After a Year, Village Board Approves Final Design of Arch
The much discussed arch will be placed on Northway and Grange Avenue next to the new LED sign. Both are meant to attract new visitors coming from Southridge Mall to the Village Center.
In an effort to bring more visitors to the Village Center, the Village Board approved the final designs for a gateway arch, despite a trustee’s fiscal objections.
The board voted, 6-1, Tuesday night to approve the final design.
Trustee Carl Genz voted against it. He said it would be better to spend money on the arch when the economy becomes more financially stable.
He supports the arch, but said, “I just don’t know if right now is the right time to be making an investment in this.”
The arch has been included in the this year’s budget but Genz said even though it is it doesn’t mean the money needs to be spent. Genz suggested considering it for another year’s budget.
The designed arch is estimated to cost $90,000 but will be bid out to companies. The cost might increase or decrease. Grandhaven, LLC, property owners of the Village Center, has agreed to pay half of the cost to up to $75,000.
The arch will be placed on Northway and Grange Avenue next to the new LED sign. It will have brick piers and square posts. The brick will match the brick on the LED sign. In trying to match Village Hall, plaques will be placed on the front of the pillars reading est. 1938.
Last week, Planning Commissioner Bernard G. Schroedl voted against the arch because he said the LED sign should have been reviewed with the arch. He also said having two signs with the same purpose next to each other was a waste of money.
The approval comes after a year of discussions with business owners about what began as a modest gateway arch design on the intersection of Grange Avenue and Northway in June 2011. Around the same time, staff proposed the LED sign as a way to replace the old "welcome" sign at the intersection of Loomis Road and Grange Avenue. Instead some trustees thought it would be better to place the LED sign on the intersection of Northway and Grange Avenue in order to attract traffic from the new Macy's at Southridge Mall. The LED sign was then approved in March without approval of the gateway arch or referring it to the Planning Commission.
Joseph
12:37 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
90k? That's money well spent. /sarcasm
Jason Dembosky
1:40 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
$75k is from an outside source. The rest, $15,000, will be paid by the Village. Approx 6,000 households, that an increase of $2.50 per household...
Jason Dembosky
1:42 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
I take that back. Village will pay HALF, UP TO $75,000, so we're on the hook for $45k, which is $7.50 pre household. Yikes.
Jason Dembosky
12:38 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Larger pdf here: http://greendale.org/resources/07-13012-gateway-arch.pdf
I just wish that light pole wasn't in the way. Looks odd on paper.
Carol
2:40 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Maybe they could put a smaller light pole on either side and it would look better.
Bren
12:55 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
This is just unbelievable. A utilitarian metal arch and a LED sign screaming about the historic district. What's next, village board? Perhaps we should introduce digital billboards along Northway with pictures of adorable kittens and puppies to draw people into the "historic" district. People love kittens and puppies! Better still, since you have so much money to throw around, why don't you buy up all the Originals, raze them, and add more strip malls to match the ones on Broad Street? So what about U.S. history, right? So what about Greendale's unique flavor? Homogenize what you clearly lack the expertise to understand.
Carol
2:39 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Is there anything that you can say about the board that's good??? Next time someone's term is up, why don't you run since you seem to know everything that's good for the village. Seems like you complain about everything!!!!!!!!!!!
Bren
3:23 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Carol, yes I can say good things about the board, the ones who understand that this piecemeal approach is expensive and ineffective. Why are you trying to turn a business and preservation issue into a personality issue?
Elizabeth
1:11 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Sad for all of the people living right there. Would rather see the money spent on the schools.
Nicki
3:55 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
They claimed that the owner of the house on the corner of Apple Ct where the LED sign was placed is fine with it.
Jennie
6:47 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
That's because the the owner of the house is Turay- Village Board Trustee
Greendale Original resident
1:28 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Seems too much for that small corner.
Bren
3:31 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
It's a small corner, the church on the west corner has signage nearby, there's an Original on the east corner, the house was recently purchased from an auction, I believe. The exterior is in rough shape. The screaming LED sign is right on the owner's front lawn. (I see the owner is building an exterior wall on the Grange face of the house.) With a year, this small area has lost much of its appeal, with mall parking lot housing directly across the street (which includes signage spot lit all night), new Southridge signage, signage already in front of the church, the new screaming LED sign, and now the cheap-looking (cardboard cut-out design) arch, complete with an overhead street lamp that will sit right in the middle of the arch from the viewpoint of shoppers leaving Southridge via Grange. Why won't the Village board hire a design firm with all that spare cash to create an attractive, coordinated design plan for Broad Street and the village entrances that also respect our unique place in American history? Why is this not possible???
Greendale Citizen
4:57 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The village board claims that mall traffic coming out of the Grange entrance will be more likely to come through the village. Seriously? Most of the traffic using that entrance are Greendale residents! This arch is a complete and utter waste money. The board, with the exception of Mr. Genz at this point, should be ashamed of this decision.
Kaye
5:42 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The LED sign was placed on the property of a board member. Does this sound like a conflict of interest. The arch will be great the LED sign is ridiculous!
Jason Dembosky
6:25 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
That topic can have many gray areas. For one thing, the sign cannot be used to place electoral ads, etc., so that this person may profit from it. That would be a good example. Now, does this person receive any money from its placement? That could be a potential COI.
I'm not voting either way on that topic, just stating way I think are facts.
Take a look at the 25-year plan, which started in 2010. One could argue that the archway and sign help promote the Historic Village. Here's the link: http://www.greendale.org/comprehensive_plan_assets/landuse.pdf
Greendale Original resident
6:35 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Who is the board member?
Carol
11:01 am on Sunday, July 22, 2012
It doesn't matter who the owner of this house is, the sign will bring people down to the Village. On saturday, the Greendale Market was held and there were alot of people there. I love having it on Broad Street and I'm sure alot saw the sign when they were on Grange. I can't understand why some people are complaining all the time.
Rolland Young
10:51 am on Friday, July 27, 2012
I think the money could be better spent on fixing some of the roads in in greendalewhich are getting pot holes and cracking, plus many of the sidewalks are in really bad shape