Trends Summer 2015 | Page 12

Before After of attracting still more people to visit. Because the renovation was tied to utility improvements, the Village was able to fund part of the project with grants. Village President Willy Zevenbergen said the project cost did not significantly increase because of the extra work completed to make the downtown more attractive. “It has become a destination,” Stoffel said. “Baldwin has a good variety of businesses and the downtown has a nice atmosphere.” Improvements in Brown Deer Brown Deer Population 11,999 Suburb of grea ter Milwaukee metropolitan area The oldest part of Brown Deer, called the Original Village, dates to the 1800s. The street through the Original Village began as a wagon and stage coach path, the main route for travelers between Milwaukee and Green Bay. “It occupies a unique position in the community,” said Nate Piotrowski, community development director. “It’s totally different from the rest of Brown Deer. It was the uniqueness of it that endeared it to the community.” But “unique” does not necessarily mean “efficient.” The narrow roadway surface ran literally from the doorstep 12│TRENDS Before of buildings on one side to the front entrance of buildings on the other, and there were no sidewalks. About eight years ago, Brown Deer and Ayres Associates started investigating ways to restore the Original Village to its earlier luster. “Brown Deer wanted to encourage economic development within the Original Village,” said Kristine Anderson, the Ayres Associates engineer who coordinated the project. “It’s a historic neighborhood. The goal was to give identity to this community area and make it a destination.” After Theoretically, planning and discussion could go on forever; meeting storm sewer requirements could not. Brown Deer was required to install two storm water ponds in the Original Village to bring the storm water system up to regional standards, a challenge in an area with valuable real estate and long-established use patterns. Along with storm sewer upgrades came the need for street improvements, providing an opportunity for Brown Deer to do much more than just replace aging surface materials. To start with, the community decided the historic Revamping the Original Village One portion of Brown Deer stands apart from the rest: the Original Village. It’s a collection of commercial and residential properties along what was once a stage coach road between Green Bay and Milwaukee. Many of the buildings hold historical significance. In the 1950s and 1960s Brown Deer expanded as increasing numbers of urban residents moved to the more open suburbs. As the community expanded, new neighborhoods were built to modern standards and tastes. Strip malls and larger retail stores moved in to meet the needs of the expanding population. The Original Village began to fade. In the 1960s the Wisconsin Department of Transportation rerouted two major travel routes in Brown Deer, leaving the Original Village intact but subject to further decline. Discussion of how to renovate the Original Village began in the 1980s but never seemed to gain momentum. Community Development Director Nate Piotrowski says the historic area was “preserved through neglect,” as plans to change or upgrade the area never materialized. And then, about eight years ago, Brown Deer began discussions with Ayres Associates on how to restore the luster of the Original Village and transform it into a destination. The resulting $3 million streetscaping project has brought new life to the Original Village. – Kay Kruse-Stanton Before district needed sidewalks. The roadway was already narrow, and fitting in sidewalks was a challenge. “Some of the buildings in the area are original and for the residents of Brown Deer they are important. We needed to preserve their historic character while modernizing the infrastructure,” Anderson said. “We worked very closely with property owners. In some areas you’ll see steps of buildings basically up to right-of-way – and that’s ok. Some property owners have capitalized on that, to make their buildings more inviting.” The renovation included decorative pavers in some crosswalks, installation of planters and benches, and a visitors’ center that explains the history of the Original Village. Despite the disruption that construction invariably brings, Anderson said the project went smoothly. “I’ve never had property owners be so complimentary of a construction project,” she said. “Brown Deer did everything possible to communicate with people throughout the project.” Work was completed in April 2014, and the Village hosted an event three months later to celebrate the improvements. The Granville/Brown Deer Area Chamber of Commerce presented Ayres Associates with an award for the work. After Before “The Ayres Associates staff really went the extra mile to make sure we got this project completed,” Piotrowski said. “Taking the neighborhood back to its true form, restoring the quaintness and downtown feel that you can see in the old pictures – this project helps to restore the original quality of the area that had been lost over time.” Enhancements in Marinette Marinette Population: 10,968 Located on the Bay of Green Bay and the Menominee River The City of Marinette welcomed news that one of the community’s major employers, Marinette Marine, was launching a $73 million expansion and planning a significant increase in workforce numbers. What the expansion could do for the community was easy to see. More difficult to answer was a parallel question: what would the expansion do to the community? What would be the effect of more than 2,000 people entering and exiting one portion of the community at one time? The City retained Ayres Associates to determine effects on community traffic patterns, roadways, and utilities. “We needed to get everyone to understand what this expansion project was going to do to the After community,” said Brian Miller, Marinette’s director of public works. Once the study was completed, it was clear, Miller said, that the project could not be broken down into a series of smaller efforts to be completed over time. It was going to be one large, complex project. That led to the next challenge: funding the improvements. The City formed a Tax Incremental Financing district that includes Marinette Marine property and, with the help of grant writers from Ayres, secured several state and federal grants to help cover costs. The size of the project and the deadlines and guidelines imposed by funding programs drove the design phase of the project, led b y Pete Kolaszewski, the Ayres Associates engineer who coordinated the project. “Pete and the folks at the Ayres Green Bay office really stepped up at the design phase to meet the demands to get the plans done,” Miller said. And the plans were extensive. Improvements covered about 1.5 miles and involved four major roadways: Main Street, Ely Street, Mann Street, and Stanton Street. The original study included analysis of traffic impacts for 17 intersections leading to or located near Marinette Marine’s plant. “A complication was that shift changes at the plant were going to be at about the same time as when school started TRENDS │13