Street improvement on the up rise

By Chris Vogt
Lindenwald Ledger
Senior Writer
Thursday, January 31, 2008

HAMILTON — Street construction on Pleasant Avenue in Lindenwald is coming to a close, and the Lindenwald Streetscape Improvement Project has made progress.

Despite patch-up work on the recent watermain project still in its finishing stages, it gives light to street renovation that’s just begun, said business district manager Gary Richards.

Within the last year, new curbs, gutters, streetlamps and sidewalks have all been inserted. Linden trees were also planted on the West side of Pleasant.

“The streetscape is not completed yet. We still want to get some street furniture out there, meaning park benches and trash receptacles,” Richards said. “But for now, it’s just going to be for one block between Belle and Williams avenues.

“The reason for only one block is because that’s all we had money for,” he added. “It’s paid for by a community development block grant, which is based on slum and blight.”

Richards oversees Hamilton’s six business districts — which all get to share a portion of the grant dollars provided each year. Specifically in the Lindenwald business district, Richards said the street renewal sets the tone of what’s still to come.

“We’re setting the standard for the other blocks on Pleasant Avenue. As more money comes in for the future, we’ll continue to march down the street,” Richards said. “I’d love to do 10 blocks in a row — it would be better. But then the other districts would be complaining because they didn’t get a portion of the grant money.

“It’s like remodeling your house — one year we’ll do the living room and then the next, we’ll do the kitchen, that’s how it’s going to work.”

In addition to the street renovation, special projects manager Larry Pyle said the insertion of a north gateway sign in Lindenwald is still in discussion.

The new location, the corner of Pleasant and Williams avenues, may be a perfect fit for the expected 6-foot high, 4-foot wide triangle sign.

“We still have to talk it through with the property owner of the land where we’d want to put the sign at,” Pyle said.

The Hamilton Community Foundation has donated $2,500 to help fund the project, which is estimated to cost $4,700.

“This (project) involves getting the sign made, having the site prepared and having the area landscaped,” Pyle said during a Lindenwald Civic Association meeting. “We’re wanting to keep up with ongoing landscaping when this is done.”

Contact this reporter at or by phone at (513) 258-3263.