The city of Phoenix will break ground to expand the Civic Space north toward the Federal Post Office in late April and will begin to renovate Central Station this summer, the project managers said Tuesday.
Tom Byrne, Civic Space expansion project manager, said the construction will add more trees and green space and will grow the park by nearly a half-acre.
Byrne also said the expansion will give the Civic Space another shade structure and area adjacent with the Federal Post Office’s truck dock that could potentially be used as a second stage.
Byrne said expansion should be complete sometime next fall and said the construction will be of “little impact to anybody using the building and/or the site.”
The city of Phoenix will use stimulus money to make Central Station more sustainable and convenient for passengers, said Mark Melnychenko, principle planner and project manager.
“That’s really the key, especially in our environment, to make (Central Station) a pleasant passenger area,” he said.
Melnychenko said the city will renovate the building at Central Station, use LED fixtures, add shade structures similar to the ones used for light rail stations and will add a photovoltaic system to the building’s roof to power some of the station with solar energy.
Melnychenko said the city chose to renovate Central Station but cause it is key to their public transportation system.
“It’s really a connecting point for transit for the central city,” he said.
The renovated Central Station will no longer include the historic display of past Phoenix buses located at its southwest corner, which will be moved offsite, Melnychenko said.
Also, Melnychenko said Central Station will match the Civic Space by adapting its color scheme and using a lot of similar plant life.
The project is expected to be complete in early 2011, Melnychenko said.
“We’re doing construction in two phases so that buses can still access the site, so that adds a little bit of time,” he said.
Patrick Panetta, associate director of ASU real estate development, said the Civic Space’s expansion will tie together the three elements of the park: the A&E Building, the park area and the Federal Post Office, which will eventually be a student union for the Downtown campus.
“It’s really connecting all three of those elements together into what will be the civic-realm for the Downtown campus,” he said.
Panetta said the expansion of the Civic Space and renovation of Central Station will establish a more recognizable identity for the area.
“It’s more of a unifying element, which really helps people make use of the transit station whether it’s by bus or by light rail getting off at Central Station and connecting it to the Downtown campus,” he said.
Contact the reporter at salvador.rodriguez@asu.edu
