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Council approves downtown logo and advances DART GMP application for pavilion and wayfinding
Summary
Staff outlined a DART GMP application due in late June that could bring phased funding for downtown wayfinding, crossings, a pavilion and parking; council chose logo option 3 and asked staff to finalize a Phase‑1 application and return design options in July.
City planner Manal updated the council on downtown implementation steps tied to the recently adopted downtown strategic plan and DART funding opportunities.
"There's approximately $44,700,000 in GMP funding that, spans 6 years, supporting improvement consistently with the downtown strategic plan," Manal told the council while walking through three phases of work that prioritize pedestrian safety, coordinated wayfinding, parking optimization and a mixed‑use pavilion. She said a separate DART grant of $4,500,000 had already been awarded for Industrial Boulevard and that about $3,800,000 had been identified for a pavilion concept.
Council selected logo option 3 to use in wayfinding and branding and asked staff to finalize the GMP phase‑1 application, which staff said is due at the end of June. Discussion focused on pavilion programming and technical details — size, restrooms, electrical capacity and security — plus near‑term parking fixes along Coyle Street and options for improving the Martin Street at‑grade crossing. Staff said they would return with refined design options in July and that they could begin phased work sooner if council authorized front‑funding and subsequent reimbursement if GMP awards were received.
The council emphasized designing the project to limit unintended consequences (vagrancy, maintenance needs) and requested staff consult peers in Irving and other cities that have implemented similar downtown investments, and to tie the trail and wayfinding elements into the parks master plan.
