Tempe Town Lake

Source

September 15, 2007 - 12:15AM

Tempe projects: Boathouse, small events facility

Garin Groff, Tribune

Tempe is planning several new amenities along Town Lake — including two that won’t cost taxpayers anything.

Two developers have agreed to build two projects, a small events facility between the Mill Avenue bridges and a boathouse/welcome center.

Tempe has been getting donations for various lake projects, but these projects represent a new way of fundraising. The developer will take the lead in raising money and possibly underwrite part of the cost, then build the project itself.

The city is working out whether the companies would get naming rights. Meanwhile, the city is planning two other projects it will fund outright — a pedestrian bridge over the west dam and a new path and landscaping at the east end of the lake.

The smallest of the projects could be one of the more celebrated improvements, a tiny events facility underneath the V-shaped space between the Mill Avenue bridges. The mostly dirt area is on the south shore and has long been seen as a link between the lake and Mill Avenue.

It’s right at the front door, or gateway, to the city. It’s currently leftover space, but those can be the most interesting places to try to build something, said Rick Labonte, a project manager with Avenue Communities, which the city selected to build the project.

Avenue Communities also is buying the historic Hayden Flour Mill from the city and building the 30-story Centerpoint Condominiums downtown. The city estimates the park will cost $1.5 million to $2 million, and Labonte said Avenue Communities may donate some funds in addition to the fundraising.

The developer is taking on the project to be a good corporate citizen, Labonte said. He acknowledged his company will benefit, too.

Any amenities that are brought to the Mill district only raise the quality of life in the district and that certainly supports Avenue Communities’ other projects, Labonte said.

The other project from a developer is a $9 million boathouse and welcome center on the lake’s north shore. Chanen Development will work with Tempe to raise funds for that project, which will include meeting space, a juice bar and perhaps a restaurant.

The most visible city-funded project in the works is the pedestrian bridge that will allow bicyclists or joggers to cross near the new Tempe Center for the Arts.

The city isn’t sure when it will build the bridge, which will be supported by piers of the west-end dam. The city is preparing to replace the rubber dams in the next few years and may do that before building the bridge.

Tempe is starting the fourth lake project this fall, turning a gravel embankment into a landscaped area with a path. The area on the south shore of the lake stretches from Rural Road to the lake’s east end. The $6.2 million project should be done early next year.

The city still needs to complete landscaping along some of the north shore, build docks and improve some existing landscaping, said Chris Salomone, director of community development. The growing number of hotels and amenities are making the area more of a tourist destination, so Tempe is looking to raise the standards of upkeep along the lake, Salomone said.

That’s going to require a higher level of maintenance downtown and in the lake area, Salomone said.