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Tagged: Ann Arbor

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Arts & Culture
1:54 pm
Tue August 21, 2012

Ann Arbor will decide how to fund public art in Nov.

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Credit Ann Arbor Public Art Commission / City of Ann Arbor
A public art installation proposed for the Justice Center Lobby approved by the city's art commission in May.
Credit Aaron Seagraves / City of Ann Arbor Public Art
Credit Aaron Seagraves / City of Ann Arbor Public Art
Credit Aaron Seagraves / City of Ann Arbor Public Art
Credit Aaron Seagraves / City of Ann Arbor Public Art
Credit Aaron Seagraves / City of Ann Arbor Public Art
Credit Aaron Seagraves / City of Ann Arbor Public Art
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Last night, the Ann Arbor City Council voted to put a four-year art tax question on the November ballot.

AnnArbor.com reports the council approved the question for the ballot 10-0, with council member Margie Teall absent.

City Council estimates the 0.1 mill will cost each homeowner about $11 per year, and accrue $459,273 in the first year.

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Environment & Science
8:14 am
Mon August 20, 2012

DTE to start pollution cleanup in Ann Arbor this week

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Kevin Lund, a senior geologist at the MDEQ's Department of Remediation, kicks over gravel to reveal the pollution along the Huron River.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
Kevin Lund, a senior geologist at the MDEQ's Department of Remediation, kicks over gravel to reveal the pollution along the Huron River in Ann Arbor.
Benezene, naphthalene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are part of the chemical mix in old coal tar pollution.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
Benezene, naphthalene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are part of the chemical mix in old coal tar pollution.
The polluted site in Ann Arbor in the spring of 2012. All the buildings from the old service center have been torn down in preparation for the clean-up.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
The polluted site in Ann Arbor in the spring of 2012. All the buildings from the old service center have been torn down in preparation for the clean-up.
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Starting today, DTE plans to bring in the heavy equipment needed for the pollution cleanup along the Huron River west of the Broadway Bridge in Ann Arbor.

Black, oily coal tar pollution has been underground for decades.

It was left behind by an old manufactured gas plant owned by the utility company. Two years ago regulators discovered the coal tar was getting into the river. Now, DTE plans to spend between $2-3 million digging it out.

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Arts & Culture
4:56 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Ann Arbor may vote on a public art tax

Credit http://www.a2gov.org/government/publicservices/Pages/aapac.aspx
"Untitled" is a water sculpture in front of Ann Arbor's city hall
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A public art tax may be on the ballot in Ann Arbor this November. The millage would replace the city's current system of funding art installations.

Right now the city has something called the "Percent for Art" program. It sets aside one percent of the budget on capital projects for art installations.  But here's the thing: that art has to be directly linked to whatever project funded it. For example, a $750,000 water sculpture in front of city hall, paid for with storm water utilities.

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Education
3:00 pm
Fri August 10, 2012

Get a Thingamagoop at the library

Credit KN
AADL's music tools collection
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The Ann Arbor District is thinking outside of the box with a new collection called "Music Tools."

The small collection features quirky instruments and sound processors. It includes items with futuristic names that make sounds like hovering spaceships and funky clicks and clacks.

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The Environment Report
9:00 am
Tue July 31, 2012

Cleaning up a pollution puzzle in Ann Arbor (PHOTOS)

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Kevin Lund of MDEQ shows a sample of oil and water he collected when he dug a hole in the bank of the Huron River. The analysis they did on the samples they collected showed that the contamination was coming from the old MichCon manufactured gas plant.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
Kevin Lund of MDEQ shows a sample of oil and water he collected when he dug a hole in the bank of the Huron River. The analysis they did on the samples they collected showed that the contamination was coming from the old MichCon manufactured gas plant.
Kevin Lund, a senior geologist at the MDEQ's Department of Remediation, kicks over gravel to reveal the pollution along the Huron River.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
Kevin Lund is a senior geologist at the MDEQ's Department of Remediation. He kicks over gravel to reveal the pollution along the Huron River.
Scrape away the gravel and dirt along the Huron River in Ann Arbor near the Broadway Bridge and you'll find this.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
Scrape away the gravel and dirt along the Huron River in Ann Arbor near the Broadway Bridge and you'll find this.
Benezene, naphthalene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are part of the chemical mix in old coal tar pollution.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
Benzene, naphthalene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are part of the chemical mix in old coal tar pollution.
The original gas works plant in Ann Arbor. Part of the foundation of this facility can still be seen today.
Credit Bentley Historical Library / Ann Arbor Public Library
The original gas works plant in Ann Arbor. Part of the foundation of this facility can still be seen today.
An explosion and fire led the gas works to move across the street to a larger site along the Huron River.
Credit Bentley Historical Library / Ann Arbor Public Library
An explosion and fire led the gas works to move across the street to a larger site along the Huron River.
Part of the foundation of the old gas works in Ann Arbor. These bricks held a gas container that was 100 feet in diameter.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
Part of the foundation of the old gas works in Ann Arbor. These bricks held a gas container that was 100 feet in diameter.
A map showing the location of the original gas works structures in Ann Arbor. Remediation experts use these maps to locate potential hot spots of pollution underground.
A map showing the location of the original gas works structures in Ann Arbor. Remediation experts use these maps to locate potential hot spots of pollution underground.
A monitoring well outside of the original gas plant in Ann Arbor. Keven Lund of MDEQ says they've detected low levels of contaminants around the original gas works, but not at levels to be concerned about.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
A monitoring well outside of the original gas plant in Ann Arbor. Keven Lund of MDEQ says they've detected low levels of contaminants around the original gas works, but not at levels to be concerned about.
The gas works moved across Depot St. and the train tracks to this location next to the Huron River in Ann Arbor at the turn of the last century.
Credit Bentley Historical Library / Ann Arbor Public Library
The gas works moved across Depot St. and the train tracks to this location next to the Huron River in Ann Arbor at the turn of the last century.
A survey map showing the location of the gas works structures in Ann Arbor. Note the original path of the Huron River. The river bed was filled in and the river was rerouted to create more land for the gas works.
A survey map showing the location of the gas works structures in Ann Arbor. Note the original path of the Huron River. The river bed was filled in and the river was rerouted to create more land for the gas works.
The polluted site in Ann Arbor in the spring of 2012. All the buildings from the old service center have been torn down in preparation for the clean-up.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
The site where the old Washtenaw Gas Company stood in the spring of 2012. The buildings from the old service center have since been removed.
A tar covered brick along the Huron River in Ann Arbor - signs of the old gas works plant in the city.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
A tar covered brick along the Huron River in Ann Arbor - signs of the old gas works plant in the city.
These trees will have to be removed in order to clean up the bank and bed of the Huron River in Ann Arbor.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
These trees will have to be removed in order to clean up the bank and bed of the Huron River in Ann Arbor.
DTE says a cap will be placed along the river's edge to keep contamination from migrating toward the river. DTE will also build a small whitewater feature in the river once the clean-up is completed.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
DTE says a cap will be placed along the river's edge to keep contamination from migrating toward the river. DTE will also build a small whitewater feature in the river once the clean-up is completed.
The site was used as a service center by MichCon from the 1950s until 2009. The company says it's waiting to see how the land will be used before it does more cleanup on the site.
Credit Mark Brush / Michigan Radio
The site was used as a service center by MichCon from the 1950s until 2009. The company says it's waiting to see how the land will be used before it does more cleanup on the site.
The Argo Cascades is a series of little waterfalls and drop pools built in an old mill race in Ann Arbor. The polluted site is across the Huron River from this site.
Credit City of Ann Arbor
The Argo Cascades is a series of little waterfalls and drop pools built in an old mill race in Ann Arbor. The polluted site is across the Huron River from this site.
A map showing sites of old gas works around Michigan. To find old manufactured gas plants, look for "MGP."
Credit Dr. Allen Hatheway / Hatheway.net
A map showing sites of old gas works around Michigan.
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The city of Ann Arbor recently spent more than one million dollars rebuilding an old mill race along the Huron River. The Argo Cascades is a series of little waterfalls and pools where kayakers and people floating in inner tubes come to cool off.

But downstream from the Cascades on the other side of the river, there’s a problem.

There's been pollution lurking underground for some time from an old industrial plant, and two years ago regulators found that some of the pollution was making its way into the Huron River.

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Election 2012
11:08 am
Wed July 18, 2012

Ann Arbor residents will decide on new library building this November

The Ann Arbor District Library wants a new building downtown.
Credit AADL / Facebook
The Ann Arbor District Library wants a new building downtown.
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Ann Arbor residents can add a new tax levy to the growing list of issues on the November ballot.

The local library board wants $65 million for a new downtown building.

After 60 years, the Ann Arbor library's main branch has done its job, according to the board. 

But now they say they're running out of space, so they want to tear down and rebuild on the same site.

The plan would mean a 30-year tax hike. It would add roughly $54 dollars to the annual tax bill of anyone with a home worth $200,000.

If residents vote no, it would be the first time in 20 years the town's rejected a tax increase for the library.

Arts & Culture
2:46 pm
Fri July 6, 2012

Ann Arborites say 'hello to the future' in new time capsule

Credit Jada Hahlbrock / Ann Arbor DDA
The Library Lane parking structure time capsule.
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The Downtown Development Authority is getting ready to open the new Library Lane parking structure on Ann Arbor's South Fifth Ave. In the process, the group hopes to preserve a snapshot of the city's zeitgeist sealed beneath the structure's Division St. staircase.

DDA Executive Director Susan Pollay estimates that the time capsule will be reopened 100 to 200 years from now. She sees the project as a way in which all Ann Arborites can participate in the parking project.

"It's a chance to say 'hello' to people in the future," she said.

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