bankstop
A new planned bus shelter, a project from the Columbia Heights Neighborhood Association called “Bank Stop,” incorporates whimsical monetary motifs in its design.
Lexington, KY - On a recent rainy day, Kate Savage, an active member of the Columbia Heights Neighborhood Association noticed the line of people waiting for a bus at the corner of Euclid and Ashland Ave...in pouring rain, much like today’s weather. “Soon it’ll be snow, ice and searing winds that they are subjected to,” she said.
Earlier this summer, Savage made it a mission to raise money to fund the construction of a bus shelter along Euclid Avenue, “so when I drive by in my heated or air conditoned car, I won’t have to feel so guilty about the folks in my neighborhood who rely on public transport sitting on a plastic bench with all their shopping, waiting patiently for a bus and exposed to Kentucky weather of all extremes.”
Partnering with Lextran, Art-in-Motion and representatives from Republic Bank, who have allowed for the shelter to be built on their branch’s property across from Kroger, Savage estimates the project will cost between $25,000 – $30,000. In June of last year, Savage was awarded an EcoART grant from the city for $5,000 which will go toward the construction cost. She has since been raising the remainder through Kickstarter, the online crowd-sourcing platform, and “blatant solicitation.”
Similar to Art-in-Motion’s Art Stops, creatively conceived bus shelters that have appeared in a number of places in Lexington, the structure Savage hopes to have constructed was designed specifically with a bank in mind – with a large piggy bank in the back and other aspects being to scale of a dollar bill.
Patrick Morgan, an architecture student at University of Pennsylvania and Lexington native, as well as a longtime family friend of Savage, orchestrated the whimsical design. “It was fun,” he said. “I’d be at school and everybody else would be working on their big studio project, and I’m sitting at my desk with a little piggy bank on my screen.”
Although her Euclid Avenue shelter project is predominantly a Columbia Heights Neighborhood project, the affiliation with AiM has been invaluable. Savage offered “a big shout out” to AiM founder and president Yvette Hurt. “Having already installed the four Art Bus Shelters we have in Lexington, with more on the way, her contacts, advice and seven years of experience so generously shared with us on this project, have helped make it happen. Without her guidance and support from the onset, this project would still be struggling to get on its legs,” Savage said in a posting on ChevyChaser.com.
Given the number of people who wait for buses at the two bus stops, exposed to the elements, near the corner of Euclid and Ashland avenues, the need for an appropriate shelter in the area has always been obvious, Savage said. She initially approached the property owners of Premiere Home Video, but when they weren’t receptive to the project, she pitched the idea to both banks across the street.
Representatives at Republic Bank were immediately open to the idea, and contracts and plans with Lextran to have the bus shelter built along the hedge between the sidewalk and the parking lot were put into place – welcome news for somebody who has been working for over a year trying to see this neighborhood amenity through to fruition.
“This has been like giving birth,” Savage laughed, “but it really has been harder, and longer.”