Bus Stop Transformed to Garden Oasis

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2010) − The Euclid Ave. and Linden Walk transit shelter in Lexington has been altered into an inviting garden retreat. The newly transformed transit shelter, now known as the "Garden Stop," was dedicated to the public on Sept. 21 at a ceremony at the stop location.

The University of Kentucky donated $12,000 to the project, under the direction of UK stakeholder Bob Wiseman, vice president of Facilities Managment. Lance Broeking, also with Facilities Management, was the UK representative on the project, working on location issues and coordination with parking lot improvements.  Broeking also served on the jury to choose the design.

"Garden Stop" is a community project of Art in Motion (AIM), a local non-profit organization, started by Yvette Hurt, who has worked on various volunteer community projects over the years including KFTC (Kentuckians for the Commonwealth) and the smoke-free law campaign.  AIM started in 2005 due to the passage of the 2004 tax referendum that, for the first time in history, provided local funding for LexTran.

Hurt wanted to see more shelters around Lexington, so with her love for public art she decided to combine public art with transit shelters. Through her creative ideas and research, Hurt put together a concept paper, named the project "Art in Motion" and started to look for partners as well as funding. In addition to LexTran, LexArts, and the LFUCG Corridors Commission, Hurt's primary partner had been Joseph David, a senior planner at LFUCG who helps LexTran do long-range planning.

"Art in Motion has been a labor of love for me over the last 5 years and the neatest part is getting to work with artists and designers, as well as with our partners, UK, Lextran, LexArts and the LFUCG Urban County Council and planning division," said Hurt. "Gardenstop takes the concept of 'art shelter' in a whole new, even more sustainable direction and I hope to build living plants into future shelters."

"Gardenstop" is unique from the previous three art transit shelters by incorporating living plants as a form of art and increasing the positive environmental impact of the project.  The design requirements for the design competition were that the shelter must incorporate a major element of vegetation so that the public could see the contrast between a vegetative oasis and a high traffic area. Another requirement included that the bus shelter needed to be inviting to riders and pedestrians, unifying them with the environment. The structure and the plantings were required to be low maintenance. Originality and artistic appeal was required in design and a factor in judging. The shelter was required to be rider and pedestrian friendly, meaning that the shelter needed to provide protection from seasonal weather, such as wind, sun and heavy rain. The shelter also needed to provide indoor and outdoor seating. Another requirement for convenience and safety, was to have multiple entries as well as lighting for night time. The entries into the shelter were required to be handicap accomodating as well as biker friendly. The creation of the "Garden Stop" was a community project and AIM wanted to keep the community in the shelter long after it was done being built, so another design requirement was to include community amenities, such as space for posting community notices. Prajna Design and Construction created a transit shelter that met all of the criteria.

 

"Gardenstop" not only features native vines growing on a metal screen backdrop, but also a green roof, also called "Greengrid" that will divert storm water runoff. The green screen wall serves as an armature for the native honeysuckle planted in the planter to grow upon. The green screen wall is to protect pedestrians from the wind and rain, also to provide a visual screening of surrounding areas. While sitting inside "Garden Stop" you can look up at the ceiling and see that it is made of yellow pine tongue and groove flooring which was salvaged from various houses that were demolished in the Lexington area. Some older homes on Linden Walk would have had that type of flooring, this feature is a unique tribute to Linden Walk. The bench that pedestrians can sit on is created from white oak timbers that were salvaged from a dismantle barn structure in Franklin County. Most of the wood that was used was salvaged from variou places throughout Kentucky. The structure itself is made of steel channel, it is durable and will last for a long time. The structure contains about 99 percent of recycled material.

AIM has completed three other bus stops in Lexington through design competitions, and "Garden Stop" is now the fourth. In February 2010, AIM, LexTran, the Aylesford Place Neighborhood Association, Lex Arts, along with UK's Wiseman and Broeking, held an open design competition for the bus stop. They received over 17 entries from top design firms as well as UK landscape design students and awarded a cash prize to the winner, Prajna Design and Construction.

Prajna Design & Construction has designed and built homes, additions, renovations, farm building and small commercial structures, since 1984. The design crew has completed hundreds of projects throughout central Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, New York, Florida, and even the Bahamas. Through their work, Prajna, portrays the combined ideas of beauty and perfection from the Greeks as well as the harmony and simplicity of the artisans of Japan. Prajna has exhibited work in galleries and museums throughout the region and have had articles about their work and profiles of the crew published in both local and national publications. The crew includes; David Wittmer, Garry Murphy, Mike Russell, Jay Moorhead and Andy McChord, all are graduates from the UK College of Design.
 

Lexington's first art bus shelter was "Bottlestop" located on Versailles Road. "Bottlestop" is made out of Ale-8-One soda bottles and was designed by UK graduate, Aaron Scales. Scales receieved his bachelor's degree in Architecture from the UK College of Design. "Artstop" was Lexington's second art bus shelter, it showcases the work of two area artists. The stop celebrates Lexington's rich musical history and African-American culture on the east side of Lexington. "East End Artstop" is located at the corner of Third Street and Elm Tree Lane, across from the historic Lyric Theatre. The shelter is composed of a free-standing sculpture and five two-dimensional murals. Part of the shelter was designed by Gary Bibbs, a member of the faculty of the University of Kentucky Department of Art. Bibbs designed and created the shelter's colorful sculpture "Lyrical Movement." The third art bus shelter is "Bluegrass" located on Newtown Pike, The "Bluegrass" roof is supported by blue steel pipes resembling blades of grass, and the back has frames for two-dimensional art that can be changed periodically.

"UK has made a verbal commitment to help fund another art shelter at the corner of Rose and Euclid in the next fiscal year," said Hurt. "We’ve already done some preliminary planning and hope to make it a real show piece that will celebrate the nationally recognized art and music programs that are housed just a short walk from that corner."

For more information on "Garden Stop" or Art in Motion, please contact Yvette Hurt at (859)-361-1052 or yhurt@windstrem.net.