Art project delayed for Woodford's Corner facelift
There’s more news about the much-needed rehab of the five-way intersection of Woodford’s Corner in Portland — including the decision on Monday to delay action on a public art proposal for the heavily traveled neighborhood.
The Portland City Council decided to delay a proposal to spend $25,000 on a street light sculpture that would be erected at Woodford’s Corner, following the news that residents in the nearby Woodford and Oakdale neighborhoods first heard about the sculpture in a mailing they received on the same day as a community meeting on the city’s plan to remake Woodford’s Corner.
“It will be helpful to have a better conversation with the community and the (Public Art) Committee,” City Councilor Justin Costa told the Portland Press Herald. “There’s no sense in starting from a place of division.”
Although artist Aaron Stephan has yet to start an official design for the Woodford’s Corner sculpture, his work is seen daily by students, staff and faculty at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland Campus, where he was commissioned to designed the two-story table-and-chairs sculpture on display at campus’ Abromson Center. Stephan’s work can also be seen at the W.G. Mallett School in Farmington, where the artist built a street lamp sculpture a few years ago.
The Farmington street lamp sculpture will likely be closer to the final design for Woodford’s Corner, with Stephan telling those gathered at Monday’s meeting that he envisions a tree-like form made from traditional street lights to compliment the flora the city plans to plant as part of the rehab.
“It looks like (the city is) trying to make it look more neighborhood-y and nicer for pedestrians, which is what I like,” said the artist.
The $25,000 sculpture is only part of Portland’s planned $2.6 million face lift for the intersection, which is traversed by more than 22,000 vehicles a day.
The large-scale project will see Forest Avenue north of Ocean Avenue widening to accommodate two lanes of traffic in both directions, as well as adding a number of "bump-outs" that will narrow intersections, making it safer for pedestrians to cross.
The project also includes construction of a plaza in front of the nearly 120-year-old Odd Fellows Hall, with outside furniture and the elimination of a right-turn-only lane onto Woodford Street for traffic northbound on Forest Avenue.
Currently, the start date for the project is this summer. The $2.6 million price tag is being funded by federal, state and local money — with city taxpayers will be footing $640,000 of the bill.
Read more
A much needed makeover for five-way-intersection in Portland
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments