Grant Avenue facelift ahead of schedule

The Sunnyside Up Board of Directors toured the site of the Grant Avenue Streetscape project during its regular meeting July 14.

The tour allowed board members to see the progress of the project, ask questions and provide input regarding future improvements. Michael Mills of the Mills Group also gave a presentation about recommended facade improvements in the area.

The Grant Avenue Streetscape project will replace sidewalks, develop two bus stops and install LED streetlights on Grant Avenue from Fourth Street to Campus Drive.

A new six-foot sidewalk will be installed on the left side of Grant Avenue from First Street to Campus Drive, and the first new bus stop will be at the corner of Grant and First Street. WVU has purchased two homes at this intersection so they can be demolished to make room for the stop, said Jim Hunt, executive director of Sunnyside Up.

"This location is the worst possible location for pedestrian traffic," Hunt said. "This project will increase the accessibility."

The second bus stop will be at the Fourth Street right-of-way on Grant Avenue. This stop will feature a canopy to protect bus riders from rain or snow and will feature what Hunt called the "nicest view in Sunnyside."

"Students can gather; it will be a place where people can come and read a book," Hunt said. "You will be able to see to Beechurst, all the way to the Rail Trail when the project is finished."

He said these projects will reduce congestion in the area by keeping pedestrian traffic out of the street. It will also bring the neighborhood's infrastructure into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The improvements are funded as a Tax Increment Financing project.

TIF projects allow municipalities to borrow against the increased property tax revenue that will result from the improvements.

The projects are ahead of schedule, Hunt said, and will be completed prior to the beginning of the fall semester.

The Sunnyside Up Facade Grant Program provides property owners with up to $3,000 in matching funds to make improvements to their properties appearance. Mills showed the board examples of the suggestions they will make to landlords.

"Our approach was not to do something architecturally magnificent," Mills said. "We were taking a $10,000 to $15,000 budget and saying, ‘what could we do with that dollar amount.'"

Some of Mills' concepts include moving trash cans, adding landscaping, painting and adding porch lights.

He also showed a design for a standardized address sign to go on front porches featuring easily visible address numbers and the Sunnyside Up logo.

"This brings recognition that you as a Board have put money into these properties and may encourage others to do the same," Mills said. "Much like a national historic property has a plaque, these might be the same, that you've invested the money and upgraded the building."