About the Grant for Promenade Hill

Once again a roomful of people showed up to see what was planned for Promenade Hill, and once again they were disappointed. Those who had attended the previous meeting, held more than a month ago, were disappointed because they expected to see a conceptual design, but what what they got was a "schematic" of the ramp, impossible for the lay person to interpret, and a proposed budget for the project that sets the total "ask" at $226,000 with $60,000 designated for the ramp.

Those who were present at the urging of Second Ward alderman Tiffany Garriga were disappointed because a universal access ramp wasn't going to be built tomorrow. When John "Duke" Duchessi of TGW Consultants attempted to explain the process, a woman cut him off, saying, "I'm tired of hearing the words; I want to see the work." She also alleged, "If this was uptown, it would have been done."

Both Duchessi and his colleague Bill Roehr stressed that the goal of the grant application was building the ramp. Roehr began the meeting by explaining the ramp was difficult "because of the incline," noting that the big challenge was "the differential" and the fact that it was "right on the axial projection of Warren Street." In other words, he recognized that we don't want something like this at the end of the city's major street.

Someone at the meeting, whose name will not be revealed for his own protection (preservationists can be scathing), suggested that the center section of Promenade Hill could be "sculpted down" to provide universal access to the park's scenic views. Roehr appropriately responded that "messing with the contours of the park"--our 220-year-old, National Register-listed parade--was not an option.

The elevation drawings, which presumably will provide a better sense of what the proposed ramp would look like, were not ready in time for the meeting, but they will have to be ready before the grant is submitted on Friday. When Gossips asked when, the answer was tomorrow. As soon as the drawings are available, they will be published here.
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