Public Offers Input For Old Jeffersonville Historic Preservation Plan
August 2006 – Members of the public interested in preserving the historic character of Old Jeffersonville got their first glimpse of the Ohio River Bridges Project’s plan for the historic district on Wednesday, August 16. Bridges Project officials presented a draft of the Old Jeffersonville Historic Preservation Plan (HPP) to those in attendance.
The nearly two-hour meeting was highlighted by an official presentation of the draft HPP by Pete Fritz and Kevin Senninger of Community Transportation Solutions (CTS), the Project’s general engineering consultant. There was also an open question-and-answer session for general inquiries about the draft report and informal open house time for members of the public to discuss specific issues and questions with CTS officials.
Suggestions and ideas gathered from the meeting will be used by CTS officials in finalizing the Old Jeffersonville HPP which is scheduled for completion in January of 2007. Once final, the plan will include recommendations to the section design team for the Jeffersonville Downtown Approach Section (Section 3) of the Bridges Project and will also serve as a long-term planning tool that can be adopted and used by local governments.
The draft of the plan includes recommendations for items such as streetscaping, using the I-65 interchanges as gateways into Old Jeffersonville, providing pedestrian-friendly treatments under the new and existing bridges, noise abatement measures and lighting and signage used in both the district and throughout the approach.
“One area of input we received from the attendees was the suggestion to make a distinction between the two gateway areas into Jeffersonville influenced by the Project,” Fritz said. “The Court Avenue gateway is seen as a historic corridor that should incorporate themed streetscape elements such has historic style lights, benches and other pedestrian amenities. The 10th Street gateway was seen as a more contemporary theme, reflecting the new development in the area.”
The HPP also offers recommendations for areas outside the boundaries of the Old Jeffersonville Historic District but still important to preserving the character of the area. One example is the recommendation to use the I-65 / 10th Street Interchange – which lies outside the district’s boundaries – and Spring Street from 10th Street to the historic district’s boundaries as a gateway to Old Jeffersonville.
The meeting was the second gathering held for stakeholder and public input for the Old Jeffersonville Historic Preservation Plan. A kickoff meeting held in March of this year provided CTS officials with initial input used to formulate the draft of the plan.
Additional comments and suggestions can be submitted via the on-line comment form.