ATTACHMENT 5

COMMENTS

Public Art Review Committee – Art Area I, 140 West / Lot 5

Design Development Preview

September 30, 2008

Present:  Mikyoung Kim and Matt Gillen (via telephone), Bruce Heflin, George Small, Jon Keener, Dail Dixon, Haig Khachatoorian, Gerald Bolas, Chris Berndt, Jeffrey York, Steve Wright

The Committee reviewed plans and materials dated September 15, 2008 from Mikyoung Kim, and had the following comments:

Is southernmost Church Street bench in right-of-way/sidewalk?

Have garden planters in the interior courtyard been enlarged since previous plans?  Would like to see design of courtyard benches. 

These planters could be arranged to accommodate the pedestrian travel patterns across the site.  For example, the western edge of planter seat curb could arc to the northwest to allow for easier northwest / southeast travel across upper plaza (from the corner of Church and Rosemary streets to the eastern passageway between the south building and the adjacent property).  Circulation diagram should also show an arrow running this vector.

Could consider making the courtyard benches more like the other benches .

In other plaza plans Ram will note locations of outdoor power sources for public events.

Plaza benches should be designed to prevent sleeping.  Downtown merchants are strongly opposed to benches that allow homeless encampments.  Benches generally have been controversial elsewhere in the downtown.

Suggest show more detail on how the design will interface with Church Street.  Will there be a curb or not? In conjunction with the Streetscapes Masterplan, curb and paving options for Church Street should be explored to maximize event possibilities, including different heights and materials for the curb and using treated concrete rather than asphalt for the paving.  A plan showing the plaza with the adjoining Church Street treatments would be helpful.

In conjunction with the Streetscapes Masterplan, the placement of certain trees on east side of Church Street may need to be reconsidered for Church Street events.

Artist could develop a list of possible public uses/events/activities, showing locations on a diagram (similar to circulation diagram).

Model elevation and images should include people to help define the scale.  Presenting image models first (prior to diagrams and aerial views) may help to define the work aesthetically for first-time viewers.

Does the orientation of the plaza discourage large gatherings?

For public audiences, spatial diagram should define the two “Retail/Café” spaces using different terms so that these areas don’t appear to be off-limits to the public.  Will the location of the benches serve to limit public access to public portions of the plaza east of the benches?

Artist’s September 15, 2008 Narrative responds to Ram and some Town comments from the July 7, 2008 PARC comments.  The PARC would like a one- or two-line written response to every comment in the July 7 document, including Police, Fire and Public Works [MYK meeting notes from 9/30/2008 addresses many of these in writing].

Did Mikyoung mean to say she would bring a “half scale” model to Chapel Hill?

            Respectfully submitted,

            Steve Wright, Public Art Coordinator

            Chris Berndt, Special Projects