Loading...
HRA 07/15/1982 - 29386r'1 LJ CITY OF FRIDLEY HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING JULY 15, 1982 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Comers called the July 15, 1982, Housing & Redevelopment Authority meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Larry Commers, Elmars Prieditis, Walter Rassmuson, Duane Prairie (arr. 9:30 p.m.) Members Absent: Carolyn Svendsen Others Present: Jerrold Boardman, City Planner Nasim Qureshi, City Manager John Flora, Public Works Director Jim Robinson, Planning Staff Ed Hamernik, City Council Dennis Schneider, City Council Bob Barnette, City Council Jim Brown, 17600 Copperwood, Wayzata Herb Baldwin, Landscape Architect Bill Short, Barton - Aschman Assoc., Inc. Charlie Moser, Barton- Aschman Assoc., Inc. Roger Martin, InterDesign, Inc. Harold Skjelbostad, InterDesign, Inc. William Sanders, Sanders & Assoc. David Gjertson, Sanders & Assoc. APPROVAL OF JUNE 17, 1982, HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MINUTES: MOTION BY MR. PRIEDITIS, SECONDED BY MR. RASSMUSON, TO CONTINUE APPROVAL OF THE JUNE 17, 1982, HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MINUTES UNTIL THE NEXT MEETING. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON COMMERS DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. PRESENTATION BY ARCHITECTS ON CENTER CITY COMPETITION: Mr. Comers stated there were four groups making presentations, and they will try to set the schedule so that each group will have approximately 20 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes for questions and answers. 0 HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 1982 PAGE 2 Mr. Boardman handed out a packet of written material that was submitted along with the presentations. He stated the material included costs and breakdown of costs. He stated he was also handing out a point schedule that Staff had put together. This was to assist the HRA in making their final determination on the selection of the project. Mr. Boardman stated this is a design competition. These four firms were selected after a lengthy process of interview. All four firms are good reputable firms in the area. He stated the City's overall purpose was to at least set up some stage for an overall theme for the Center City area. With the clinic as the initial project in the system, they felt it was good to start looking at what they could do to tie things together and what overall theme they could develop in the entire area. A. Presentation by Herb Baldwin, Landscape Architect Mr. Baldwin stated he is a custom designer and he thought the unique- ness of the scheme was important for them to concentrate on. Mr. Baldwin stated the idea of being invited to participate in the competition was kind of like an opportunity to be a part of Fridley "becoming ". He stated one of his thoughts was that there was a feeling of good sun exposure on the site. Another thought was that in arriving • in the City of Fridley, one felt like you were near the top of the world. With the statements made by the buildings already in place and the patterns, things seem to happen on that edge. He stated the buildings tend to be low in profile and, except for some gestures of vertical line, tend to be horizontal in their massing. Part of the whole notion was to reverse that line. Mr. Baldwin stated the concept is to provide a natural and efficient circulation system and spaces „ recognizing the existing building arrangement and design, proposed office and restaurant, and required parking and service. The idea was to develop a conduit of varying desire lines, points of entry, activities, and spacial openings and closings. Mr. Baldwin stated there was a good opportunity for solar access. He felt that in Minnesota's climate, the opportunity to link buildings, particularly in the area where they wanted to create and stimulate circulation and interaction, is achieved through the buildings serving as linkages. Mr. Baldwin stated that, unfortunately, the northeast entrance of the proposed office building is not going to fit into the area well. It responds well to its parking, but it doesn't take advantage of the most important ingredient - -the sun. One of the most difficult areas to attend to on a building is the northeast side as the sun never gets there. He felt if there was any opportunity to open the office building up into • the plaza area, it would be a desireable objective. n U HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 159 1982 PAGE 3 Mr. Baldwin stated that features such as sculptures, fountain, trees, color and textured forms are used discreetly. Plant material, parti- cularly trees, are used to soften the relationships of building, screen vistas, and shade and create the sense of enclosure. Mr. Baldwin stated he would propose eventually the relocation of the Fire Department and the Police Department to a more appropriate site providing for safe and immediate access to the City. Mr. Baldwin stated he would propose an irregular,informal planting of trees along the edges. He would like to see the City conside -r a pedestrian overpass which would provide the gateway to the community. Because of the two commercial areas on the west side of University and given the depressed area, they have the opportunity to use an underground structure to tie the east and west commercial districts together. Mr. Baldwin stated one challenge the City gave in the competition was the question of what to do with the screening of the highway. It was important to be able to see into the plaza, but then you are going to see all the cars. He stated this area again would be an irregular planting of trees, maybe some low canopy crabapple, where the portion to the north would be higher. He would also propose to have trees in the parking lot, so the parking lot is not open. • Mr. Baldwin stated the circulation is an important thing to deal with. Pedestrian traffic is encouraged through the site. He felt if they don't promote linkage within the site, they are going to lose the whole notion of anything being successful. Mr. Baldwin thanked the HRA for this opportunity to do this design and stated he would look forward to being a part of further development. Mr. Rassmuson stated it seemed that the type of plant materials used in the design should be clarified a little more so they would have a better idea of what it would look like. Mr. Baldwin stated he is just generating an idea. The idea still has a lot of work. The plant material is part of that idea. At this point, he felt he would be doing the City a disservice if he were to say this idea was complete and disallow the opportunity for input, which he felt was very important. Mr. Baldwin stated he has an irrigation system designed in the plaza area itself, but that would be as much as the City could afford. The plantings selected would be native to Minnesota which would be easy to establish and would not create a burden on the maintenance staff. Mr. Qureshi stated one of the concerns of the people interested in the office building was their lack of exposure to the highway. He asked Mr. Baldwin how he would achieve that exposure. • HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 1982 PAGE 4 Mr. Baldwin stated he could not answer that question directly. It goes back to relating themselves to "a place ". There has to be a "Fridley ". He did not think signs are necessary if things are laid out well. A very discreet symbol on the building might be all that is necessary. Mr. Commers thanked Mr. Baldwin for his presentation. B. Presentation by Bill Short and Charlie Moser of Barton- Aschman Assoc., Inc. Mr. Short stated he and Mr. Moser are both landscape architects. As part of the design team working on this assignment, they have also been working with a civil engineer, a community planner, and another land- scape architect. He stated their presentation will be broken into two parts. He will describe the general plan and framework and Mr. Moser will discuss the description of the plaza, to be followed with a brief slide presentation. Mr. Short stated when they first got involved in the project and based on the introduction from Mr. Boardman and Mr. Robinson, the first issue and first characteristic they wanted to address was a sense of entry- - a sense of introduction of the passerby going through Fridley, something that would be important to announce the Center City area. Along with that, they made a couple of observations: 30,000 vehicles per day travel University Ave., and 11,000 vehicles per day travel Mississippi St., which would result in around 80,000 people per day passing through this main intersection. Another observation was that the intersection of University Ave. & Mississippi St. was the highpoint of this part of Fridley. Mr. Short stated that based on those two important observations and opportunities, they wanted to capitalize on this intersection as being that opportunity to announce the introduction to Fridley. With that, they developed a simple, but strong architectural statement that would not conflict with the number of shopping center signs and other signs up and down the commercial strip. They designed a "Super Pylon ", a monolithic concrete column with a natural aggregate finish, with its only message being a logo of the City of Fridley on the top illuminated from within and the name of "Fridley, Minnesota" (or something else) cast in stone at the bottom. This structure would occur on all four quadrants of the Center City area. Mr. Short stated that concentrating on the southeast quadrant of the intersection, they developed a vocabulary of design elements which they are recommending be used throughout the Center City area. The Super Pylon would be the first introduction to the Center City concept, rein- forcing the concept of the Super Pylon by.using it again on a lesser scale, an "Intermediate Pylon" entering the Center City site, possibly reinforcing with another "Super Pylon" at the plaza site, and, importantly, the rest of the "furniture ", including pedestrian level lighting pylons • and pylons to support the canopy systems, and bollards used to control pedestrian circulation and illuminating low level lighting, benches, etc. • HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 1982 PAGE 5 Mr. Short stated that once they have established the sense of entry into the Center City area, they want to reinforce that with a sense of place. They can do that subtly with medians on Mississippi St. & 5th St, and also how they integrate the landscaped treatment around the parking lots and particularly through the private sector and public improvements in the overall quadrant of the Center City area. Mr. Short stated that in dealing with the property north of City Hall, they felt they had to meet the following four design objectives: (1) building objectives of the restaurant and office building (2) 300 parking stalls (3) the importance of a link between this active intersection and focal point of the Center City area with the main Center City plaza. They would do that through the design of a passive garden greenway which is a pedestrian- oriented system. (4) to make sure they were, not only providing that pedestrian movement, but also making sure that movement was consistent in character with the rest of the pedestrian improvements. Mr. Short stated that wherever greenways abut both streets and parking lots, they can soften the look of the parking lots by somewhat depressing the parking lot below the street grade, using that depression to build • a small berm over the greenway, and then screening with a hedge to reinforce that grade separation. All that with the street trees will provide a nice screen between the large parking lots and the street. They are also recommending, wherever possible, actual landscape improve- ments within the parking lots. Mr. Short stated they also dealt with the median between University Ave. and the service road. He stated the Minnesota Department of Transporta- tion has standards whereby certain obstructions cannot be placed within a certain distance of the roadway. He stated because they wanted to frame the view for the passerby, but not screen the view of the passerby, they are suggesting a gentle mound of berming to soften the view and direct the eye away from the roadway and parking areas. Mr. Short stated that, in summary, they want to reinforce what they feel is very important, and that is a strong pedestrian amenity greenway system which moved through the site from pylon to pylon in this quadrant of the Center City area. They would recommend the same concept be pursued in all four quadrants as those areas develop. Mr. Commers asked about the different elevations on both sides of University Ave. and what their thoughts were to handle the different levels. Mr. Short stated they saw that ideally as a great opportunity to put an underpass under the highway to lead to the southwest quadrant. But . because that is a long term application, they see that as occurring at • HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 1982 PAGE 6 a grade just lower than the grade of Mississippi St. and not much lower than the grade of the plaza area, so there would not be a great deal of difference. Mr. Moser stated that throughout the project, there were three evident things that had to be dealt with in the plaza: (1) the whole matter of events - -flea markets, art shows, and other spontaneous events; (2) per- formances, weekly band concerts, etc.; and (3) a sense of place. They see the "sense of place" as a very basic part in defining the Center City area. Mr. Moser stated the performance area is sited toward the easterly end of the building envelope. They opened the plaza up to City Hall, and that is where the events would take place. They have chosen to relate the space to the street, fe ling that noise is not a problem, and that it was important to show passersby where Fridley is. He stated they did consider water in the plaza area, but felt it was too expensive. Mr. Commers asked about the number of people who could feasibly attend an event at any given time. Mr. Moser stated the plaza would comfortably seat 200 people, but they have a capacity of up to 500 people. • Mr. Commers thanked Mr. Short and Mr. Moser for their presentation. C. Presentation by Roger Martin and Harold Skjelbostad of InterDesign, Inc. Mr. Martin stated that both he and Mr. Skjelbostad are landscape archi- tects. As they do for many projects, they run little competitions in the office for design so that the project the HRA is seeing is the result of competitive work of a lot of people in the office as well as competing with the other firms. Mr. Martin stated he would give a brief presentation of the concept behind their plan using slides, and Mr. Skjelbostad would describe the firm and hand out a summary of the project for the HRA's reference. Mr. Martin stated one of the key problems they faced in this project was the challenge of giving an identity to the total area of the site. In order to do that, they felt the key issue to the whole community was the Center City area and the design of that area in terms of identity for the community. It was that focus that gave them the theme and the source. They feel it is very important to maintain a visibility from University to this space. They feel this plan accommodates a variety of uses and they think it reinforces City Hall as a focus of the future. Mr. Martin stated they felt the vital key element was to have a vertical focus, and they came up with the concept of a sundial, approximately • 30 feet wide, with which the participant essentially tells the time. They called it the Great Fridley Sundial Mosaic. They decided that, 0 HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 19$2 1. PAGE 7 rather than just putting it on a flat surface, they needed to get some vertical emphasis, especially for viewing from University Ave., so they raised it up on a 15 foot berm. They felt it was important to use this kind of element because it was linking the community to the environment. Mr. Martin stated another key element to the scheme is water flowing down in a series of levels. He stated they call the major plaza space the major event place and provide seating on the slope in the form of steps for approximately 200 -300 people, focusing on the entrance to City Hall. Mr. Martin stated another key feature they felt was basic to the scheme was that of linkage. They felt it was a great opportunity to link together some of the very exciting natural features of Fridley- -Moore Lake and the Moore Lake nature area could be linked if they carried space through public owned land and provided a linkage back to the source of the community; and, likewise, back on to Rice Creek and the new community park to the north through the use of bikeways and walkways. Mr. Martin stated that within the scheme, rather than carry the greenways around the periphery of the site, they have tried to bring the greenway through the center of the site, focusing directly on the major plaza • and down to link into the other extensions to the south and Moore Lake. The reason they have emphasized this so strongly is to create a natural contrast to the grade and rigidity within the City. Mr. Martin stated that in regard to the proposed restaurant and office structure to the north of City Hall, they have recalled the same tree pattern and paving pattern grid to the entrance of these buildings that they have used in front of the other buildings, the clinic, and the proposed office building to the south. Mr. Martin stated that in regard to the automobile arrival to the City, they tried to provide some special identity along University Ave. They felt from the Highway Department's point of view that it was vital to maintain some degree of security, but they felt they also needed trans- parency. Their proposal is to work with a black vinyl chain link fence material, with a 3 foot high turf berm. They have shown the fence jogging to give the opportunity at various points for "relfectorized packages ", reflectors that reflect car lights so as the driver approaches the inter- section, there is a greater amount of light and the driver gets the feel- ing there is something special happening here. The segments of fence become shorter and shorter as they get closer to the intersection. Because they feel they could not do any intense plantings in the narrow sections, they are proposing that wild flowers be seeded along the black vinyl chain link fence throughout the whole corridor of Fridley to give a special identity. 0 HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 1982 PAGE 8 0 Mr. Martin stated that maybe at 694 and other major entries to the community, some strong gateway element be devised to give a stronger announcement of entry to Fridley, which he felt was crucial to the community. Mr. Martin stated they tried to give some special identity to Mississippi St. in this area by making plantings in the median. It reinforces the fact that it is an important street and that the intersection of Mississippi St. & University Ave. is a special place. He stated their proposal is to use a very highly textured concrete surface, different from those used on roadway surfaces, to provide a contrast. The highly contrasting surface in the intersection would let people know that when they are going through that intersection, they are going through the center of Fridley. Also, to give identity, they have suggested very high canopy trees that branch above 7 ft. so visibility would be maintained. They have carried the textured surface wherever the pedestrians cross the circulation ways throughout the center. Mr. Martin stated that, in summary, they feel there are three key things a scheme needs to do: (1) It needs to provide a strong identity for the City in terms of an element that is unique and that people will come and visit. (2) It needs to have linkage to the great natural features of Fridley and celebrate those. (3) It needs to provide a focus for all the community activities and festival functions. Mr. Martin stated they fee] their scheme does all three things. Mr. Skjelbostad handed out a brochure briefly summarizing their presenta- tion, along with a cover letter. He stated the remainder of the brochure talked about InterDesign, Inc. Mr. Commers thanked Mr. Martin and Mr. Skjelbostad for their presentation. D. Presentation by William Sanders and Dave Gjertson from Sanders & Assoc. Mr. Sanders handed out a proposal to the HRA members. He stated the proposal includes a very detailed outline of their proposal, the scope of their services, explains their office and staff, gives a background of their work and experience and a general overview of their qualifica- tions. He stated the proposal also includes their fee structure and the detailed cost breakdown of the proposal. Mr. Sanders showed some slides of some of the other projects Sanders & Assoc. has been involved in. HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 1982 PAGE 9 • Mr. Sanders stated that for the Center City plan, they developed the plan in a number of image sketches. They have addressed the program of the area by creating a very strong visual image that starts with the plaza and continues on. Mr. Sanders stated the plaza is the heart of this area, and they have expanded the plaza character up through the area to be expanded to the north with the same materials, lighting, landscaping, etc. The greenway occurs on 5th St. and Mississippi St. coming in. Mr. Sanders stated the concept for the intersection of University Ave. & Mississippi St. is a building up of materials and elements to where they reach a high point at the intersection. They have increased the land- scaping as the intersection is approached. They have a series of banners that are proposed to build up as the intersection is approached, and they are also proposing some texturing of the street surfacing as the intersection is approached. Mr. Sanders stated they have a variety of spaces planned for the plaza area - -large spaces and more intimate spaces for the types of uses that are involved. They have an open area they think ties together City Hall, the proposed office building, and the new clinic. A fountain is proposed which is a small pool with a waterfall. They are proposing an amphitheater and some canopy structures that are picked up from the design of the City Hall building. Mr. Sanders stated they have provided a very intense area of planting along the south end of the plaza - -a large concentration of evergreen material. The pedestrian walkway connection continues from the large plaza area up to a small plaza by the office building north of City Hall and on to the restaurant, repeating a number of the same plaza elements. The same design and materials is used over to the medical clinic. Mr. Sanders stated that, in summary, the primary concept is to make the area as flexible as possible, and they have designed it for a wide variety of activities that could take place there, as well as created a very strong visual image for the City. Mr. Boardman stated that there has been some talk about sun orientation, yet in this proposal, the amphitheater is situated so the stage is in the darkened area and the seating is in the sun. He asked Mr. Sanders to comment on that. Mr. Sanders stated that even though activities will take place any time of day, the amphitheater is in an area where when the sun is very low, people in the seating area will not be looking directly at the sun. So, this becomes a comfortable place to view an activity. They wanted to get some sun orientation for that seating space. Mr. Qureshi asked about winter uses for the plaza area. HOUSING & REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING, JULY 15, 1982 PAGE 10 • Mr. Sanders stated there are areas that can be used for a small skating area or an ice sculpture -type plaza. They are not anticipating a lot of winter activity to occur, but it did offer those two opportunities. He thought the forms used in the plaza are going to be very pleasant when they are covered with snow, and they are using a lot of evergreen material. Mr. Commers thanked Mr. Sanders and Mr. Gjertson for their presentation. 2. SET DATE FOR SELECTION: The HRA set a special meeting for Wednesday, July 21, 1982, at 7:00 p.m., to discuss and select an architect for the Center City area. ADJOURNMENT: Chairperson Commers declared the July 15, 1982, Housing & Redevelopment Authority meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m. Respectfully subm'tted, Lyn6e Saba Recording Secretary