In Greenville, NC, the catalyst came from an unusual source. Citizens actually led the effort by raising a large portion of the funds to be used in the redevelopment efforts. Faced with a primarily vacant and declining two block pedestrian mall in the center of downtown, Mayor Nancy Jenkins appointed a steering committee to evaluate the situation. That steering committee became Uptown Greenville, a citizen's group for redevelopment to pursue that goal. Uptown Greenville led by Don Edwards and a cadre of dedicated people, literally sold the project to the city's residents. Edwards describes the community response, "Greenville really amazed me with their enthusiasm and their strong desire to bring back our main street (Evans Street) as the heart of this community." The group used conceptual plans developed by the Regional Development Institute (an arm of East Carolina University) as their marketing tools. Based on sponsorship opportunities from $20 for a brick to $30,000 for a clock, the citizens funded nearly half of the first phase of their urban revitalization project.

The city responded by taking a leadership position in the project and adding the additional money or in kind services to complete the streetscape. Greenville Utility Commission, the local utility provider, also joined the partnership by pledging to provide and install lighting and other electrical services. Citizen's efforts which began in 1983, will result in the restoration of Evans Street. Construction is scheduled for completion this year.

The Landscape Architects of The FWA Group were hired by the city to design the new street to replace the pedestrian mall. Weaving the numerous sponsored items into a coherent design was the challenge. Project Landscape Architects likened the process to "solving a complex puzzle that had to function technically and also fulfill the sponsors' expectations for the street." Rather than incorporate the original sponsorship elements as they were proposed, The FWA Group reorganized and altered the sponsorship opportunities. The project's Landscape Architects proposed four large planters/seating areas to accent intersections, and street trees with grates in lieu of the twenty-five seating area/planters that had been sold as sponsorship opportunities. Within the planters will be benches backed with steel fence sculptures with integrated murals that tell the story of major historic city influences such as the tobacco farming, the Tar River, and the local university.

The sponsored bricks were originally proposed as bull nose brick curbing. In the final design, they are used to highlight and edge the tree grates. Using Microstation, Brooke Lennon coordinated the sponsorship items as well as the other details and the street and sidewalk layout. The FWA Group also provided Uptown Greenville with graphics to illustrate the final version of each sponsored element.

While the sponsorship program presented some unusual design challenges, the project also contained the usual issues embodied in most street designs. There was an opportunity to reuse granite curbs removed from other city streets. The use of granite curbs prompted a reconsideration of the conventional crowned road design. As Project Manger Edd Evans, ASLA, describes, "The aesthetic qualities of the granite curbing would be ruined by a concrete curb pan so the drainage of the street was designed to collect in the center of the asphalt area, between the on-street angled parking and the road. That drainage pattern also ensures positive drainage in some of the more level sections of the street."

The challenge of providing a suitable growing environment for the street trees prompted The FWA Group to specify Stalite, an expanded shale product for the planting medium. When the product is properly installed, it ensures adequate drainage, water and air exchange, and thus ensuring a longer life span for the trees in the Greenville project.

Although the project proposed some unique and familiar challenges, the most important aspect of the project will be the finished street. When construction is complete, it will be a lasting tribute to the people that led the effort and to those who cared enough to invest their own money to make it a reality. lasn