Downtown plan will include street gardens
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

There are streetscapes, and then there are artscapes.

The Downtown Boone Development Association will combine the two in downtown Boone through its public art program.

Residents and visitors alike will get their first glimpse near Boone Town Hall, where two art pieces will be placed and two street gardens developed.

The Boone Town Council approved the gardens at its June 21 regular meeting, at which DBDA director Tuesdae Rice outlined the organization’s public art project.

She said the project has been underway, at least in the planning stage, for about two years, with the Boone Community Appearance having passed a resolution in December 2006 to support public art in downtown.
Rice reminded council members how they passed a similar resolution in support of the community art project that same December.

Since then, Rice said, a group consisting of DBDA members, Boone Public Works, the Tourism Development Authority, Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, planning consultants, local business owners, and the Watauga Arts Council, to name a few, has sought the perfect pieces to complement downtown Boone.

Mary Baker, the DBDA’s project coordinator for the public art program, reached an agreement with artist Kevin Eichner of Moncure to loan a couple pieces to the town for one year.

The art will adorn the planter box beside town hall, and a crescent-shaped planter will be built behind the current planter between the Vetro Building and the parking lot entrance.

The piece for the crescent-shaped planter is titled “Amplexari,” which is Latin for “embrace,” with dimensions of 7’6” by 4’6” by 4’. According to Baker, Amplexari is the third in Eichner’s series of large-scale sculptures manipulated in a vertical forge.

The smaller but similar “Ferreus Intumus” will sit next to town hall, with dimensions of 4’6” by 3’ by 3’.

“Members of the public art committee liked several of Kevin Eichner’s sculptures,” Baker said. “Many members liked the sculptures’ tree-like qualities and how the rigid steel has been transformed into light, organic-looking shapes.”

She added that the artwork would complement Boone’s status as a Tree City USA.

Blake Brown, director of Boone Public Works, supported the idea, and Rice said installation should begin around Aug. 1, with public works expected to install and secure the statue pads.

Council member Janet Pepin asked what would happen if the artist were to sell his piece while it was still standing in downtown Boone, and whether or not a replacement could be quickly installed.

Baker said the piece will remain standing for the stated term of the contract. “And if that’s not possible, we’d replace it with a similar piece ... and that would be done immediately, so there would be no gap,” she said.

With Rice seeking permission for public works staff to help with installation, the council unanimously agreed to proceed. However, Rice noted that the statues were only one phase in a two-phased project.

“We were looking for some way to add in some green element to downtown, looking to incorporate some green space,” she said. “An idea came to fruition through a collaboration of the town manager, the public works department, the DBDA and the community art program.”

The plan would incorporate two spaces behind the crescent-shaped planter, as well as the town hall planter. Baker said the two areas would be designed as a “street garden,” featuring trees as the focal point, along with benches and new seeding and landscaping boxes for wildflowers, in addition to larger plants.

The current bicycle rack in the area would be incorporated into the design, and there would be a pedestrian access way to allow people a break from the hustle and bustle of downtown.

“I’ve heard a lot from business owners and students alike that they would like some place in town we could go sit, a park element,” Rice said.

The estimated cost for the two street gardens is $11,500, and Rice said the DBDA would contribute $3,000 towards advancement of phase two. She acknowledged additional fund-raising would be necessary on part of the town.

The project, however, would consume two diagonal parking spaces, and Rice proposed they could be recouped by redrawing the spaces horizontally.

Council member Bunk Spann supported the project, saying the trees will soften the area and make downtown Boone look more inviting. Pepin moved to approve the second phase, using monies from the mayor’s fund designated for trees, with the remaining sum to be financed through the green space fund.

Mayor pro tem Lynne Mason seconded, and the motion carried unanimously. Pepin asked Rice about the project timeline, and Rice said work should begin within the next two weeks.