Around the Arch Blog

The Helix S322 and Windspire Energy turbines are now up on the Downtown Parking Gallery. They look great. The Windspire was painted by local artists and will be unveiled on July 8th at 4:00pm at an event in the West St. Market.

The City completed a rain garden at the McKinley Arts and Culture Center that is good for the building and the environment.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba10nSda2mo]

Reno got a lot of national attention for changing out the bulbs on the downtown arch to energy efficient LED lights. Now the City is garnering more attention. Leaders have put wind turbines on top of City Hall.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey74ZVuxhHY]

The first two wind turbines have been placed on Reno City Hall. They are the Cascade Engineering Swift turbines. Funded through the stimulus bill and NV energy rebates.

The City’s Green Summit is June 17th, 1 to 5 p.m. at the Joe Crowley Student Union Ballroom. It is an opportunity for concerned citizens to hear a report from City leaders on green projects and to make suggestions for future priorities.

The City’s Historic Resources Commission honored residents for their efforts to maintain the integrity of Reno’s past in architecture, Preserving historic structures is considered a very green thing to do.
The winners of this year’s awards are:
1. Distinguished Service Award – Alicia Baldrica, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer. Alice has been instrumental in all aspects of historic preservation in the state, including working to establish the state’s Certified Local Government program.
2. Advocate Award – Edwin Bath. Ed, with the help of his wife Jenny, worked closely with the City to convert the Crissie Caughlin Ranch into a nursery. Ed secured the historic overlay zoning district and annexation that allowed the adaptive reuse of the ranch as a nursery.
3. Residential Award – Chism Residence – 575 Ridge Street. Mercedes de la Garza and Scott Gibson won the award for their work on the Tutor home. The Chism Residence was built in 1929 and is located in the Newlands Neighborhood. This structure was designed by Frederic Delongchamps and was originally owned by Edward Warren Chism.
4. Historic Landmark Award – Humphrey House – 467 Ralston Street. Northern Nevada HOPES owns the Landmark and works to restore it.
The Humphrey House was built in 1906 and is located in Reno’s 1874 Western addition. It is one of the finest Mission Revival style homes in Nevada. The home was designed by prominent Reno architect Fred M. Schadler who also designed the Steinmiller House on California Avenue. Reno Council Member Dan Gustin and Historic Resources Commissioner Cindy Ainsworth presented the awards.

The City is trying to determine what topics you would like to discuss at the 2010 Green Summit. Please go to Reno.Gov and register your preferences.

Artists interested in painting the City of Reno’s Windspire wind turbine during a live Artown event have one week left to submit their qualifications. Deadline for submissions is Monday, May 24.

The project is a partnership between Windspire Energy, the City of Reno, and Artown that seeks to draw attention to Reno’s commitment to arts and renewable energy during the month long art festival. The artist(s) selected for this project will work closely with Windspire Energy and the City of Reno to design and paint the 10 foot base pole of the Windspire that will be installed on the roof of the Downtown Parking Gallery. The Artown live painting event will be held on July 8 at the West Street Market.

Windspire Energy (formerly Mariah Power), developer of the Windspire® wind turbine, and the City of Reno released a request for proposal (RFP) on April 22. The RFP is available for download at http://windspireenergy.com/news-center/artown-rfq/ and is open to all artists in the northern Nevada and Northern California area. Interested artists can also contact Kristyn Bishop at Windspire Energy at marketing@windspireenergy.com  or 775-852-0200 x224.

The Windspire wind turbine at the Downtown Parking Gallery is part of the City of Reno’s $19 million Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Initiative. Funding for the initiative is completely through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from rebates, federal grants, and bonds paid in energy savings. Projects from the initiative will help to save money in the City’s general fund.

Volunteers removed 81 tons of illegally dumped trash and invasive weeds from local outdoor recreation areas during the 5th Annual Great Truckee Meadows Community Cleanup on Saturday, May 8.

“Although 81 tons is still a lot of illegally dumped trash, we are seeing less every year,” said Christi Cakiroglu, Executive Director of Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful. “With the implementation of the 329-DUMP hotline to report illegal dumping, the continued support of the community and free quarterly bulky item weekends through Waste Management, we are making a huge dent in the problem. Education is the key!”

Over 500 volunteers worked at 14 sites from Verdi to Vista Heights to Dorothy McAlinden Park to Toll Canyon. In all, 541 yards of trash and invasive weeds were removed, including 18 tons of concrete, 500 pounds of metal, and over 300 tires, as well as Scotch and Musk thistle. Read the rest of this entry »

The Reno City Council has declared May 15-21 as Bike to Work & School Week. As a result, the City of Reno has been registered in the Commuter Challenge and encourages all employees to ride their bike at least one day during that week. Go to www.bikenevada.org and register and make sure you note you work for the City of Reno .

Register on the Bike to Work website and you’ll be entered into a community raffle with the chance to win $500 toward the purchase of a bicycle of your choice! You’ll also get a certificate for a 10% discount on commuter merchandise (helmets, backpacks, tire patch kits, leg bands, etc. – does not include bicycles) at participating bike shops.

Get a free cup of coffee on Friday, May 21, at a participating Commuter Coffee Shops.  See www.bikenevada.org  for a list.