APPENDIX C

CITY OF EL DORADO, KANSAS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN

APPENDIX C - DOWNTOWN AWARENESS WALK SUMMARY

View Stop Evaluations

AWARENESS WALK PROCESS OVERVIEW

On Thursday, March 30, 2000, more than thirty citizens and staff of the City of El Dorado participated in an "Awareness Walk". The purpose of this walk was not only to give participants a more intimate view of downtown, but also to document their perceptions of positive and negative features, major issues and potential solutions.

Participants were divided into four groups, each averaging approximately eight participants. Each group was assigned a section of downtown to review and was asked to record their impressions of various "view stops" using an "Awareness Walk Workbook" (a sample evaluation sheet is included in the Appendix). The view stops were predetermined intersections along identified routes in downtown. Each group appointed a secretary and photographer to record the group’s evaluation of the surroundings at each assigned view stop.

Following is a summary of each groups view stop evaluations organized by group and view stop. The summary identifies assigned areas, routes and view stops, initial impressions, positive, negative, and dominant features identified.

Awareness Walk groups evaluated features of downtown recording their perceptions of positive and negative features, major issues and potential solutions.

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VIEW STOP EVALUTATIONS

Group 1 – Northwest Downtown

The awareness walk for Group 1 began at the west side of the intersection of 4^th avenue and Main Street. Walkers continued south on Main Street and made their first stop at the corner of Main St. and Second Avenue. The group continued west on Second Avenue and stopped at the intersection of Second Avenue and Gordy Street for their second view stop. After their second stop, walkers continued south on Gordy Street and made their third view stop at the north west corner of Gordy Street and Central Avenue. The group then continued west on Central Avenue where they stopped on the north west corner of Star Street and Central Avenue for their fourth view stop. The group then headed east on Central Avenue stopping at the north west corner of main and Central Avenue. For the last view stop the group continued north on Main Street and stopped on the southwest corner of First Avenue and Main Street.

View Stop

Location: Second Ave. and Main St.

Initial impressions: Favorable

Positives Features

Maintained private property
Safe/stable environs
Adequate/accessible parking
Attractive/visually pleasing buildings appearance
Appealing landscaping

Negatives Features

Unmaintained public property (storm drains, weeds in sidewalks)
Unkempt/unmaintained buildings
Unmaintained/poorly designed building signage

Dominant Features: General appearance

North side of V.F.W. building needs work
Temporary sign is unattractive
Bank has good landscaping
Nice architecture at doctor’s office

Cultural Amenity:

Streetscape – benches at the bank for example

Landscaping at Community National Bank

is a good example of landscaping.

Architecture at doctor’s office complements character of surrounding architecture.

Outside storage is a negative feature.

The courthouse is a dominant feature.

View Stop

Location: Second Ave. and Gordy St.

Initial Impression: Unfavorable

Positive Features

Maintained Private property
Safe/stable environs

Negatives Features

Unappealing building appearance
Streets need work
Inadequate off-street parking (for senior building)
Unmaintained buildings
Unmaintained signage
Unsafe crosswalks (not marked)

Dominant Features: General appearance

fix well (hole) in parking lot in front of trailer

mobile home is unappealing

unscreened dumpster by Suzie’s Chili
Best cleaner needs maintained, sign on ground
Street needs work

Cultural Amenity: Well is an opportunity for a cultural amenity

Preservation of historic architecture is a dominant positive feature.

Main Street signs identify downtown

and add to character.

Metal awnings detract from

historic building facades.

Coutts Museum architecture and street features (lighting, benches) exemplify downtown. Good use of canopies on adjacent building.

View Stop

Location: Central Ave. and Gordy St.

Initial Impression: Favorable

Positive Features

Safe/stable environs
Well kept/maintained buildings (court house)
Adequate/uniform lighting
Well identified/safe crosswalks

Negative Features

Unmaintained private property
Unmaintained/poorly design signage
Poorly placed/ unmaintained street furniture

Dominant Features: Courthouse

Grass growing in sidewalks by bank
Henson Realty sign needs changed
Safety hazard in front of U.S. bank on round bench
Very clean

Cultural Amenity: Courthouse

Need to fix clock

Improvements in "alley" provide pleasant connection to parking. Improve appearance.

Overhead steel bars detract from overall appearance.

View Stop 4	Location: Central Ave. and Star St. Initial Impression: Favorable
	Positive Features Maintained private property Maintained public property Safe/stable environs Appealing/well maintained landscaping	Negatives Features Unmaintained private property (old city auditorium) Unmaintained/poorly designed building signage Unidentified/unsafe crosswalks
	Dominant Features: General Appearance Old city auditorium is ugly, not maintained Courthouse is beautiful and well maintained Signage needs to be compatible with buildings Cultural Amenity: District markers – beautiful

View Stop 5	Location: Central Ave. and Main St. Initial Impression: Favorable
	Positive Features Maintained private property Maintained public property Safe/stable environs Attractive/visually pleasing buildings appearance Appealing character/detailing buildings Well kept/maintained buildings Adequate/uniform lighting Uniform/maintained street trees Appealing/well maintained landscaping Well identified/safe crosswalks	Negative Features Unmaintained/poorly designed buildings signage
	Dominant Features: Structures and street trees Electric box at Sunshine Court and sculpture plaza needs to be enclosed New civic center will serve as major anchor Coutts Museum, Intrust Bank are attractive Sign on top of Commerce detracts from district and should be removed Metal awnings detract from historic building facades and should be taken down Old signs should be taken down Cultural Amenity: Streetscape and architecture Coutts Museum District markers Walkway improvements (100 block of North Main Street)

View Stop 6	Location: First Ave. and Main St. Initial Impressions: Favorable
	Positive Features Maintained private property Maintained public property Well kept/maintained buildings Well maintained landscaping		Negative Features Unsafe/unstable environs Unkempt/unmaintained buildings
	Dominant Features: Structures Antenna on top of Farm home detracts from surroundings Metal awning need to go Barber shop stairway is a safety hazard Very eclectic corner Bank of America Building is out of place, landscaping could help Bracing on top of building is not attractive Empty spaces between buildings need to be sealed off to prevent collection of trash - good location for trash receptacle Old signs should be removed (sign in back of Take II is example)

View Stop 7	Location: Fourth Ave. and Main St.(Starting Point) Initial Impressions: Favorable
	Positive Features Maintained public property Safe/stable environs Adequate/accessible parking Attractive building appearance Well kept/maintained building Well maintained landscaping	Negative Features
	Dominant Features: Depot Gates to Morrow’s allow view to the work yard in back – should be screened City maintains the depot very well The new YMCA will really improve the area
Renovated depot serves as gateway into downtown. Good example.

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Group 2 – Northeast Downtown

Group 2 started their awareness walk at the southeast corner of Second Avenue and Main Street. The group continued south on Main Street and made their first view stop at the southeast corner on Main Street and Central Avenue. The group then walked east on Central Avenue to Griffith Street for their second view stop. Third stop was located just west of the water treatment plant on Central Avenue. The group then back-tracked to the west along Central Avenue and turned north on Griffith Street to make their fourth stop at the intersection of Griffith Street and First Avenue. Then the group moved one block west on First Street and stopped at the corner of Vine Street and First Avenue for view stop 5. The sixth, and final view stop was made at the intersection of Vine Street and Third Avenue.

View Stop

Location: Central Ave. and Main St.

Initial Impression: Very Favorable

Positive Features

Maintained private property
Maintained public property
Safe/stable environs
Adequate/accessible parking
Adequate/visually pleasing/ maintained street furniture
Adequate/uniform lighting
Useable /attractive open space
Maintained/ uniform street trees

Negatives Features

Unmaintained public property
Unmaintained signage (rusty)
Unmaintained planters (leaky, covered with scale)

Dominant Features: structures, general appearance and trees (commerce bank, Museum)

Sculpture Plaza- needs something to attract users, pigeons are a problem
Architecture is uniform

Cultural Amenity: museum/ statuary-art Gallery

Best looking area of downtown

Main Street (North) with streetscape improvements and uniform architecture

is attractive.

Street trees, benches, planters and lighting add pedestrian scale.

View Stop

Location: Central Ave. and Griffith St.

Initial Impression: Unfavorable

Positive Features

Maintained public property
Adequate/uniform lighting
Maintained/ uniform street trees

Negatives Features

Unmaintained private property (2 of 6 buildings need work)
Unmaintained Signage
Poorly placed lighting (red street lamp)
Lacking/unmaintained landscaping

Dominant Features: General Appearance

Smoke shop signs detract
Streetscape looks good
Parking lots are dominant and are run down (no landscaping)
Landscaping needed at Central Ave. and Griffith Street (NW corner)
Portable signs are unattractive

Electrical lines detract from view. No uniformity in architecture and setbacks. Buildings are not oriented toward the street.

Public property looks favorable, but private property needs improvement.

View Stop

Location: By water plant on Central Ave.

Initial Impression: Favorable

Positive Features

Maintained private property
Attractive Appearance (North)

Negatives Features

Unmaintained public property
Poorly design/ unappealing appearance
Lacking street trees

Dominant Features: General Appearance, Structures and Street trees

Trees need to be trimmed
Sidewalks need to be fixed where buckled
Gas station as you enter downtown
Storm water enclosure

Looking West into town. Many opportunities

exist to improve this entrance.

View Stop

Location: First Ave. and Griffith St.

Initial Impression: Favorable

Positive Features

Maintained private property
Adequate/ accessible parking
Attractive/ maintained/ landscape/screened parking
Attractive/ visually pleasing appearance
Well kept/maintained
Adequate/uniform lighting
Uniform/maintained street trees
Appealing/maintained landscaping
Adequate/maintained sidewalk

Negatives Features

Unmaintained public property
Old public work building needs work
Gate on entrance at Griffith

Dominant Features: Structures

Old Public Works Building in need of repair
Sign for City Hall
Pavement on County Drive repaired

Old public works building detracts from downtown (rock wall position and materials).

View to stadium from downtown. Attractive landscaping.

View Stop

Location: First Ave. and Vine St.

Initial Impression: Unfavorable

Positives Features

Adequate/accessible off-street parking
Attractive building appearance
Adequate/appealing signage
Adequate/ uniform lighting

Negatives Features

Unmaintained private property

Unattractive/unmaintained/

unlandscaped/unscreened parking

Poor designed/unappealing appearance

Lacking landscaping

Dominant Features: Parking

Parking needs more landscaping/screening/fencing
The rear of the buildings on the 100 block are unattractive
Streetscape – Main Street theme carried to Vine St. down 1^st Ave.

Cultural Amenity: City Hall

A high quality sign (stone carved) could be added

Parking lots are visually unappealing and detract from downtown. Landscaping/ screening needed.

Backs of buildings need beautification. Open storage, unscreened dumpsters, building mechanics need to be screened.

View Stop 6	Location: Third Ave. and Vine St. Initial Impression: Favorable and Unfavorable
	Positives Features Maintained private property Maintained public property Adequate/ accessible parking Attractive/visually pleasing appearance Adequate/appealing signage	Negatives Features Unmaintained private property Poorly design/ unappealing appearance Lacking street trees
	Dominant Features: Depot and senior center Railroad property could use more landscaping The area between City Hall and 2nd Street is junky Landscaping is needed around the "old Taylor building" Grass in sidewalks needs to be removed Cultural Amenity: Depot Build on historical value of the depot and location of senior center
Depot is the prominent feature. Build on historical value and success of the project.

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Group 3 – Southeast Downtown

Group 3 began at the northeast corner of Locust Avenue and Main Street, waking north on Main Street and stopping the intersections of Ash Avenue, Pine Avenue and Central Avenue. The group then turned east on Central Avenue stopping at the corner of Central Avenue and Vine Street for their fourth stop. Walkers continued south on Vine Street and stopped at the corner of Vine Street and Pine Avenue. The group then continued south on Vine Street and stopped on at the intersection with Olive Avenue for their final view stop.

View Stop

Location: Locust Ave. and Main St.

Initial Impression: Very Unfavorable

Positives Features

Maintained private property

Negatives Features

Unappealing character/bad façade building details

Unkempt/unmaintained buildings

Poorly designed building signage

Lacking/unmaintained landscaping

Unmaintained/unsafe sidewalks/curbs

Dominant Features: Lack of uniformity (hodge-podge)

Sidewalks need to be weeded
Boards and dead birds in windows need to be removed. Very uninviting.
Buildings in need of repair (brick needs to be tuck pointed, façade is unsafe – starting to lean toward the street)
The mural on northwest corner is busy and unfinished (scaffolding and paint cans need to be removed, site needs to be cleaned up)
Block lacks uniformity – no visual connection
Streetscape improvements and landscaping needed
Buildings are not oriented toward the street (thrift shop faces parking)

Building façade leans toward street and

is unsafe. No streetscape.

View Stop

Location: Ash Ave. and Main St.

Initial Impression: Unfavorable

Positive Features

Negatives Features

Unattractive off-street parking
Unmaintained/poorly designed signage
Unmaintained/too narrow sidewalks/curbs
Unidentified/unsafe crosswalks

Dominant Features: General appearance

The area needs to be cleaned up
Outdoor storage is a problem (tires, car parts, misc. junk detracts from downtown)
No uniformity
Old signs need to be removed
Window treatments detract from historic value of buildings

Signage is visually unappealing and does not fit desired downtown character. Replacement of original windows with undersized windows and vinyl treatment detracts from the historic value of the buildings.

Buildings are in need of repair (paint and resurfacing of brick).

Outdoor storage and parking should be relocated or screened.

Storage at the service station should be screened. Junk cars and parts are stored in public view.

View Stop

Location: Pine Ave. and Main St.

Initial impression: Very Unfavorable

Positive Features

Maintained/uniform street trees

Negatives Features

Unmaintained private property

Unappealing character/bad façade details
Unkempt/unmaintained
Unmaintained signage
Poorly placed lighting
Unidentified/unsafe crosswalks

Dominant Features: General appearance

Gap between buildings need to be closed off to eliminate trash accumulation
Absentee ownership is a problem
Building facades should be restored – remove aluminum facades.
Animals are a problem – pigeons behind facades and cats in buildings and sewers
Trash receptacles rusting and planters full of weeds

Signage is too dominant. Windows need to be replaced and painted.

"Old Masonic building" is an opportunity and should be preserved/renovated. Building needs major work, but could be a real asset.

Spaces between building should be closed off to eliminate trash collection.

Aluminum siding is unattractive. Building facades should be restored. Old signage needs to be removed. Remove air-conditioning units.

View Stop 4	Location : Central Ave. and Main St. Initial Impression: Favorable
	Positive Features Adequate/uniform lighting Adequate/maintained sidewalks/curbs Well identified/safe crosswalks	Negatives Features Unmaintained poorly designed signage
	Dominant Features: General appearance Restore original building facades – remove metal facades Remove old signs Need uniform signage Sidewalk and streetscape improvements are nice Architecture is more significant (banks are good examples)

View Stop 5	Location: Central Ave. and Vine St. Initial Impression: Favorable
	Positive Features Well maintained Adequate signage	Negatives Features Off-street parking lacking and unscreened Lack of streetscape furniture Intersection unsafe (truck traffic)
	Dominant Features: Access to the smoke shop is a problem – not enough separation for the driveway Streetscape features, including brick pattern in sidewalk should be continued through the new civic center development (currently not included) Truck traffic is a problem – conflicts when turning and at crosswalks – reconfigure intersection or reroute truck traffic Additional parking needed (post office, apartments, business parking) Parking should be better screened and landscaped. Sign needed to direct visitors to public parking


Parking behind post office. Additional parking is needed for apartment residents, post office, business employees and shoppers. Public parking needs to be clearly identified.

View Stop 6	Location: Pine Ave. and Vine St. Initial Impression: Unfavorable
	Positives Features	Negatives Features Unmaintained private property Lacking/unmaintained landscaping Unmaintained/unsafe sidewalks/curbs
	Dominant Features: General Appearance Bad fence - screening needed at old Elks Club (room for fence and shrubs) City parking lot needs cleaning Weeds need to be removed Parking hours not signed – conflicts between residents, employees and shoppers Poor street maintenance Conflicts with truck traffic – reroute traffic to Griffith Street Cultural Amenity: Civic Center
Deteriorating fence could be replaced with landscaping. Room for street trees to be planted to complement new civic center.		Outdoor storage needs to be visually screened. Old signs need to be removed.

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Group 4 - Southwest Downtown

Group 4 started their awareness walk at the southwest corner on Central Avenue and Washington Street. They then continued east on Central Avenue, turning south on Star Avenue. The second stop was made at the northwest corner of Star Avenue and Pine Street. The third stop was made at Pine Avenue and Gordy Street. The group then headed south on Gordy Street, making stops at the intersection of Gordy street and Olive Avenue and Main Street and Olive Avenue. Walkers continued north on Main Street for their sixth view stop at the southwest corner on main street and Central Avenue. Then west on Central Avenue, making a final stop at the corner of Gordy and Central Avenue.

View Stop

1

Location: Central Ave. and Washington St.

Initial Impression: Favorable

Positive Features

Maintained private property
Maintained public property
Safe/stable environs
Adequate/accessible parking
Adequate/ well planned linkages to neighbors
Attractive/visually pleasing appearance
Appealing character/detailing buildings
Well kept/maintained buildings
Adequate/uniform lighting
Useable /attractive open space
Maintained/ uniform street trees
Appealing/well maintained landscaping
Adequate/maintained sidewalks/Cubs

Negatives Features

Unmaintained sidewalks (grass)
Unmaintained/poorly designed signage
Unidentified/unsafe crosswalks

Dominant Features: Sidewalk/Street, Structures and General Appearance

Cleanup sidewalk- dirt and grass
Difficult to plant trees next to curbs due to right-of-way required
Dead tree in front of 1^st Baptist needs to be removed/replaced

Grass in the sidewalk and dirt and sand need to be cleaned up.

Landscaping in front of the apartments is visually appealing.

View Stop

Location: Pine Ave. and Star Street

Initial Impression: Favorable

Positive Features

Maintained private property
Safe/stable environs
Adequate/accessible parking
Attractive/maintained/ landscaped/screened parking
Attractive/visually pleasing buildings
Appealing character/detailing buildings
Well Kept/ maintained buildings
Adequate/appealing signage
Adequate/uniform lighting
Useable/ attractive open space
Maintained/ uniform street trees
Appealing/well maintained landscaping

Negatives Features

Unmaintained public property (sidewalks)
Lack of elements/poorly placed unmaintained street furniture
Unmaintained too narrow sidewalks/curbs
Unidentified/unsafe crosswalks

Dominant Features: Structure

Built new judicial building next to older style-courthouse-architectural styles should be tied together.
Problems with sidewalks, streets and curbing cracking
Private property needs maintenance – broken windows at church gym
Courthouse clock does not work and should be fixed if possible