Safety gates stand as sentinels outside Felix Street Square in downtown St. Joseph/Photos by Brent Martin
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
An effort to improve safety during events held at the Felix Street Square in downtown St. Joseph has sparked controversy.
The city of St. Joseph has erected safety gates around Coleman Hawkins Park at the request of the St. Joseph Downtown Association.
Councilmember Marty Novak, who represents downtown St. Joseph, says he’s heard a lot of complaints about the looks of the large upright gates.
“I’m trying not to be critical,” Novak tells Barry Birr, host of the KFEQ Hotline. “I want to see what the finished product looks like before I actually make my decision, but I do think there’s some unintended consequences, especially when you start looking at the businesses and how this might be impacting their business.”
Concern has arisen about the safety of those attending events at Coleman Hawkins Park. Some efforts have been made to cut off traffic from Felix Street Square to protect those attending, but barricades and orange cones haven’t seemed to work. They are moved. Traffic moves through.
Safety gates were seen as a solution.
A budget of $200,000 was set aside from hotel/motel tax revenue. The city of St. Joseph awarded a contract which came under budget at $160,000.
The tall, erect black pillars drew withering criticism as soon as they went up which hasn’t seem to have calmed much since brick has been added to their bases. Some downtown business owners complain they are ugly. Others complain about their size. They remain incomplete.
St. Joseph Public Works Director Andy Clements points out the contractor hasn’t completed the work, yet.
“So, I would say they’re probably 75% of the way done, but the last details – the details are always what brings things out – are not done yet,” Clements tells St. Joseph Post.
Club Geek co-owner, Kurtis Ballinger, doesn’t like what he sees so far.
“I think something was needed,” Ballinger tells St. Joseph Post. “I don’t know if that was the solution I would have come to.”
Club Geek is located just down from Felix Street Square.
Ballinger says he appreciates the effort, but is lukewarm on the execution.
“It’s good that people are investing in downtown. I just think some of the money could be spent better, in better places,” Ballinger says. “Improvements always good. So, maybe a step forward, a couple of steps back. We’re getting there.”
Novak says he’s still waiting for the final product before rendering judgment on the gates. Novak says it is important that additions to downtown St. Joseph actually do add to its appeal, not detract from it.
“We see a lot of growth going on downtown and we don’t want anything to be a hindrance to that,” Novak says. “There’s a lot of really good things (going on) and the whole intention of this thing is to make downtown better.”
