William B. Kuhl, formerly of the Architectural Design Review Board, and presently the consultant who was hired last year by the Village of Garden City to design plans for the beautification of Franklin Avenue, spoke with Garden City Life last week to help update the residents on the status of the project. During presentations given last year Kuhl first introduced the ideas and concepts that helped him create the plans for the overall look of the streetscape. Now, faced with delays and the unexpected surprises that come with a project of this scale, Kuhl discusses where the Village is now and where it will be when all is done.

In February of last year Kuhl identified areas which he felt had the potential to be strengthened and could make a significant difference in the overall feel of Franklin Ave. Two such areas were the lots next to Gross Jewelers and the lot next to CVS, both on the corner of Franklin and Stewart Avenues. By incorporating a gazebo by Gross and a fountain by CVS, and adding trees, shrubs, and a sitting area, the lot "becomes a friendly and elegant place for residents, shoppers, and area businesspeople to socialize." Right now the sites are two big dirt lots, but Kuhl says that the pavilion is going up now and the concrete base for the fountain will be poured "shortly." Also, a rose garden for the property by Liberty Travel has been planned. The Village clock for the island in the middle of the Stewart and Franklin intersection has been delivered to the Village, but Kuhl is not certain when it will be installed.

Terms like "cohesive site vocabulary" were used in presentations back in 1998 to convey the importance of creating a sense of visual unity between the different businesses along the Avenue. By using raised planters, flowering trees, and planters for flowering vines over the alleyways, the buildings which have such varying building designs are tied together and the empty space which can create a bleak and exposed feeling are softened with plants. The proposed landscaping was designed by Kuhl to create a sense of protection from the traffic of Franklin Avenue and an element of privacy for little al fresco dining areas by the various restaurants along Franklin Ave. Table and chair designs were suggested, but the purchase of these items would be up to the restaurants themselves with the approval of the items in the hands of the Architectural Design Review Board.

Bottle green colored lamp-posts have been installed, although the bottoms are still not painted, but will be all at one time later in the project. Light bollards will also be installed. The debate about layby parking of last year ended when the Village Board voted to approve it and 37 parking spaces have been carved into the sidewalk along the Avenue, according to Kuhl. Al fresco dining "niches" have been created to provide areas for tables and chairs, and Kuhl says, "they will be framed out along the streetscape and once the planting goes in they will look really nice." New bus shelters will be installed "shortly," according to Kuhl, and they will be set farther back on the sidewalk to make them more handicapped accessible.

Mayor Hal Hecken announced as early as April in his weekly column, "The installation of the sidewalk pavers began last week [the week of April 22] on the block between Ninth and Tenth Street. This process is labor intensive. It involves first leveling and compacting the sub base, then adding and compacting layers of stone screenings and sand and finally installing and aligning the pavers to meet the required pattern and grades. In many cases the pavers must be accurately cut to fit around utilities and other existing obstructions."

As can be seen in the street next to PayHalf, for example, Hecken noted, "The contractor also began the installation of decorative crosswalks which will cross the side streets as well as Franklin Avenue. The concrete base and curbing were installed across Ninth Street and covered with steel plates while the concrete cured to sufficient strength to support traffic." Pavers have been installed along the east side of Franklin Avenue from Eleventh Steet, south to Ninth Street. Demolition of the sidewalk from Ninth Street to Stewart Avenue, as well as activity on each of the four corners of Franklin Avenue and Stewart Avenues, has also begun.

Crews have begun installing the large precast street light pole bases, concrete pavers and granite curbing and removing the sidewalk from the east side of Franklin Avenue from Stewart Avenue south to the Long Island Rail Road tracks. The mayor has stated, "Both the Village and its contractors are sensitive to this phase of the project as a number of businesses do not have rear entrances. With safety as the first priority, work will be scheduled to minimize disruption to all involved."

The timeline has shifted from completion of work at the end of this month to the middle or end of September. "Outside factors" have presented delays, according to Kuhl, such as discovering electrical lines under the sidewalk of which no one was aware. No one claimed them. LIPA said they did not belong to them, and all other possible owners denied knowledge of the lines. Before the crews prepared to tear them out, project leaders decided to check with LIPA one more time, and then LIPA decided that they were in fact live lines and theirs, Kuhl reported. The paving crew has been digging trenches for irrigation and the light poles and this requires "a lot of prep work" and doing the paving itself takes time, Kuhl noted. Difficulties encountered by merchants along the Avenue, such as the planking of alleys that no longer meet the sidewalk, such as the alley by the New York Soup Exchange, will be addressed as these alleys are repaved "soon" with asphalt to meet the level of the new sidewalk, Kuhl said. The alley work was done to create water flow away from the work, but has led to flooding in the basement of Arista Furs for the first time in approximately 50 years.

Because of the draught conditions of this summer, planting of the landscaping shrubbery and the like will have to wait until the fall, and Kuhl added, "The Village is watering the trees there like crazy and they're holding up." Four arbors total are being installed around the Village for vines around the entrances to alleyways from Franklin Avenue to the rear parking lots. The green trellises and planters have been installed by the NY Soup Exchange and the other locations include by Leo's, by Frankel's, and one by the RR tracks on the east side, according to Kuhl. The vines will not be planted until the fall and Kuhl says they will have a long growth period in time to bloom next spring. The planters for the vines next to Arista Furs have reportedly created difficulties in their close proximity to the door of the shop, and Kuhl says he will examine the situation personally. The tree grates are expected to be installed soon as well.

Mayor Hecken has reported this week in his Mayor's Column, "It is anticipated that most of the sidewalk work, between Stewart Avenue and Eleventh Street, will be concluded by the week's end. The area in front of 855 Franklin Avenue, the former A&S building, will take a bit longer due to the need to waterproof the basement area, which extends under the sidewalk. The base for the fountain at the northwest corner of Franklin and Stewart is in place and the fountain will be constructed this week. With the pavers in place at the northeast corner of Franklin and Stewart, the contractor will be installing the gazebo structure. Construction will be concentrated along the east side of Franklin Avenue from Stewart Avenue to the LIRR tracks during the next two weeks."

The Franklin Avenue Beautification follows the Seventh Street Streetscape done in 1987 and the New Hyde Park Road Streetscape done in 1991. As one merchant from Franklin Avenue commented, "Once the streetscape is done it will be time to put the focus on the landlords. The Village can't make the landlords do what's necessary to rent out those empty buildings. The landlords have to work at it. I don't want to see anyone say after all of the money is spent and the work is done that Franklin Avenue is all dressed up with nowhere to go."