Homes listed from $600,000 to more than $1 million in Hunt Valley and Cockeysville are set to open for tours.

Touring homes for sale isn’t just for buyers, it’s also a great way to get ideas for your own home—from decorating tips to landscaping ideas.

Here’s a list of open houses in Hunt Valley and Cockeysville this weekend, from our partners at Zillow.com.

There’s nothing like touring homes for sale to get ideas for your own—from decorating tips to landscaping ideas.

Here’s a list of open houses in Pikesville this weekend, from our partners at Zillow.com.

View more listings.

By

JENNIFER NOBLIT

ThisWeek Community News

Wednesday October 9, 2013 11:33 AM

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Dublin is looking at art on a grand scale — 100 acres to be specific.

With improvements for the Interstate 270 and U.S. Route 33 interchange slated to start in late 2014, Dublin is looking at options to make the new ramps aesthetically pleasing and create a gateway for the city.

Like other public art projects, Dublin is seeking input from the community for aesthetic enhancements for the interchange that will cover an area of about 75 football fields.

“This is such a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our community to influence this design,” said Sara Ott, Dublin senior project manager.

For the project, Dublin has contracted with Maryland-based Creative Design Resolutions, a company focused on “the exploration and development of context sensitive aesthetic transportation design, an increasingly essential component of successful highway, bridge, and related roadway projects,” information on the company website said.

“We work with communities and project teams to develop site-specific aesthetic treatments that respect and engage the community’s history, values, and surrounding environment and architecture.”

Last week, the city started taking community input to give Creative Design Resolutions ideas for site designs.

“There are infinite possibilities that can be made into concrete, any type of relief sculpture,” Ott said.

“The imagery has many options. That’s why (Creative Design Solutions President Steven Weizman) is engaging with the community — to find a vibrancy that would be valuable to translate into the artwork.”

A focus group that drew 50-60 people was held Sept. 30 and the city began online queries Oct. 1.

Until Oct. 15, residents can go online and engage in feedback for the project at 27033interchange.org/signature-gateway. Questions focus on Dublin’s history, what makes the city great and points of pride.

The aesthetic enhancements will likely be limited to relief sculptures on the nine new ramps planned for the interchange. Plans for landscaping could also be includ-ed.

“The important part is it needs to be cost effective,” Ott said, adding a relief can be set into ramps as concrete is poured.

“You can pour it plain or do something to make it interesting… . With the site being 100 acres, that’s a lot of space to figure out where on that space is appropriate to add enhancements,” she said.

“That’s part of the assignment the Creative Design Solutions has been charged with. The aesthetics master plan takes advantage of dollars already being planned… .”

The aesthetic enhancements plan is being completed through a partnership between Dublin, the Dublin Arts Council and the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Creative Design Solutions has worked with departments of transportation across the country and will need approval from ODOT.

“We felt like (Weizman) has the skill set to deliver a signature gateway for the city,” Ott said.

Creative Design Solutions will use community input to create different ideas for the interchange.

“From those we’ll choose three ideas they want to fully work into designs to present to the community,” Ott said.

“They’ll be doing that throughout October and early November.”

Five years ago, Jovo Ivekich decided to leave his day job and start a landscape architecture firm that focuses on creativity and collaboration.

Since making that decision, Elements Design Landscape Architecture has built a reputation among those who want an emotional experience in an outdoor setting.

Elements’ most high-profile portfolio piece can be seen on the outdoor patio of the Iron Horse Hotel. “The Yard,” as it’s known, incorporates steel, a fire pit and other materials that symbolize the industrial theme of the hotel. 

After seeing “The Yard” and some of Elements’ other work, you wouldn’t dare call Ivekich’s work landscaping. He brings an expertise in everything from plants to outdoor furnishings into each project to tell a story unique to the project.

“We are landscape architects of the outdoor environment,” he said. “I call it a boutique for outdoor living because the services we offer are hands-on and design intensive.”

On Monday, Ivekich moved his design studio from the basement of his Fox Point home to an office above the new Erik’s Bike and Board Shop at 155 E. Silver Spring Drive.

Ivekich said he is excited to be get to know other people in the Whitefish Bay business community because he believes collaboration leads to success – a principal he carries over into his landscape architecture business.

Ivekich said he encourages clients to collaborate in the design process but also looks forward to guiding them through the many decisions they will have to make, from deciding on a general concept to deciding on materials, design specifications and bidding out contracts. 

Throughout the process, though, he believes it is important to involve the client as much as possible.

“I think the creative process needs to be more transparent and interactive,” he said. “I sometimes tell clients that they hold all the puzzle pieces, and I put the puzzle together. I’m trying to tell a story, and that story is based on the client’s vision.”

To learn more about Elements Design, visit the company’s website.

The corner on Ninth and Astor streets along the Columbia River had once been eyed as the site of the Garden of Surging Waves.

But upstaged by a collapsed block in the center of downtown near Astoria City Hall, the garden moved locations, growing larger with the inclusion of Heritage Square.

Little Astor Street park wasn’t needed anymore.

Left alone, it has now become home to the community’s transient population and some illegal activity.

Parks Director Angela Cosby plans to change all of that with a package of improvements. She received the go-ahead to do so on a 3-2 City Council vote Monday night. Council members Arline LaMear, Karen Mellin and Russ Warr voted in favor. Mayor Willis Van Dusen and Councilman Drew Herzig voted against it, with Herzig saying the public was left out of the discussion.

“A list of initial improvements were agreed upon,” City Manager Paul Benoit said, “include cleaning up existing landscaping, adding natural grass turf, irrigation and picnic tables. And with the council’s approval, parks staff would like to start making these initial improvements, and work on agreements with interested parties to adopt that Ninth Street park.”

Adopting the park, he explained, would mean businesses could volunteer to maintain the park throughout the year.

Money is available in the budget for the improvements, he added.

Cosby, along with the parks board, recently held a public meeting in which each attendee was given gameboard “cash” to spend on their priorities for the park.

“I was at that meeting that Angela led and it was really exciting. There were 23 people there, a good cross-section of the community, all stakeholders, all people that were interested,” Mellin said. “She had a very creative way of having us decide which of the items that we wanted to have installed in this park and did it with Monopoly money so we had to put our money where our mouth was.”

She said she wholeheartedly supported the project, to make the park “an enjoyable place to be.”

Herzig argued that the meeting was only for “shareholders,” however, and although he supported the park improvement he would not support what he felt was a lack of a public process.

“I am concerned that we really haven’t had a public presentation on this,” he said. “I would like us to delay a vote on this until the parks can do a public presentation. I know I contacted city staff that this was not a community event, this was an invitation to stakeholders and it got posted on Facebook. So people got involved, but it wasn’t deliberately said to the people of Astoria, ‘These are our plans for the park. What do you think about that?’”

LaMear said it was advertised through other means.

“It was in the paper. People were invited to come, and I thought it was a great meeting,” she said. “There were people there who were not on any kind of special list. They just were regular citizens that showed up. … I think it was advertised and the people that were most interested showed up.”

Van Dusen asked Benoit if a presentation would be possible. He said any presentation wouldn’t be much. “We can put the same thing on the next agenda, but we’re talking about grass, irrigation and benches. Very, very simple maintenance kind of work.”

Van Dusen also asked Cosby what the negatives would be of waiting. She replied the weather could be a factor in delaying it, because the grass needed to be planted before the heavy rains set in.

“We had a park there and the City Council, and the parks department long before Ms. Cosby was here, and we put in a park there that was not very popular,” Van Dusen said of his reasoning for voting no. “All of a sudden, people showed up and saw it and I would hate to repeat a mistake. And the mistake is that we didn’t have enough public process.”

George “Mick” Hague spoke in favor of the project.

“I’ve been talking about Ninth Street for more than a year,” he said. “Ms. Cosby has come on this year and has done an excellent job of pulling together people, and coming up with ideas. I hope the city will follow through on her suggestions.”

Hague suggested the donated artwork given to the city by 85-year-old Massachusetts sculpture Stanley Marcus should be placed in the park. A suggestion box on the first floor of City Hall for the artwork’s placement is available for public input.

“If we clean it up,” Mellin said, “people will treat it with much more respect.”

Casper currently has five collection sites for residents who want to get rid of tree branches downed by Friday’s powerful storm.

For people who don’t want to haul away their own debris, the city will collect branches during the next extra collection trash day. Branches must be cut into lengths 5 feet or less and placed in a neat pile on the curb.

Residents who aren’t physically able to collect branches should reach out to volunteers in the community, City Manager John Patterson said. Church groups and some businesses have been assisting people.

Colin Taylor was one of the lucky ones. He was taking a nap Sunday, waiting for the Denver Broncos game to start, when he heard a knock at his door. It was a neighbor, asking if a group of men outside could clear his lawn.

Taylor looked out and saw about a dozen men standing around a 30-foot flatbed trailer, he recounted Monday while at the senior center in Casper. They were from Halliburton. Taylor happily agreed and the men set to work.

“They had me cleared up by 3:30 p.m.,” he said, or quick enough for him to catch most of the Broncos game.

The city has a grinder at Mike Sedar Park and is trying to get two more so it could rotate the machines among the various sites, Patterson said. He expects to keep the sites open as long as people keep showing up with branches. That could be a couple of weeks, he estimated.

The open collection sites are:

• South Mike Sedar Park
• Iris Street at Valley Drive
• Along Bryan Stock Trail, north of K Street
• Corner of Wyoming Boulevard near 21st Street
• Balefill Compost Yard (open 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday – Saturday).

The small sites that have recent capacity and are now CLOSED: 

• The Ag Extension Building on Fairgrounds Road (community garden area)
• Viking Court (cul-de-sac area off Blackmore Road, near intersection with Wyoming Boulevard)
• YMCA area, near 15th Street and Wolcott Street
• Wyoming Boulevard near Fairside Road
• McKinley and 25th Street
• North Casper Recycling Depots

Historical Image
by Lawrence Morgan

Amos Lawrence Park

Building on the best of the past, yet looking towards the future

The former Farmland Industries fertilizer plant is now being made into a business park. I think it needs a new name and – equally important – a new vision. A much better name than those which have been proposed for this park would be “Amos Lawrence Park.”

It’s time to have a vision for this park which would incorporate the city’s possibilities and that of surrounding cities as well. The vision needs to incorporate what this park could become in conjunction with other parts of Lawrence and Douglas County.

Pedestrian / bicycling trail and a place for gathering

A pedestrian/bicycling trail should lead from the park to downtown Lawrence and to the circular path around the university. This could be adjacent to the 19th Street entrance but should be separate, and not part of, the roadway. There should also be a trail leading from the park to Baldwin City and Ottawa, and eventually to Eudora, DeSoto and Kansas City. All of these trails would be landscaped with Kansas plants, and would be part of the Douglas County and Johnson County trail and park systems.

There should be places to sit and to have coffee, tea or a meal. Trees and flowers throughout the park would be a welcome break from the summer’s sun. Some of these things are shown on the master plan but not in detail, and not extending beyond the park itself.

Healthy food would be provided so that persons, and visitors, could have lunch there. In addition to take-out foods, there is a strong possibility that a Whole Foods or Trader Joes would work well in the park. Whole Foods, for example, is now building smaller stores with a live sandwich, meats and seafood department.

Could there be anything better than not only to have your food at the park, but also to be able to come on your bike or in the car to Whole Foods, for example, for your grocery shopping. In the spring, summer and fall you could come via the path on bicycle or as a pedestrian to the park. If you are on the way to work in Kansas City, or coming to Lawrence to enjoy yourself, you could stop off at Amos Lawrence Park to get provisions for your evening meal or an afternoon outing. This would mean you wouldn’t have to make an extra trip for groceries later, but could instead enjoy yourself at home or outside in good weather.

Dillon’s at 17th and Massachusetts St. should also be complimented for having made a strong investment in a part of town which before did not have a good grocery store. It is a good example of a company reinvesting in local businesses by completely remodeling the store, making it very up to date.

The trail and bus route should lead past Dillons to downtown, to the new library and then to the university. With this kind of public transportation, many people won’t need to drive their cars to work – they can take the bike, walk, or ride the bus much of the year.

Several important things

This would symbolize several important things.

First, the name of the park itself. By naming the park the “Amos Lawrence Park,” it shows the connection Lawrence has to the early east coast of the United States, at which time the nation had really just begun its long journey forward.

There would be a link to Lawrence, Massachusetts – another town also named by Amos Lawrence – which I think would be very important for this park, so that links between Lawrence and the east coast are well understood. Street names and place names (for gatherings, coffee, a meal) should be chosen based on the creative energies of the first people in Lawrence – from businessmen to teachers, homemakers to farmers and builders.

The path from the park to downtown, to Baldwin City, Ottawa, Eudora and DeSoto – and eventually Kansas City – offers ideal places in these towns for start ups. Many companies would prefer that their people work in smaller places, which are quiet – such as Baldwin City. They could get a lot more done than driving on 101 in the Bay Area for one to two hours each way even before they get started for the day.

All of these places would be linked by fiber cables – and the time to put them in is now, when 19th St. is ready to join Amos Lawrence Park – not later. This would make it clear that all parts of the city are linked together, not just some companies and organizations. All paths would be lit by LED lights at night.

Actually, fiber cables should be accessed by all businesses, so that people would get to know one another, as well as citizens from all of Douglas County, Franklin County and Kansas City. In Silicon Valley, for instance, many companies, as a result of such meetings, now share skills, talent and overlapping products. New companies locate in Silicon Valley just as a result of these meetings. The same thing could take place in Lawrence. Outdoor and indoor meetings should take place at least once every week.

The contributions of all Lawrence citizens should also be shown. By their being able to visit the park, both via the path, bus and by car, it would take on much more energy than by simply being a business park, of which there are already plenty in all parts of the United States, including Silicon Valley – where many business buildings and parks have plenty of buildings which remain empty. Much more is needed besides buildings and concrete if a space is going to become an idea-generation location.

Building on the best of the past, yet looking towards the future

“Building on the best of the past, yet looking towards the future.” Both need to be incorporated into this park, and the surrounding pathways. It must, for example, include nature: Kansas is a very important part of the prairie and plains ecosystem. There should be plants, flowers and trees which reflect this aspect of life in Lawrence, available for all to see, including major landscaping all along the trial. This landscaping should under no circumstances be ignored. This should not be a park with no connection to the land. There should also be a fountain or fountains throughout the park, so that families and single persons would enjoy being there on the weekends as well as during the week.

And there should be the amenities that companies seek in Silicon Valley – basketball courts, for example, so that people who take breaks could have fun, and again, meet more people.

City College of Lawrence

There would also eventually need to be a City College of Lawrence, modeled to some extent on the City College of San Francisco as well as other signficant community colleges. The City College of San Francisco has 85,000 students of all ages – from those who are learning English, to people working towards an associate degree, to seniors who are catching up on areas they never had time for eariier in life.

And this, again, needs to be an attractive area so that people can meet each other and enjoy themselves – preferably outside in good weather. You never know who will meet each other – and perhaps have just the right idea for a new company. Steve Jobs quit the university because he felt he had better things to do with his time. You don’t always need a university education to make things happen – and you can go back later when you have additional time and when you have explored life first.

City College of Lawrence should be linked not only with KU, but with Kansas State, Baker University, Ottawa University, and other similar colleges. We need an organization which will serve all people, at many different stages in their life.

Attractive signs in each city should point prominently to each educational institution in that city. There should be no doubt about it: Kansas is about education, at many different times throughout life!

Also, by putting a City College of Lawrence at Amos Lawrence Park, people from surrounding communities could be served at this location or in small branch colleges around town, each with a small library, computer space, and paying of bills without extra fees. These could be empty storefronts or small houses in various parts of the city.

The result will be a city of energy and innovation

What would eventually result would be a city of energy, excitement and innovation. This is the kind of city that companies want to relocate to, and that people of all ages – including seniors – would want to take part in. It would be an ideal energetic business community, including a City College for future growth at any time, and an ideal senior retirement location.

If this park is to mean anything in the future, it must have vitality, energy and innovation. The “Amos Lawrence Park” has all of these things and it would be a source destination for businesses of all kinds – not just “venture” businesses.

It would also be a break from much of what is taught at KU, which is too often just rote repeating of what the student thinks the teacher will want, instead of genuine creativity. (And I am a KU graduate; I have experienced that many times myself.)

There could be a strong set of courses – from 1 week to several months – with online classes combined with students working with one another – and many of these online classes are free.

And obviously the groundbreaking TED lectures.

Creative energy is what companies are looking for in the future. Lawrence, by naming this park “Amos Lawrence Park,” meets these goals when they are combined with a city that people want to come to and live in for the rest of their lives.

BY DAVID ROEDER
Staff Reporter

October 8, 2013 7:06PM

Artist rendering of developer Steven Fifield’s plan to “Cap the Kennedy,” or build a park over parts of the Kennedy Expressway, just west of downtown. | Courtesy~Fifield Companies

Article Extras

Updated: October 8, 2013 7:19PM

If downtown Chicago is to grow, it most likely is to grow to the west, beyond the commuter train stations. And that brings the future push for development up against the trench that contains the Kennedy Expy.

City planners have for years seen as sensible the idea of building a landscaped cap over the Kennedy, shielding the cars from neighbors and creating a park. It would be a focal point and an invitation to invest in the Near West Side. Think of Millennium Park on the other side of downtown, in finances as well as appearance.

Steven Fifield, founder of Fifield Cos., has embraced the Kennedy cap and drafted plans for it with architect Scott Sarver, principal of SMDP Studio. He’s also discussed the idea with community groups and politicians. Most like the plan, but the cost — now estimated at $60 million per block — threatens to keep it a vision and nothing more.

“It would be a clear improvement for that expressway corridor, but there are a lot of questions about how to pay for it,” said downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd).

Fifield is betting that the park would intensify developer interest in surrounding parcels. The new offices or apartments could generate tax revenue that pays off bonds for the project.

But when he broached this subject a year ago, he was sketching out a four-block deck, running from Washington to Jackson, costing $15 million per block. He said that the new estimate of $60 million comes after input from the city’s Transportation Department.

Alan Schachtman, executive vice president at Fifield Cos., said the higher cost reflects requirements for ventilation, fire prevention needs and even the landscaping and irrigation of the deck. He’s still a believer. “It would do for that area what Millennium Park did for the east side,” Schachtman said.

Initial funding could come from the Canal Congress tax-increment financing district, which had $49 million in its account at the end of last year, most of it committed to other projects. They include $11 million for a favorite of the city’s: the proposed Bus Rapid Transit system on Ashland.

Suggesting TIF for a downtown enhancement will lead to criticism that neighborhood needs are being ignored and priorities are misplaced.

Sarver, however, said the Kennedy cap is perfect for a TIF. “I think that, fundamentally, this is what they were for — to improve our infrastructure and to spur growth and development,” he said.

TOKYO CALLING: The old Tokyo Hotel at 19 E. Ohio had a function, I suppose, as being a dirt-cheap place to stay downtown if you could put up with the questionable sanitation and documented building code issues. Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) described the place as “dodgy” when he mentioned in a City Club of Chicago speech that the hotel is due for a makeover.

Property records show New York-based Sydell Group Ltd. bought the 15-story building earlier this month for $13.5 million. The company has formed a venture with billionaire Ron Burkle to develop hostels catering to young travelers and those on a budget.

Sydell spokesman Michael Tavani said the hotel will reopen as the second operation of a brand called Freehand. The first one opened in Miami in 2012. Tavani said the brand offers a mix of shared and private rooms. The work will take about 18 months and give the hotel a new on-site bar and café, he said.

THE CLOSER: This is my last column for the Sun-Times and I wanted to pause here at the end and thank everyone for reading over the years. I’ve had a great run, starting in 1998 when I came in one Monday and opened a memo written with military-like dispassion that ordered me to start writing a commercial real estate column pronto.

That was the stated subject matter, at least. Over time, the column became more about the changing city, from big trends to everyday deals that promised an impact on what we see around us. To me, that’s what makes real estate a compelling story.

Thank you for your ideas, your praise and critiques. My next assignment is to join Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration in his Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. I welcome the challenge but will miss writing about our shared interest in what makes Chicago tick.

Email: droeder@suntimes.com

When Jerry Shimonaski reached his 76th birthday over the summer, he celebrated another anniversary. This year marked his 10th as a member of the Verona Environmental Commission, with the last six as its chairman.

With the decade of service in tow, Shimonaski decided to make a change and stepped down from his post. However, he will remain with the organization while working with his successor, Gloria Machnowski.

“It was time for another member to become the chair and move the [commission] to new heights,” Shimonaski said.

The longtime leader of the group spent about half of the association’s history as an affiliate, after its establishment in 1992. Now Shimonaski shifts to the role of vice chairman. Machnowski first joined the commission in 2009 as the webmaster for the group’s website, she said, before moving up to vice chair. She will hold her latest position as chairwoman until the end of June of 2016, as the appointments were officially approved by the Township Council during its Sept. 16 meeting.

Councilman Kevin Ryan, the liaison to the Verona Environmental Commission, said he recommended Machnowski and after speaking to his colleagues, it became a unanimous decision to select her.

“[Machnowski] will bring a lot of energy and good ideas,” Ryan said, “and I think [Shimonaski] will be the other person to tell you that.”

Ryan referred to Shimonaski’s tenure as “distinguished” and believed he groomed Machnowski to succeed him in the role, and will continue to do so.

A fixture at meetings throughout Verona, some of the accomplishments of the commission during Shimonaski’s reign include the creation of its website, the inception of the annual Peckman River cleanup, and a commitment to several “Idle Free” campaigns to attempt to sway people not to leave their vehicle’s engine running while parked. He also pointed to the organization’s purchase of an Enviroscape in 2007, a 3-D model now used by two H.B. Whitehorne Middle School science teachers to help eighth-graders learn about pollution.

Machnowski now presses on with her eye on current and future projects for the group as it celebrates its 20th anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, she said they plan to plant a shade tree and place a plaque by the playground at the Verona Community Center. Other initiatives include the fifth year of the middle school poster contest for “Idle Free Verona” and a walk to school day on Oct. 9, plus work with the township council to switch from synthetic pesticides to organic landscaping care.

“I think it’s going to be an excellent team,” Ryan said of the future of the commission. “We have a lot of good people so we’re looking forward to some good things in the coming year.”

Email: jongsma@northjersey.com