After a year of construction, the City of Gainesville is ready to unveil a new look and feel to its main downtown gathering space. Improvements include new buildings, landscaping, lighting, acoustics and a cool water wall illuminated with LED lights.
Starting Thursday night, when soul singer Charles Bradley performs in concert, Bo Diddley Community Plaza will finally be a happening place again.
The public square in the middle of downtown Gainesville has undergone more than a facelift during the past year—it has experienced a $1.8 million renaissance!
The entire north side of the plaza is new, including a decorative water wall, two new outbuildings and an expanded backstage area with large dressing rooms and new airport-style restrooms. The improvements extend around to the stage area, where new speakers and lighting will enhance the concertgoer experience.
“It’s a dramatic difference,” said Nathalie McCrate, a project manager for the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the City of Gainesville agency overseeing the project.
For the past year, fences adorned with cleverly phrased banners shrouded the progress made by crews from Oelrich Construction, the project’s construction manager. Other crews from the City of Gainesville’s departments of Cultural Affairs and Public Works have helped with landscaping and other touches.
Ivan Oelrich, president of Oelrich Construction, said it has been “an honor” for his company to be involved in such a worthwhile public project.
“In keeping with the city and CRA’s vision for downtown Gainesville, we updated Bo Diddley Plaza to increase its functionality as a space for entertaining, eating and relaxing,” he said.
Although renovations to the plaza are all but completed, those who attend Thursday night’s concert will still have to deal with the construction fences. That’s only because beer will be sold and concert organizers are required to ensure that no alcohol leaves the premises.
The fences will come down before March 2. That’s when the Union Street Farmers Market returns to Bo Diddley Plaza after a long year at Lot 10, three blocks to the west.
“We’re ready to go back, there’s no doubt about it,” said Charlie Lybrand, the director of the downtown farmers market since its inception 20 years ago. “The plaza is so much nicer than a parking lot. My vendors and customers will definitely find it a more pleasurable experience.”
Lybrand said that Bo Diddley Community Plaza can accommodate as many as 70 vendors on any given Wednesday. Lot 10 could handle no more than 60 vendors (and their vehicles) during the market’s 4-7 p.m. time slot.
Also, because the plaza is surrounded on three sides by government buildings, those hundreds of office workers—and their disposable incomes—who get off work at 5 p.m. are expected to increase overall foot traffic and sales for the farmers market.
To celebrate its return to Bo Diddley Plaza, the Union Street Farmers Market will extend the hours of its music until 9 p.m. on March 2. Vendors are also welcome to stay around for the additional two hours.
On a recent behind-the-scenes tour of Bo Diddley Plaza, McCrate showed off the “new front porch,” the area that motorists on University Avenue see when they pass the plaza.
“Previously when you drove by, you’d just see a bus stop and the back of the stage,” she said. “It felt like a back alley. Really sketchy.”
The bus stop has been removed and shifted east down University Avenue half a block. In its place is a curving red-brick sidewalk, a green-space area and, beyond that, the shimmering water wall comprised of four large vertical panels with LED lighting for a dramatic nighttime effect.
On the plaza’s northwest corner is a new information kiosk where visitors can get questions answered about downtown dining and entertainment. There will also be a touchscreen and a marquee announcing upcoming events.
On the northeast corner is a new cafe space that is expected to have a tenant this spring. The CRA is in negotiations with Patticakes Bakery in Haile Village Center to open a cupcake and coffee shop in the airy, walk-up space.
That will give the plaza two eateries. Steamers has remained open throughout the construction in the Bethel Station, a converted 1920s Gulf Oil service station on the southwest corner of the property.
“The re-opening of the plaza is going to mean a lot to us,” said James Thurston, manager of Steamers. “It means the farmers market is back and it means we’ll be a concessionary outlet for all the events going on here.”
To welcome back the farmers market, the Steamers menu will incorporate ingredients purchased from vendors. The menu includes Midwestern-style sandwiches, fried rice and tempeh, and curry dishes.
Visitors to the new Bo Diddley Community Plaza might not notice some of the new features, such as pervious sidewalks that allow storm water to be absorbed rather than to puddle. Drainage should not be an issue.
“Existing grades had caused storm water to pond throughout the park,” said Brad Patterson, Oelrich’s project superintendent. “We massaged these elevations to ensure continual water flow.”
The contractor placed artificial grass in areas where the real thing is difficult to maintain, including the main spectator area in front of the stage.
“The variety of surfaces and materials in the new plaza contributes to its aesthetic appeal,” said Josh Blackford, project manager for Oelrich Construction. “These include pavers, turf, concrete walls, cypress benches and grass, plus aggregate, broom and recycled concrete.”
Another major improvement is the built-out area behind the stage. Entertainers now have green rooms with private restrooms to get ready for their performances and to relax between sets. Previously, McCrate said, some performers at the plaza used an electrical closet for costume changes.
Many of the improvements were made with public safety in mind. New security cameras have been installed and better lighting will make Bo Diddley Plaza more inviting during evening hours.
Many benches were removed to create a more open feel.
“Having clearer sightlines is going to help keep the place more vibrant,” McCrate said. “With Steamers and bringing in another restaurant tenant, there are more reasons for people to circulate and make the plaza more active.”
McCrate said the improvements were not made to discourage homeless people from using the plaza, an ongoing concern of local business owners.
We’re not trying to exclude certain people, but we will exclude criminal behavior …
— Nathalie McCrate of the CRA
“We’ve added extra security measures, but anyone can come to the public plaza,” she said. “We’re not trying to exclude certain people, but we will exclude criminal behavior, which is something we can control.”
To improve sound quality, the city has installed acoustical foam on the underside of the band shell. Even the stage surface itself is new.
The city’s Free Fridays Concert Series will resume in early May and continue for six months. But the entertainment won’t stop there.
Nigel Hamm, who opened Common Grounds (now High Dive) more than two decades ago, is in charge of lining up events at the plaza that might include everything from Zumba and yoga to children’s theater.
“He’s very talented and working hard to put together a strong schedule of programing for the plaza,” McCrate said. “It will be like Free Fridays on steroids.”
One goal of the plaza rejuvenation, she said, is to have more events at different times of the day.
“The idea is to open up the plaza and make it more accessible to more groups wanting to use it, and to have events on Sundays and Thursdays and mix up the variety. That should have a lot of benefits for downtown business owners and restaurants and just families looking for something fun to do.”
The Bo Diddley Plaza is just the latest undertaking involving the CRA, other city agencies and Oelrich Construction. Other joint projects have included the Helyx Bridge on Southwest 13th Street, Depot Park and improvements to the Porters Community and East Gainesville.
Ivan Oelrich said the plaza update reflects the beauty and spirit of the community as a whole.
“We believe that the new Bo Diddley Community Plaza will draw more people to downtown Gainesville and provide a place to develop our history, our revitalization efforts and our vision for the future.”
— Noel Leroux
For further info, visit the new Bo Diddley Plaza website
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