Lawrence Central Rotary who maintains the Ride Lawrence project is excited and fully endorses the extension of the Burroughs Creek Trail, The Lawrence Cultural District, and provided a letter of support for the recent KDOT grant application for completion of the Burroughs Creek Trail. That grant application has been submitted and we anxiously await hearing the results.
One of the things we have heard in this process is how important these letters of support are in getting the grant funding. As we await the results of the KDOT grant, we have been hard at work identifying more funding to make the trail and the Lawrence Cultural District the best, and most compelling it can be. We are providing, and are asking our readers also to write a support letter (personal or from your business, civic group, or organization) to addressed to the Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council for a Heritage Conservation Grant.
These grant funds will be used to study, design, and implement a unified and potentially interactive system of historical, cultural, and natural markers and way-finding for the trail and the Cultural District. The process will include community input with professional facilitation. The grant applicant is the City of Lawrence.
The text below is the summary from the Heritage Grant Application:
This project will identify, interpret, and connect the historical, cultural and natural nodes throughout the Lawrence Cultural District, integrating pre-Civil War, Civil War, and ongoing themes of Lawrence’s iconoclastic heritage. Capitalizing on the current momentum of public and private investment in this district, the project will encourage public access to and engagement with the heritage of Douglas County. The project will result in a coherent and professionally developed urban plan and design through stakeholder collaboration. Other outcomes will include educational and marketing materials, and a lasting network of artistic, permanent and potentially interactive markers that identify and interpret elements of our history in the core of Douglas County. The project will encourage tourism and economic development, and compliment the Douglas County vision for community wellness, engagement, and connectivity.
This DCHF funded project is one aspect of a comprehensive project that will include:1) extending the Burroughs Creek Trail; 2) a complete renovation of 9th Street from Delaware to Massachusetts; 3) a Lawrence Cultural District Public Art Project; 4) ongoing private and municipal development and investment.
It is Lawrence Central Rotary and Ride Lawrence’s belief that completion of the trail and installation of an artistic, unique, and interactive system of markers and way-finding will help Lawrence continue to be the best place in the State of Kansas to live, work, learn, and play.
The Deadline for providing a letter of support is March 10 (you can also send them directly or email them to Heather Hoy [email protected] )
The grant applicant is : The City of Lawrence
Address letters as follows:
Douglas County Heritage Conservation Council
Douglas County Courthouse
1100 Massachusetts St.
Lawrence, KS, 66044
Just a little time on your part can help to make our community a wonderful place to to explore whether it be on a bike or on foot.
Bike helmets may be the “Gift of Life”. By choosing to wear a helmet, you will reduce your risk of a head injury from a crash by 85%!
The bicycle helmet fair will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Activities include a free helmet for children under the age of 14 who are accompanied by an adult, bike inspections and a safe ride course. Participants will learn about rules of the road, bicycle trail etiquette, booster seat safety, and bicycle and pool safety.
