Kent Artist to Create Memorial at Transit Center

George Danhires' proposal for a veterans memorial at the Kent Central Gateway will be built and installed at the site this year

A Kent artist whose work already has a prominent place downtown has been chosen to create a veterans memorial at PARTA's Kent Central Gateway transit center, which opened this month on Erie Street. Danhires, who created the Bicentennial Sculpture that stands on Franklin Avenue near the gazebo, was selected from three finalists to create a bronze sculpture on a site at the eastern end of the transit center property. His creation for the Bicentennial Sculpture, dedicated in September 2011, was developed via a lost-wax procedure that will be used again to create the veterans memorial. PARTA's selection committee chose Danhires' proposal in December. His contract stipulates the sculpture will be delivered in time for Veterans Day on Nov. 11. …

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Parking and Social Media in Kent — #DTownBuzzKill?

"In the spirit of early intervention I thought it might make sense to share some thoughts on the topic of paid parking in Kent," the city manager said in his most recent blog about parking downtown.

Parking. It's been a hot topic in Kent for awhile now.  Many are happy with some improvements, and the fact that the new garage is free this month, but many are griping about the cost to park on social media, according to Kent City Manager Dave Ruller in his most recent blog.  Patch asked its readers on Facebook about their thoughts on parking downtown. Here's what they had to say.  With the news that parking at the PARTA deck is free until April, Ruller said he's noticed "the social networks have started to light up with questions of paying for parking in downtown Kent. In particular we’re hearing some rumbling about the prospect of metered parking stations planned for later this year on certain downtown streets." So here's the answer: …

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PARTA Deck Opens for Parking Downtown

Drivers will be able to park free through May

With little public fanfare, the 365 public parking spaces in PARTA's Kent Central Gateway transit center opened downtown Tuesday. The bus transfer and commercial spaces in the deck have yet to open, but many Kent residents and business owners cheered the opening of the parking spaces virtually with "likes" and positive feedback spreading like wildfire on social media. Frank Hairston, director of marketing for PARTA, said drivers who pulled into the deck when it opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday flashed the thumbs up to transit authority administrators gathered for the early opening. "If you go online, everybody’s saying that ‘Hey I get a parking space downtown!'" Hairston said. "And they’re all happy right now. There’s still work going on the …

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Readers React to Transit Center Parking Management

City, PARTA say they will not lease spaces in the new parking deck

No Plans to Lease Parking Spaces in Transit Center

PARTA, city plan to make 365 spaces available to public

Drivers will not be able to lease or "buy" the rights to one of the 365 parking spaces in PARTA's new Kent Central Gateway transit center in downtown Kent. The new transit center, in which the parking aspect was scheduled to open this month, won't open until mid April, the Record-Courier reported Friday. Bryan Smith, director of planning for PARTA, said that when the deck opens it will be available to everyone. "We do not plan to lease spaces," Smith said in an email. Essentially, that means business and property owners won't be able to plunk down cash for guaranteed spaces in the deck. The city, which invested about $4 million to help build the parking levels of the deck, has entered into a lease agreement with PARTA to manage the public …

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LaHood: 'Who Said the Stimulus Didn't Work?'

U.S. Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood tours Kent Central Gateway transit center, recipient of $20 million federal grant

Standing on the ground floor of a $26 million parking garage and bus depot, U.S. Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood declared PARTA's Kent Central Gateway transit center a shining example of the success of the Stimulus Act. LaHood, who was in Kent to tour the new transit center this morning, pointed to Congress passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that funneled $800 billion in stimulus money to local communities for projects like Kent's and, like many local leaders have done for months, credited that with supercharging downtown Kent's redevelopment. The U.S. Department of Transportation alone received $48 billion from the Stimulus Act to help spur projects like Kent's transit center and stimulate local economies. "In that …

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Sue JEffers

7:30 pm on Wednesday, March 20, 2013

right. that's why this article is about tax payer subsidization of the project making it possible. amazing how someone could claim, in connection with an article about how great the public subsidies that have made the redevelopment, infrastructure building for private entities, (not to mention the tax payer monies from kent subsidizing the entire project, & state of ohio taxpayer monies). even …   more ›

Kent to Host U.S. Transportation Secretary Friday

Ray LaHood will tour PARTA's Kent Central Gateway, for the second time, Friday

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will visit Kent Friday, for the second time, to tour the construction site of PARTA's Kent Central Gateway Transit Center. LaHood visited Kent in 2010 to sign the grant award for the transit center project, which was awarded the first-ever TIGER grant of $20 million. The grant pays for the bulk of the transit center, which will feature 365 public parking spaces and 10 bus transfer bays when it opens this spring in downtown Kent. In 2010, LaHood toured the area of downtown Kent that since has been vastly redeveloped in large part due to the parking deck and bus transfer center. The nation's transportation secretary wrote about his visit on his blog for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Look for …

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Review of New Downtown Construction Projects

See the building reviews for the projects as they progressed from bare lots to finished brick

Most Kent residents only see downtown's redevelopment on its face — in essence, construction workers, cranes and changing skylines. What most people don't see is the tedious reviews of building and construction plans, approval of permits and all the other countless, and necessary, paper work. Take a look behind the scenes by perusing through the building review reports above on five of the major projects downtown:

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Transit Center to Open in March for Parking

PARTA plans grand opening of Kent Central Gateway later in 2013

Drivers will be able to park their cars in PARTA's new Kent Central Gateway transit center and parking deck some time next month. The transit agency is on track to open the parking portion of the transit center, with its 365 public parking spaces, by the end of March. Bryan Smith, director of planning for PARTA, said exactly when next month the parking deck opens will depend on the weather. The 10-bus bay transit element of the Kent Central Gateway won't open until later this year after the reconstruction of Erie Street between Haymaker Parkway — where a new intersection will be built — and South DePeyster Streeet. "And that requires asphalt," Smith said. PARTA also didn't want to open the transit portion of the new center before the end …

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Aaron D

5:45 am on Monday, March 11, 2013

Stop asking for handouts and complaining!   more ›

PARTA, City, Kent State Officials Thank Sen. Brown for Redevelopment Support

Sen. Sherrod Brown toured several of downtown Kent's redevelopment projects Wednesday

Sen. Sherrod Brown got the Cliffs Notes version of Kent's revival Wednesday as city and Kent State University officials gave him a brief tour of three of the downtown redevelopment projects. Brown first met with Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala, Kent City Manager Dave Ruller, Kent State President Lester Lefton and AMETEK Kent Vice President Matt French at AMETEK's new offices downtown before touring the Kent State hotel and PARTA's transit center. Brown, whose wife, Connie Schultz, graduated from Kent State, said he found Wednesday's visit and brief tour exciting given all the dramatic changes in the past two years. "I’ve been to Kent lots of times over the last 30 years, seeing the problems and seeing it coming back," Brown said. "This is a great …

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Jim Williams

12:36 pm on Thursday, January 17, 2013

Kit, I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and guess that you, like me, are a "boomer." We grew up in an age where citizens actually applauded civic investments like Universities, police and fire stations, sewers, parking decks, etc., and understood that government played an essential role in building communities through grants, loans and straight-up funding of such projects. Our parents "borrowed" …   more ›