Third Avenue construction completed

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

With Third Avenue construction meeting substantial completion by the July 31 deadline, the Town of Strathmore commemorated the downtown revitalization project with a night market, after final aesthetic touches were added earlier this week.
Third Avenue received a costly overhaul this summer, following in the footsteps of last year’s Second Avenue construction project.
While staying within the budget of $1.3 million – on par with the budget on Second Avenue – Third Avenue received new sidewalks and concrete, restored hydrants and manholes, repaving of the streets, newly painted lines, milling and top-lifts on some private parking lots, new furniture and light fixtures, and new greenery. Although the project had a completion date of July 31, just ahead of Strathmore Stampede and Heritage Days, furniture, light fixture installation and line painting were completed this week.
“The project on Third Avenue wasn’t quite as simple as a revitalization process; there was a lot of things such as the hydrants and even some of the soil conditions and manholes that all needed a little bit of remediation, so those all had an effect on the budget,” said Ty Tomasta, communications ambassador with the Town of Strathmore.
“For us it was a goal to make Strathmore more accessible. We wanted our downtown to be accessible to everyone regardless of what their age or their implications may be.”
One of the public’s main concerns revolved around parking which the town addressed by sacrificing some other elements in the Third Avenue streetscape final design, such as wider bump-outs on the corners near Lakeside Blvd. and a nicer entrance into Kinsmen Park.
The town found themselves in hot water last year, after criticism emerged following construction on Second Avenue over a rushed timeline, errors in line painting affecting handicapped parking stalls, loss of business, and long periods of road foreclosures due to installation of a storm water drainage pipe.
With an existing storm and sanitary line already in place, the revitalization on Third Avenue focused on wider sidewalks, more handicapped parking stalls and accessibility, and decorative lighting and street furniture to match the look on Second Avenue.
To ease the process, the town also held more open houses, created newspaper advertisements, knocked on business doors, took to social media and conducted public surveys.
“The parties impacted are always heavily considered. In this case it was the town itself, town property and business owners, and so we provided a lot of opportunity for businesses to provide feedback ,” said Tomasta. “It was always our top priority on the project to keep communication lines open between the parties being affected to make sure that our design was accepted by everyone in that community. It worked out pretty well. We were pretty happy with the collaboration we received from the business community.”
The public was invited to Downtown Strathmore Night Market: A Celebration on Aug. 23 from 6 to 9 p.m. The event featured various activities including a ribbon cutting ceremony, balloon sculptor, bounce house and face painting, as well as numerous vendors. Downtown businesses also participated in the event.