Main St. Getting A Facelift

From the Capital Journal:

ROSSVILLE — Those coming to this year's Tall Corn Festival in Rossville may not recognize their old stomping ground.

By the time the festival rolls around in mid-August, the town’s one-block business district on Main Street will have a new look — the  result of a $658,053 downtown streetscape improvement project.

“Basically, it was time to do something with street improvements and sidewalks,” said Kenneth Wichman, mayor of the town of 1,157 residents.

Wichman said city officials learned about a federal streetscape improvement grant administered through the Kansas Department of Transportation in which federal transportation enhancement funds would be used to pay 80 percent of construction and materials costs, while the city would pay the remaining 20 percent plus engineering fees. 

The city hired BG Consultants, of Lawrence, to help with the grant application and create a design proposal, and residents were surveyed about their preferences for downtown improvements. The city was awarded the federal grant in spring 2013.

Wichman said the city will pay about $192,000 for the project, which includes $60,000 in engineering fees. Federal money will take care of the remaining $526,442.

Amino Brothers Co., of Kansas City, Kan., submitted the lowest bid for the renovation project, and demolition began on April 13.

“We’re currently working on the east side (of Main Street), and then we will do the west side,” he said.

The streetscape improvement project will replace curbs and guttering, and new sidewalks will be poured, Wichman said. Curbs will be set closer to buildings in order to widen Main Street.

Lampposts, measuring 12 feet, 7.6 inches tall, will be installed on each side of the street. The lampposts will have built-in speakers that can be used to narrate parades or play music during the Christmas holiday. Decorative pavers will surround the lampposts and feature planters with a built-in sprinkler system.

Five new park benches and five new trash receptacles will be placed along the street, and a new bicycle rack will be installed at the Rossville Community Library.

In addition to the streetscape improvement project, Wichman said, the city will be creating a park with a gazebo on the southern end of Main Street, and city and Shawnee County officials will work together to remill and re-asphalt Main Street.

Wichman said some downtown businesses also are considering upgrading their storefronts. Along with the library, the block is home to the post office, a coffee shop, a bank, a dentist’s office, Cotton-O’Neill Clinic, Rossville City Hall, an American Legion post, a hair salon, a barber shop, a drugstore/flower mart, a hardware store and other retail businesses.