As Campau Avenue undergoes construction of new water mains, sanitary sewer work, street lighting ducts, streetlights, City telecommunications, and other street improvements, Rockford Construction is gearing up to put some pep in the future pedestrian’s step.
Situated in the midst of what is soon to be one of downtown’s busiest foot traffic areas, the JW Marriott is bringing some major changes to the landscape, starting with the transformation of acres of cement slabs into acres of greenery and decorative walkways.
“Next spring and summer we’re putting in all new sidewalks with a snowmelt system,” said Greg Dyksterhouse, Rockford’s Project Superintendent for the JW Marriott. “We’re going to put them along both sides of [Campau] all the way from Pearl Street to Monroe, down Pearl to the river, all along Louis Street, and back onto our campus right up to the JW Marriott.”
Campau and Louis Streets will be lined with 14-foot wide sidewalks trimmed with brick pavers; 14 raised, irrigated planters filled with flowers, shrubs, and trees; and historic-style lampposts.
And that’s just the beginning.
“Today Campau is essentially an alley street,” said Bert Crandell, vice president of hotel development for Alticor, the owner of the JW Marriott and the adjacent Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. “It’s being reconfigured with three lanes, one lane each direction plus a center turn lane.”
“Louis Street, from Campau to the front of the hotel, is going to have snowmelts under the whole street, and landscaping down both sides, ending with a cul-de-sac in front of the hotel,” Dyksterhouse added. “We’re going to rehabilitate the Riverwalk in front of the Marriott, replacing concrete, and putting in stairs and some new lighting.”
“The fun part of doing an urban project is being able to put it back together and leave it better than the way we found it,” said Jen VanSkiver, vice president of marketing and communications for Rockford Construction.
The addition of a small park at the west end of Louis Street, between Riverfront Plaza and the JW Marriott, will provide handicap access to the Riverwalk. The park will be home to a new sculpture commemorating the 1945 fluoridation of Grand Rapids’ public water supply, which made the city the first in the world to fluoridate its water.
The streetscape project will cost Alticor over $1.5 million. Reimbursement will take place over the next 20 years through tax increment captures on the taxes produced by the JW Marriott.
“The schools portion of the taxes goes to the schools,” said Bert Crandell. “Out of what’s left, 75% goes to repay us and the balance remains with the Downtown Development Authority.”
Source: Greg Dyksterhouse and Jen VanSkiver, Rockford Construction; Bert Crandell, Alticor
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.