The Design Committee was created just a year ago through inspiration from the Downtown Assessment. The committee was tasked with exploring the following topics: Streetscape and Signage, Planning and Zoning and Historic Preservation.
We decided as a group that our most important short term initiative should be to welcome and encourage people to turn off the highway and visit Grand Lake. To this end, the design group created three monument and entryway signs: sign 1 is newly installed at the town limits for northbound traffic to indicate that the entrance is just 4/10th of a mile ahead, the entry marquee has new signage indicating the town is "open year round" and ready for lodging, shopping, dining and fun and the third, is an enhancement to the Triangle Park sign indicating that outdoor activities and fun are just ahead in the heart of town.
We decided as a group that our most important short term initiative should be to welcome and encourage people to turn off the highway and visit Grand Lake. To this end, the design group created three monument and entryway signs: sign 1 is newly installed at the town limits for northbound traffic to indicate that the entrance is just 4/10th of a mile ahead, the entry marquee has new signage indicating the town is "open year round" and ready for lodging, shopping, dining and fun and the third, is an enhancement to the Triangle Park sign indicating that outdoor activities and fun are just ahead in the heart of town.
The design committee's next task was to develop the neighborhood grant program which is a new,local (town) matching grant program available to Grand Lake businesses who want to improve their storefronts. Applications for business improvement projects can be found on the town of Grand Lake's website. www.townofgrandlake.com. Just click on:
Commercial Enhancement Grant Program on the homepage for more information and a link to the applications. The applications for the project are due on May 1, 2014 and we encourage all Grand Lake businesses to come up with creative ways to enhance our business thoroughfare on Grand Avenue. Some business enhancement projects might be new signage, paint for an existing storefront or any other creative project to enhance the face of Grand Avenue.
The design committee's long term project is to work with the town to hire a design consultant to help our committee create a visual rendering of Grand Avenue as a means to inspire community disucssion on the livability and walkability of Grand Avenue: from business storefronts, the boardwalk, the greenway, street and all other public elements that serve our business and visitor community along Grand Avenue. We are underway helping to coordinate a Request for Proposal (RFP) through the Town of Grand Lake which will seek a professional team of designers to create this visualization. Our goal is to have the RFP completed in the coming month to facilitate hiring a design professional before the summer season. We hope to have a visual product ready for community discussion by late August.
The Preamble to our request for proposal is the following:
The designer will create a one-hundred foot wide threshold to our authentic western community. The design will showcase places that are functional, sustainable, pragmatic and visually and emotionally appealing.
Part of our mission on the design committee is to encourage the care of our lamppost gardens along Grand Avenue. If anyone is interested in sponsoring and caring for a garden, please email: [email protected] and we will put you in touch with the right person.
We often meet the last Wednesday of the month at 5:15 PM in the Meeting Room of the town hall. Please come join us or add your name to our email list by emailing your request to: [email protected] Creative Ideas always welcome!