*UPDATE: Don’t get your heart set on Free State Boulevard just yet. Susan Tate, director of the Lawrence Arts Center and one of the leaders who applied for the ArtPlace grant, called me back and said the idea of changing the name for a portion of Ninth Street hasn’t gained any real traction. Tate said the name of the grant proposal does involve the title Free State Boulevard, but she said that is not an indication that the group plans to ask the city commission to change the name of the street. She said it is hard to predict what the yet-to-be-hired design team may recommend, but she she doesn’t have any plans to ask commissioners for a name change.
“It is just the title of the grant,” she said.*

When it comes to street names in Lawrence, we like to keep folks on their toes. We have 15th Street that suddenly turns into Bob Billings Parkway. We have 23rd Street that suddenly turns into Clinton Parkway. We have Inverness Drive that turns into Legends Drive. And I’m sure there are some others too that have caused motorists to get into a shouting match with their GPS.

Perhaps, though, we may have one more in the center of downtown. Commissioners briefly talked about the recently awarded $500,000 ArtPlace grant, which will be used to hire a planning consultant and purchase some public art to help remake Ninth Street between Massachusetts and Delaware streets. The city has tentatively agreed to place $3 million in its 2015 budget to fund the actual rebuilding of the street, sidewalk, bike paths and such.

That’s all been pretty well understood, but at Tuesday’s City Commission meeting, there was some talk that Ninth Street may actually get a new name out of the deal as well: Free State Boulevard.

I’m still trying to determine whether a change in name is a major part of the idea that has been put forward by leaders of the Lawrence Arts Center and others who submitted the ArtPlace grant. The name of their proposal to the ArtPlace grant funders indeed was Free State Boulevard: From the Studios to the Streets.

The application doesn’t clearly say that the street would be renamed Free State Boulevard, but there is a portion of the application that makes you think it might.

The application says the grant would be used to “design the streetscape and sustainable plan for permanent and ephemeral art and cultural events that will transform this segment of 9th Street into Free State Boulevard.”

I’ve got a call into Susan Tate, the director of the Arts Center, to get more information on the idea of a name change. Any change in name would have to be approved by city commissioners. Commissioners didn’t discuss really at all on Tuesday, but did receive public comment from one East Lawrence resident who said some neighbors had heard of the idea and were not wild about the name change.

Regardless, the name is expected to be a pretty minor part of the project. The bigger question will be how the street would be designed. Commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday agreed to put out a request for proposals for a design team for the project. The city is expected to create an advisory group that will include artists, area residents and other stakeholders who make recommendations on the design of the road.

But already there has been a concept presented to city commissioners. In the information provided on Tuesday, there was a sample drawing that showed the section of Ninth Street including a tree-lined median. In addition, there would be bike lanes in each direction and wide sidewalks on both sides. Click here to see a sample design.

UPDATE: Tate told me that she estimates about $350,000 of the grant will be spent directly on art projects or events for the corridor. She estimates about $50,000 of the grant will be provided to the city to help cover the approximately $200,000 in design costs for the project. The remaining money will be used to cover administration, travel and other overhead expenses associated with the grant.

We’ll see where the design process leads, but certainly it will put a strong emphasis on making the corridor a “complete street,” meaning it will pay as much attention to pedestrians and bicyclists as it does to motorists. Also, expect to see more benches, lighting and public art on the street.

If the street is indeed renamed Free State Boulevard, I guess we’ll all know what the signature art piece will be: a 32-foot tall sculpture of a sudsy bottle of Ad Astra Ale.

Oh, maybe we’re not talking about that Free State.

In other news and notes from around town:

As we reported from last night’s City Commission meeting, a proposed property tax increase is still on track to becoming reality in the 2015 budget. So too is a shakeup of social service agency funding.

Commissioners largely left unchanged a list of recommended funding levels for a host of area social service agencies and nonprofit groups that receive city tax dollars. The recommended funding provides new money to some organizations, but cuts or eliminates the funding of some longtime recipients of city money.

Here’s a look at the agencies scheduled to receive cuts in city funding, if the recommended 2015 budget proceeds.

• Warm Hearts: Funding cut by $6,000 to zero in 2015.

•Van Go Mobile Arts: Cut by $35,000 to $32,000.

• Jayhawk Area on Aging: Cut by $7,400 to zero.

• Ecumenical Minister’s Fellowship; Cut by $2,000 to zero.

• Downtown Farmers’ Market: Cut by $600 to $10,000 .

• Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence: Cut by $17,800 to $227,922.

• Big Brothers Big Sisters: Cut by $4,365 to $19,300.

• GaDuGi Safe Center; Cut by $2,000 to zero.

• Headquarters Counseling: Cut by $10,000 to zero.

• Heartland Community Health Center: Cut by $28,792 to zero.

There are some winners in the process, though. Here’s a look at the agencies scheduled to receive increases:

• Ballard Community Center: Up $6,000 to $14,500.

• Success by Six: Up $27,500 to $27,500.

• DCCCA: Up $52,696 to $93,696.

• First Step House: Up $9,761 to $37,421.

The city has a Social Service Funding Advisory Board that reviews all the requests by agencies for city funding. The group had its reasons for recommending the various increases and decreases in funding, but they’re too numerous for me to explain here. But click here to see a report by the group explaining its funding recommendations.