Projects Downtown

 

DDA Conceptual Projects:

 

2010 - 2011 DDA Matching Grant Projects

6661 Allen Road - Before

6661 Allen Road - After

 

2010 - 2011 Qaundt Parking lot improvments

In November 2010, the first phase featured a new walkway with new landscape from Southfield Road to Philomene Ave connecting the Community Center to the Southfield Road pedestrian crossing. This will provide a more pedestrian friendly downtown.  The second phase is scheduled to be completed by fall 2011. This phase will include the retro-style street light fixtures installed along Middle Allen Road to match those on Park Avenue.

 

2009 Middle Allen Road Improvement Project

The “Middle Allen Road Improvement Project” is complete. The project is a comprehensive downtown improvement plan to enhance the pedestrian and customer experience in Allen Park. The final phase saw the installation of new street furniture including retro-style street benches, bicycle racks, and trash receptacles.

The first phase featured the centerpiece of the project, which is a downtown pocket park at the corner of White and Allen Roads. The park features a 12-foot clock tower surrounded by brick pavers, patterned concrete, new landscaping beds, new seating areas, and game tables. Additionally, new retro-style street light fixtures were installed along Middle Allen Road to match those on Park Avenue.

The second phase included re-construction of the downtown alleyway, which was a confusing vehicular route with no parking and utility poles in the drive lanes. The entire alleyway was redesigned with new 13-feet wide sidewalks directly adjacent to the businesses and the utility poles were removed for safety. The 4-block sidewalk system features new retro-style street light poles, new street trees, new outdoor furniture, and new dumpster enclosures. Importantly, the project created new pedestrian friendly perpendicular parking directly adjacent to many businesses.

The third phase featured new pavement in the heart of downtown along Allen Road along with reconfigured parking spaces. The intent of the plan was to “calm” traffic creating a more pedestrian friendly environment for downtown. The parking plan was designed by Glatting Jackson. The existing parallel parking was removed in favor of new angled parking spaces, which tripled the amount of available parking on Allen Road and created a substantially better pedestrian environment.

Fortunately, there was no tax increase or millage increase involved. The entire project was funded with DDA tax increment revenues and bonds. Over $4.5 million was spent on this project without raising taxes. The DDA finds the project to be a positive step for the economic development of downtown Allen Park.

The downtown is also home to the newly renovated Allen Park Community Center complete with meeting rooms, exercise facilities and an ice skating rink.

Pocket Park

A downtown pocket park is located at the corner of White and Allen Roads. The park was completed in July 2006 prior to the annual Street Fair festivities held first weekend in August. The park features a 12-foot clock tower surrounded by brick pavers, patterned concrete, new landscaping beds, new seating areas, and game tables.  The clock tower was donated by William P. Kuehnel in memory of his parents Harold and Anna.  Additionally, phase 1 includes new street light fixtures along Allen Road to match those in the Park Avenue business district. The remaining phases of the project include additional street parking, a new road surface for Middle Allen, utility line burial, alley and streetscape improvements, and enhanced pedestrian spaces. The scheduled completion for the entire project was 2007.