Union Square Business Improvement District Hosts “Hallidie Plaza Charette” (Design Workshop) October 13, 14, 15

(PRWEB) September 30, 2004

To provide a framework for the ongoing enhancement of Hallidie Plaza -- best known to legions of international tourists for the Cable Car Turnaround at Powell and Market -- the Union Square Business Improvement District (BID) will be hosting a “Hallidie Plaza Charette” (Design Workshop) October 13, 14 and 15 at the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel.

“Hallidie Plaza is in need of a re-visioning,” said Leigh Ann Baughman, BID Executive Director. “Its role as a transportation center continues to intensify with the addition of new services and developments. The BART airport extension, the Third Street light rail and the Central Subway plans, and Westfield San Francisco Centre expansion all will interface beneath Powell and Market streets. This design workshop will lay the ground-work for reclaiming mid-Market as the traditional hub of The City.”

The “Hallidie Plaza Charette” is free and open to the public. Participants include Rich Hillis and Jeremy Hallisey of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development; Mohammed Nuru, Deputy Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Works; Tom Radulovich, BART Director for District 9; Peter Albert, BART Manager for San Francisco; Molly Burke, BART Government Relations; Maggie Lynch, MUNI Public Relations Director; Natalie Berg, Forest City Development; Steve Eimer, Westfield and Patrick Lane, General Manager of the Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel as well as other community leaders, area stakeholders and interested citizens. The design workshop will be facilitated by Michael Willis, Michael Willis Architects.

Westfield and Forest City, development partners for the new Westfield San Francisco Centre, contributed $250,000 for ongoing improvements to Hallidie Plaza, including the funding for the October forum.

About the Union Square BID:

The Union Square Business Improvement District (BID) is a 10-block area where property owners assess themselves to make their community cleaner, safer and more vibrant. The BID assessment is used to purchase services that supplement those provided by the City. The Union Square BID contains 97 properties and is roughly bounded by Sutter Street to the North, Stockton and Grant Streets to the East, Market Street to the South and Cyril Magnin to the West. In 1994, California joined most states in the country and passed enabling legislation for property based business improvement districts (PBIDS). There are currently over 1,000 BIDS in the United States and Canada.

A unique program of the Union Square BID, the BID “Ambassadors” are a visible presence for safety and maintenance in the BID’s ten-square-block borders. Easily identifiable by their red and blue uniforms, the Ambassadors provide visitors and tourists with a variety of services including directions, transportation information, emergency response, and even help elderly shoppers with their bags as they cross San Francisco’s busy streets. Also part of the Union Square BID’s success are the “TAGGers.” “TAGGers” (an acronym for Take Away Graffiti and Grime ) are the primary caretakers for Union Square and the whole BID district. Seven days a week, throughout the day, they sweep the sidewalks, pick-up and dispose of trash and debris, and remove graffiti from storefronts, buildings, area light poles and street furniture. Sidewalks are steam cleaned twice a month.

For more information on the Union Square Business Improvement District, access their website at http://www.unionsquarebid.com, or call (415) 421-3135.