'U' team presents State St. suggestions

By Jon Zemke

Daily Staff Reporter

In a step forward in city and University relations, faculty and students presented their recommendations, for the State Street Development Project yesterday to a predominantly satisfied audience of city officials and residents.

The foremost of those recommendations would make the one-way streets around the Nickels Arcade - State Street, Liberty Street and Maynard Street - into two-way streets and revamp the area.

"The reception from both city officials, merchants, residents as well as University officials was enthusiastic," said Lawrence Molnar, industrial development research program manager at the Business School. "Special attention was paid to the collaboration between the city and the University. It was a real positive step in town-gown relations."

The project team, made up of several University faculty members and students under contract with the Downtown Development Authority, presented their findings after two years of research and studies on the State Street block adjacent to Central Campus. The next step for the project is receiving approval from the Ann Arbor City Council

Among the suggestions the project team made was the overall beautification of State Street. Repairing cracked sidewalks, installing new lampposts that combine meters and bike-racks, and attracting more businesses to the some of the vacant buildings in the area topped the suggestions.

"For a stranger coming into town and looking at the vacant buildings, it looks like the area is on the way down, not on the way up," said project team member and Architecture and Urban Planning Prof. Robert Beckley. "It's a lot like the glass is half empty and not half full."

The project team emphasized that the key to attracting business to fill the empty spaces in the State Street area is to capitalize on the popular entertainment business and the thousands of people who spend money in the area. Molnar mentioned the more than 8,000 entertainment seats available at local venues such as the State Theater, the Michigan Theater and the Power Center as a draw for new business.

But in order to capitalize on the potential, the team recommended improving the signage to area parking structures. President of the State Street Area Association and DDA member Karl Pohrt said he expects new signs to be posted in the next month.

Pohrt, who owns Shaman Drum Bookshop, said he endorsed all of the recommendations, including the suggestion that local merchants clean up their store fronts and keep them lit, even if they're not open.

"It was an absolutely first-rate analysis about the strengths and weakness of the area," Pohrt said. "Where we go from here is up to the community."

City Councilwoman Jean Carlberg (D-Ward III) said the major construction changes could happen as soon as two years down the road, depending on DDA's decision. DDA member Leah Gunn confirmed that the major recommendations, such as the switch to two-way streets and sidewalk construction, could be acted on within two to five years.

"It depends on what the DDA, number one, decides to do, and number two has the money for," Gunn said.

The DDA has already pledged $1.5 million toward redeveloping the State Street area, but Pohrt said the actual cost could run as high as $10 million.

"It sounds like a huge amount of money ($1.5 million), but it's not," Pohrt said. "Especially when you're making changes to an urban neighborhood."