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The Casper Five Trails Rotary Club has developed a community development service project that will create a prominent landmark and public gathering space in the Old Yellowstone District (OYD) of downtown Casper. The Five Trails Rotary Club is currently raising funds for a four-dial illuminated post clock with the Rotary wheel logo printed on each face. Because of the nature of the clock project, fundraising for the clock is being completed independently of the district grant process. The clock will be installed with the base inside a raised planter flower garden surrounded with Rotary Benches and Rotary Bike Racks. A separate multi-club project has been established to help fund the planter, benches and bicycle racks aspect of this larger effort.
This Rotary club project will be prominently located in a portion of the OYD area that is undergoing significant revitalization in 2016-17. Presently, the Casper Downtown Development Association has started the pre-construction activities to create a new outdoor public plaza named the David Street Station (see attached site plan). The David Street Station will be an events driven year-round gathering place for the community. The plan is to create an outdoor venue and public space that hosts a wide variety of activities and builds a stronger Casper community. It is designed to retain the current generation and attract the next generation to the old downtown district.
The location of the David Street Station is directly across the street (Yellowstone) from the old Iris Movie Theater which is being transformed into the new Casper Civic Auditorium named "The Lyric" (see attachment for architects rendering). In addition, the State of Wyoming will be building a new State Government Office Building one block to the South of the David Street Station. The new office building will centrally house all of the Casper based State agency employees and services. Combined, these three community redevelopment projects will add a new vitality to the Old Yellowstone District of downtown Casper.
With a little foresight, Casper Rotarians have gained the opportunity to contribute to this downtown community development effort by funding enhancements to the street front between the two planned new community events venues (David Street Station and The Lyric). The four Casper Rotary Clubs are planning the installation of a Rotary flower garden, park benches and bicycle racks in a prime location at the crosswalk between the two venues. The Casper Five Trails Rotary Club is planning to add to the project by contributing a four-dial Rotary post clock which is envisioned to be a prominent feature at the crosswalk between the two venues. The clock, garden, benches and bike racks will provide a central gathering point for families and friends to meet before and after enjoying the events and activities at the two venues.
The Five Trails club is planning to purchase the clock with money raised during a focused community fundraising effort. The funds from this grant will be used for the construction of the clock foundation and the cost of the installation of the clock. Rotary's contribution to this community revitalization and development effort will be permanently memorialized with the installation of the Rotary funded public gathering area featuring a Rotary Post Clock, raised garden, park benches and bicycle racks.
This District 5440 Grant funded project will be constructed in coordination with the David Street Station Project construction timeline and is planned for completion in May, 2017.
Addendum to Project Description (added after the project was signed)
The budget for this project has been revised to only include costs associated with the preparation of design documents along with site revitalization, rehabilitation, preparation and concrete foundation construction for the proposed community gathering space. The proposed funding of this project is derived from this $2,500 DDF grant, $2,000 secured by a pledge from the Casper Rotary Foundation and the balance of $5,340 pledged by the Five Trails Rotary Club. The total project budget is $9,840 (see attached document).
The Rotary Post Clock mentioned in the project description is a separate initiative that is being funding outside of the District Grant program.
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