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Community Liaison on Rebuilding the Ave
The Seattle Department of Transportation (DOT) planned an extensive renovation of University Way ("the Ave") in the University District. The University District community chose Muir Public Relations to act as the project's liaison to the district businesses and residents.
Muir was contracted to provide public relations, extensive community relations during the 13-month reconstruction, major events creation and execution, and printed informational materials. Throughout the 13-month project, Muir staff kept the community and city informed of each others concerns, and was credited with helping the project come in ahead of schedule and under budget.
This huge project significantly impacted local businesses. A full ten blocks was reconstructed: all new streets and sidewalks; bus bulbs and shelters; electrical, gas and water upgrades; streetlights and pedestrian lights and over 100 new street trees.
Often, with construction projects such as this, local residents have little information about what is going on. From the outset, Muir took a proactive approach based on full disclosure of information.
Event Planning:
At the groundbreaking, Muir's goal was to delight the crowd and create an engaging educational tool that could be used throughout the year. Muir created a large-format pop-up book that illustrated each of the new features the new Ave would sport when finished. The pop-book exactly represented the block in which the groundbreaking took place, creating a strong link to the coming reality.
Muir then celebrated the conclusion of the project with a ten-block street party, dubbed the Ave-A-New. Utilizing very substantial volunteerism from the business community, Muir created a low-budget, very successful event that attracted thousands to see the newly rebuilt Ave.
Public Relations:
Information Booths at Two University District Street Fairs
At the annual University District Street Fair, just prior to the start of construction, Muir mounted a funny, eye-catching booth to draw attention to the upcoming project. With construction and stop signs, ladders, a mound of dirt and to-scale Tonka construction toys, the booth attracted families and individuals, helping to spread the word about the soon-to-be-gorgeous Ave.
Community Liaison for Rebuilding the Ave:
Most significantly, Muir staff was on the Ave every week, attending construction meetings and then hand-delivering a weekly newsletter to every business telling them exactly what was happening that week and what to expect in the weeks to come.
Muir Public Relations brought a unique set of skills to this community relations challenge: the staff member we assigned, Art Brochet, has a degree in engineering and construction management and graduate studies in public policy. With this combination of skills he understood the construction sequence and could explain it clearly to affected businesses and residents.
Art recounts, "When a two-block long section of the water main lost pressure and businesses lost water services, our phones lit up. We heard about it before the project engineer on site did, and fielded dozens of calls. We were able to give those businesses partial information within 5 minutes and call all affected businesses and residential buildings within 30 minutes."
Marketing Materials:
Communication with the larger community was equally important in order to maintain support for the project and encourage surrounding residents to visit the new Ave. A four-page newsletter detailing the project and its mission was sent to 35,000 local residents during the holidays. A second newsletter was sent in the spring, updating residents on construction progress and inviting them to see the finished portion and shop the Ave.
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