bank & Trust and Z’s Grille and Bar. The renovation includes a snowmelt system, new concrete with brick pavers, flower planters, decorative lighting, benches and a few tables. Fowler says the design calls for a concrete pad under a raised planter in case the DDA decides to install outdoor sculpture.
“The promenade gets quite a bit of foot traffic, and we think it’ll get more once it reopens because of the new JW — it’s the logical walkway for someone to go from the JW to downtown to the art museum or dinner or the entertainment district,” Fowler says.
A stretch of Monroe running south to Campau gets a new snowmelt system and streetscape, and the Campau Square Plaza Building (Comerica Bank building) gets new north and east plazas. The owners of that building are footing the bill for the two plazas, but one contractor, Wyoming Excavators, Inc., will do the work for all three projects.
O’Boyle, Cowell, Blalock & Associates designed the promenade.
Weather permitting, the projects will be finished by December.
Source: Jay Fowler, Downtown Development Authority
Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
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