HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-05-08 City to explore changing Lafayette, William to two-way
Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
September 5, 2008
1 p.m.
City to explore changing Lafayette, William to two-way
Contact:
Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564
or Bill Schalliol, Economic Development Planner, 235-9371
Should two north-south downtown streets leading to Coveleski Regional Stadium be
changed from one-way to two-way?
An engineering firm will study the cost and implications of making Lafayette Boulevard
and William Street open to two-way traffic between Western Avenue and Lincolnway
West, after the study was authorized today by the city’s Redevelopment Commission.
Staff recommended approval of an $8,240 study by Wightman Petrie Inc., 412 S.
Lafayette Blvd., a company of engineers, surveyors and landscape architects.
The study grows out of efforts to develop a master plan for economic development for
the neighborhood around Coveleski Regional Stadium.
Lafayette, immediately east of Coveleski Stadium, currently is a one-way northbound
street from Western Avenue to Madison Street (one block north of Lincolnway West). On
March 30, 2007, Lafayette was changed from one-way to two-way from Western Avenue
south to South Street at the request of neighbors and local businesses.
William now runs one-way southbound from Washington Street to Western Avenue.
After crossing Western, William turns into a cul-de-sac just beyond the ballpark’s left
field wall.
The study will examine the intersection of Lafayette and William with key cross streets to
determine where traffic signals may be necessary and will propose changes to make the
corridors more pedestrian-friendly.
“We just want to use this as a planning tool and a budget tool so we can address this
question in the near future,” said Bill Schalliol, an economic development planner who is
leading planning efforts for the Coveleski ballpark district on behalf of the city’s
Department of Community and Economic Development. “As we look to new
developments on William and Lafayette, the ability to have two-way traffic getting to the
ballpark and leaving the ballpark would be an advantage.”
The city already is in the middle of a planning process with HOK Sport to develop master
plans for the ballpark property as well as for the blocks surrounding the stadium. HOK,
the architect when Coveleski was built in 1987, also designed Baltimore’s Oriole Park at
Camden Yards and Cleveland’s Jacobs Field.
Built for $11 million in 1987, Coveleski Stadium is worth an estimated $35 million to
$40 million today. The stadium is owned by the City of South Bend, which leases the
facility to the South Bend Silver Hawks, a Class A minor league baseball franchise.
The city has been acquiring properties in the vicinity of the ballpark while HOK has been
working on a conceptual development plan for public and private investment.
Still being developed, the conceptual development plan focuses on an area bounded by
Bronson Street on the south, Wayne Street on the north, Michigan Street on the east and
Scott Street on the west. The final plan would include short-, mid- and long-term
strategies for the city to pursue.
“We believe that a first-rate conceptual redevelopment plan will bring in Big League
outside private investment,” said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke.
The planning efforts are funded by Tax Increment Financing for the city’s Central
Business Development Area. When a TIF district is created, it allows the city to set aside
the portion of taxes paid from new development for economic-development efforts within
the district. By state law, TIF funds cannot be used for ongoing city operating expenses,
such as police and firefighter salaries or parks and recreation programs.
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