WL revives plans for pedestrian plaza in Village area

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WL REVIVES PLANS FOR PEDESTRIAN PLAZA IN VILLAGE AREA

West Lafayette is circling back on a concept first floated in 2019, then set aside, to turn part of South Street in the Village area into a pedestrian plaza.

The city’s redevelopment commission approved a request for proposals for a plaza redesign between Northwestern Avenue and Chauncey Avenue – think of the block with Greyhouse Coffee, Vienna Espresso Bar and Bakery and Chase Bank – that includes hardscape elements, outdoor seating and accessibility.

Now the block has a portion devoted to outdoor seating, along with five angled parking spaces on a one-way block that enters and exits on Chauncey Avenue.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

The proposals to take on the design work are expected June 12, when the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission meets next.

The proposal revives the idea of planting a plaza in the heart of the Village area, after it was trimmed from the joint city/Purdue $120 million State Street Project to keep that work under budget. The plan also had been to include the plaza when the city redesigned Chauncey Avenue between City Hall and the West Lafayette Public Library, but that was scrapped for budget reasons, too, Larry Oates, redevelopment commission president, said Wednesday.

When it first surfaced in 2019, city officials said the goals included showcasing a building opened in 1914 as the Purdue State Bank as part of renowned Chicago architect Louis Sullivan’s “Jewel Box” series of banks designed in smaller Midwestern cities. It's now a Chase Bank branch.

Jenifer Van Schuyver, West Lafayette’s development director, said the request for proposals this time asks firms “to focus on the surrounding historic infrastructure near the footprint of the site.” But it doesn’t specifically mention the Louis Sullivan building.

In March 2023, a Chicago-based developer’s draft plans for the long-awaited redevelopment of the Chauncey Hill Mall site at the crest of the State Street hill included the possibility of obtaining the Louis Sullivan building and donating it to the city.