February 8, 2010 Update

Please remember that work has started on the eastern sidewalk of the 100 Block of S. Gay Street in front of the Emporium. The western sidewalk is open so if you are headed to Jackson Avenue from Summit Hill, please cross over. If you need to get to the Emporium, the eastern sidewalk is available until 5pm tonight. After that the Contractor will be working to construct a bridge into the front door by 8am in the morning.
Also, I was just on the block and the street lights are being taken down. Temporary lighting will be put back in place but it is looking like that will not occur until tomorrow or even Wednesday. I have notified KPD to keep a watch until such time as lighting is restored.
Thanks for your understanding.

Construction Update- February 4, 2010

Despite the weather, we have continued to make progress, particularly on the 100 Block of S. Gay Street. Even in the worst weather we have been completing some of the utility work underground on both sides of the street. We are still planning to begin work on the eastern sidewalk on both the Vine Avenue end of the street as well as the sidewalk in front of the Emporium beginning on Monday. With the weather being as it is and with First Friday coming up this weekend, we thought it best to just wait until Monday to begin this construction. At the Emporium, work will begin first thing Monday morning up to the entrance and then the Contractor plans to work after 5:00pm and into the night to get past the doorway such that a bridge will be in place by Tuesday morning into the Emporium. It will take some work to remove the existing glass panels in this area as we intend to reuse them. The glass panels, when replaced, will be flush with the new sidewalk which will be a great improvement. I believe they are also spaced differently with additional glass panels planned as well. The very first section of new roadway is scheduled to be poured tomorrow in front of the former VMC building and as construction progresses, the plan is to construct the roadway concurrently on the western side of the road.The next three pictures reflect the current conditions.

Construction of the 200 Block is almost finished and the sidewalks should be reopened by today. All that is left here is the 2 inch topcoat and colored bands to be poured when the temperatures allow. The roadway itself cannot be reopened back for traffic until we complete the Vine Avenue intersection construction. This work involves KUB water service as well as AT&T and will require much timing. Additionally it is an area where we have several crosswalks which will use the colored concrete so that also takes extra time.
We plan to begin this work sometime in March and will likely take up to three weeks to complete.

The Contractor has used crew time wisely and has been able to keep all of his crews working consistently. The picture above is of the new curbing at the entrance to Fire Street

Additional work that will likely occur soon involves the old sidewalk along Treble Clef park ( see picture above).

Issues in discussion currently are future sidewalk use agreements both on new sidewalk and on the older sidewalks below, and also the condition and issues with the facade in front of the old WNOX building.

Please don't forget First Friday this week and the opening of the “Headlights and Streetlights” art exhibit featuring Mike C. Berry and Bobbie Crews at the Emporium. Many other exciting events are also planned on the 100 Block as well as the rest of downtown so please come downtown this Friday and help us celebrate the great artists we have in our community while patronizing the many shops and restaurants. I hope to see you there.

I am planning a press release soon on the next Streetscapes meeting to be held at the Emporium on February 16, 2010 at 5:00pm . Please make plans to attend.

Thanks for your interest.

Construction Update - January 28, 2010

The construction of the 100 Block and the 200 Block of S. Gay Street is really starting to move on now and we are establishing, I believe, a really good rhythm with the work crews. This week we are working on the curb and entrance to Fire Street and are ready to pour the crosswalk in the 200 Block along Summit Hill. We are also ready to begin pouring the sidewalk in the next section of the sidewalk on the western side of S. Gay Street.

We finished pouring concrete for the bulb out sections at the beginning of the western sidewalk ( see pictures below) as well.

We plan to open up both sections of the sidewalk in the 200 Block on Friday and remove the fencing there so this will really open this area back up. We just finished the knee wall adjacent to the parking lot on the western side so the crosswalk along Summit Hill is all that remains before we begin work in the Vine Avenue intersection. This work will probably not take place until sometime in March as it will be involved and will require a complete closure of that intersection for around two weeks. We will have to likely flag for delivery trucks in the 200 Block and will allow valet and other parking on the 200 Block as best we can.

We will also have to bag, once again, the parking meters on State Street for no parking as we plan to remove that section of road and reconstruct that short piece of sidewalk along Treble Clef Park from Summit Hill to the tie in with the new sidewalk.

The first pieces of colored concrete have been poured in the 200 Block ( see next two pictures) and the remaining crosswalk at Summit Hill will be poured to the same color. I am told this is the predominant color for the rest of the project although there are some various shades for the banding yet to come.

We now have several crews working at once and the plan is to begin sidewalk construction on the eastern sidewalk of the 100 Block, beginning at Vine Avenue and working north until the supporting columns underneath begin. This work should go quickly as there is little supporting structure required. The estimate is for the construction on this piece to take one week. Then the plan is to move over onto the western sidewalk in front of FMB for another week.

At that point we will be ready to work in front of the Emporium, probably beginning on the evening of February 8 and working on the next two sections for the next three weeks or so ending just before the entrance to Slamdot.

While this work is going on we hope to be completing the micropiles and new column construction in the area of Unarmed Merchants and Dewhirst Properties. The plan is also to begin pouring concrete back for the roadway on the 100 Block on either end such that a complete lane can be finished along the western portion of the roadway in the 100 Block.

Weather permitting, we think we can really get moving along from here on out.

You may have noticed Southern Constructors has hired a gentleman just to keep all of the windows clean so we are thankful for their continued consideration for folks on the block.

Water services and just a small amount of electrical work is about all that remains as far as remaining utility work goes.

Don't forget the Streetscapes meeting scheduled for February 16 at 5:00pm at the Emporium. In addition to the Contractor, Engineers, KPD, KUB, and the CBID, I planning to invite the Fire Marshall office for input into Use Agreements for the under the sidewalk areas and other considerations.

As always, thanks for your interest.

Construction Update - January 21, 2010

Thankfully the weather has gotten much better and we were able to get quite a lot done this past week. The 200 Block of S. Gay Street is getting close to completion as evidenced by the next two pictures below. Due to some equipment issues with a subcontractor, we have had to continue the lane closure on Summit Hill. We plan to have this lane reopened on Friday of this week. Shortly thereafter, we will begin the work on the intersection of S. Gay Street and Vine Avenue. We plan to make the valet parking and deliveries available on the newly resurfaced part of the 200 Block of S. Gay Street at that time. Most likely it will take a week or two to finish up that intersection depending primarily on the weather.

Work is continuing on the sidewalks in the 100 Block of S. Gay Street. It has been challenging so far to keep access to all of the buildings while continuing the work. Southern Constructors continues to do a fine job here in trying to accommodate the needs of all of the folks affected by the construction. It is really has been a testament to their abilities in coordinating all of the subcontractors and the subcontractors of the subs as well as their own people.

As reflected in the picture below (thanks to George Richardson for this picture) the Contractor has been able to pull up the old sidewalk as one big slab which has really helped in demolition.

Again, weather permitting we hope to finish this next section in the next week or two such that we can then move over onto the eastern sidewalk in front of the Emporium around February 9 for the rest of February. This will give us time to finish up with utility relocation and the drilling of micropiles needed to create two entirely new columns to support the sidewalk in the Unarmed Merchants area. The picture below reflects just how complicated this utility relocation underground is. Although KUB has completed their work, Massey Electric is now completing the portion of the work from the retaining wall into some of the structures, primarily on Dewhirst Properties. Any outages here should be minor in length of time.

I was privileged to give KPD a tour of the underground areas as well as the areas surrounding the 100 Block last week so they can remain current with all of the access points as well as to discuss issues related to security. These folks have a tough job and I am thankful for the job they do.

I am planning another Streetscapes update meeting for February 16, 2010 at 5:00 pm at the Emporium and will get out a press release soon so please mark your calenders.

As always, thanks for your interest.

Construction Update - January 13, 2010

The weather has had an impact on our schedule this week but we have still continued to make progress, primarily completing some concrete work as well as continuing utility work in the underground areas of construction. The 200 Block of S. Gay Street has really come along and we began the lane closure on Summit Hill as previously announced (see press release below picture).

PRESS RELEASE

The right lane on the westbound side of Summit Hill Drive where it intersects with Gay Street will be closed from 9 a.m. Wednesday, January 13, through 6 a.m. Monday, January 18.

The lane closing is necessary for the completion of utility and street resurfacing work being conducted on the 200 block of Gay Street. The work is part of the ongoing Gay Street Streetscapes project.

Southern Constructors Inc. is the lead contractor for the Streetscapes project. It includes the 100 and 200 blocks of Gay Street - from Jackson Avenue to Summit Hill Drive - and involves the replacement of the street and both sidewalks in addition to other improvements.

More information about this effort is available at www.cityofknoxville.org/policy/100block/

In conjunction with 100 Block utility work, KUB will have some planned outages beginning Friday at 8:00 am until 5:00 pm to move utilities under the western sidewalk. My understanding is that folks impacted may have their power off for 2-4 hours at the longest but hopefully much shorter (see KUB Clearance request below for more detail).

Contractor’s Clearance Request Form

Email to: CustomerSupportUSAGroup@kub.org
Standard 48-hour advance notice

Clearance Date and Start Time requested
8:00AM Friday, Jan 15,2010

Contractor’s Name and phone number
Massey Electric 865-573-4200

Street Address of Clearance (or block, intersection, etc.):
111,117 S. Gay St

Purpose of the Clearance :
Relocate electric service conductors and conduit which are in way of new side walk construction.

Customer contact name and number, if applicable:
1.) 111 S.Gay St Mtr # E1H1000085
North Central Village LLC
2.) 117 ½ S.Gay St Mtr # Z1F0800727
Dewhirst Properties LLC
3.) 117 ½ (E) S.Gay St Mtr #Z1F0800729
Ayoub, Pete
4.) 117 S.Gay St Mtr #Z1F0800730
Dewhirst, David W.
5.) 117 S.Gay St Lot 1 Mtr #Z1F0800724
Dewhirst, David W.
6.) 117 S.Gay St Lot 4 Mtr #Z1F0800723
Dewhirst Properties LLC
Work Order number, if available:
CE011280

Special requests or concerns:
North Central Village LLC @ 111 S.Gay St does not appear to be occupied.

KUB Troubleman needed? Yes/No

OHC Network crew will be required to disconnect/re-connect service conductors

With temperatures warming we hope to pour concrete in several places the rest of the week beginning today.

Tomorrow the next section of sidewalk on the west side of S. Gay Street will be removed to begin that part of the construction.

Upon completion of this work, the plans now are to move over onto the eastern sidewalk in front of the Emporium around February 9, 2010 after the February First Friday.

I plan to schedule another Public meeting around the middle of February to discuss progress and future plans.

Thanks for your interest.

Construction Update - January 6, 2010

Wow has it been cold!! Obviously the cold weather has had and will continue to have an effect on our construction schedule. We were able to complete getting the sidewalk reconstructed in front of URBhana and have made plans to begin the next phase of construction next week. In the meantime, the sidewalk is reopened for the entire length on the west side for now (see next two pictures).

The next two pictures were taken under the newly constructed sidewalk. The Contractor is running heaters here to protect plumbing and other utilities.

Note the frame for the glass panel in the picture above.

Now that the plans are coming together we are working on the adjustment for several of the utilities that are in the underground section of the western sidewalk in the 100 Block. We had hoped to avoid having to do much here but it is now obvious several of the services are going to be directly in the way of the new beams for the sidewalk. Beginning later this week, KUB along with Massey Electric will begin the process of moving these services, first to a temporary service and later back to the permanent service. This will require some additional temporary power outages unfortunately, some being for folks who recently had other outages. KUB will notify folks per their usual process and I will also try to let you know here as soon as I can.

Since this utility work may take a bit of time, we are discussing moving construction over to the area in front of the Emporium maybe sometime in February. This work should go pretty quickly given the good conditions there and may be finished in three weeks or so. I will post more on that later.

I know some nice events are planned for First Friday in February at the Emporium , particularly an art show conducted by two friends, Bobbie Crews and Mike Berry, so whatever we do will not be in conflict with that.

Also, I understand that the January 2010 First Friday will be held this Friday January 8, 2010 and I have received information from URBhana about some events planned there as well.

I was also told that some folks had a little too much fun on the 100 Block New Years Eve from some of the vandalism and pranks discovered January 1. Luckily to my knowledge nobody got injured even though the window for URHbana was broken.

The 200 block has been repaved and, weather permitting, we plan to close off a lane of Summit Hill next Wednesday until Monday to finish up our tie in to the 200 Block of S. Gay Street then.

When that work is completed we hope to begin the final phase here by reconstructing the S. Gay Street/W. Vine Avenue intersection.

I was privileged to give a tour of the east and west sides of the 100 Block of S. Gay Street to several members of the Knoxville Fire Department so they could update their preplanning process in case of emergencies. I am always impressed by the professionalism of our Fire Department as well as our Police Department. I know both departments work hard to be proactive in their planning.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and wish you all well for the next year.

As always, thanks for your interest.

Construction Update - December 30, 2009

As we had hoped, we have now been able to complete most of the 200 Block of S. Gay Street roadway and all of both sidewalks have now been reformed with concrete. The 2 inch pour of concrete is yet to come which will have the coloring and banding. The three pictures below reflect the current status of work here.

Sometime around the week of January 10, 2010, we will have to have a lane closure on Summit Hill for about a week to complete the roadway and sidewalk resurfacing. Of course this will be greatly dependent on the weather and I will post as soon as a date is set. Sometime soon after that bit of work we will move over into the intersection with Vine Avenue to complete that stretch. I will be discussing delivery scheduling with some of you closer to that time.

The first section of sidewalk has been poured in the west side of the 100 Block and we plan to pour the concrete needed for the next section in front of UHRbana tomorrow.

Below is the current bridge to URHbana and also to the UT Art Gallery. The next section of work is due to begin early next week. I plan to contact some of you next week to discuss scheduling. As you can see in the picture below, the door on the left which is the entrance to several apartments, will be affected and is very problematic in that it swings out and is very low. The bridging for this door will be very tricky so close coordination with everyone here will be needed.

Other work being completed includes water service on the western side of the 100 Block. This switchover could cause very temporary water cutoff for some while the switch is made from old service to new service. I am told the outage would take no more than 20 minutes at a time and none of the restaurants would be affected.

We also plan to begin restoring the old sidewalk underground on the east side of the 100 Block next week as the KUB vault work is now completed. The next several pictures reflect the conditions underground there.

The picture above is of the old sidewalk beside the Emporium. Note the glass block panels above.

The picture below is of the older sidewalk looking toward the Sterchi Building.

Below is another picture from the Emporium area. This side of the street is much cleaner and in better structural shape than the west side so we hope work here will progress quickly. We may be able to get to this side of the street in early 2010 depending on everyones schedule.

The columns all line up very nicely here as well (see below) as opposed to the west side where many barely fit on their caissons which created all of the column redesigns.

The picture below was taken near the old WNOX area and show the remnants of an old glass panel in the old sidewalk.

The picture below was of yet another unexpected find in the old sidewalk. Speculation is that this was a vault of the old Western Union business that existed here.

The above picture is under the Jackson Avenue ramp near the entrance to the underground on the east side. There is not an entrance way currently from lower Jackson Avenue to reach this eastern underground sidewalk area as exists on the western side with it's concrete stairway.

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year and for all of you planning an evening for First Night downtown, don't forget to patronize the shops on the 100 Block as well.

Thanks for your interest.