Passageways 2.0 timeline
September 2017: Request for proposals issuedNov. 3: Deadline for submissionsMarch 9, 2018: Proposed concept designs dueMarch 15: Winning design team selectedSummer: Fabrication and installationSummer-fall: Project completionSource: River City Company
A competition is kicking off to breathe life into a forgotten downtown Chattanooga alley behind a new 10-story apartment building in the 700 block of Market Street.
Backers see a high-end permanent art installation in the alley leading to hip, new public space as well as entertainment and commercial uses.
“For us, we see it as creating public space and as a city center activator,” said Amy Donahue, with the downtown nonprofit redevelopment group River City Company, which is directing the competition with Cogent Studio and Public Art Chattanooga.
A request for proposals went out last week in a follow to the original Passageways effort last year. That initiative temporarily jazzed up a handful of alleys in the center city and drew interest from more than 80 architectural firms and design groups worldwide.