Construction is about to begin on the latest project from Boise’s urban renewal agency – Capital City Development Corporation – to make downtown more pedestrian friendly.
CCDC is turning its attention to the alleyway that runs between 6th and Capitol next to the Basque Block. Matt Edmond oversees the project for the agency.
“This has been on the city’s to-do list for a while,” Edmond says. “You get a lot of foot traffic in here, so we obviously wanted to improve the lighting situation so you don't have people doing untoward things in the shadows behind dumpsters. But really trying to promote it as a public space as well.”
That includes things like overhead lighting, moving power lines underground and getting the area ready for any future fiber optic internet expansion.
Public art will be on display, too, but that’s an area Edmond doesn’t quite feel qualified for. “You know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we’re probably not the best ones to be picking out art,” Edmond says.
Instead, CCDC will give Boise Arts and History some funding to choose art for the space. Construction will begin soon and is expected to wrap up by year’s end.
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