Student's vision for Phoenix canals earns Innovation Challenge grant
“It would be nice if they were nice. They should have trees and benches and places you can sit and relax and water fountains,” Novak said.
Novak is studying public service and public policy in the School of Public Affairs, part of the College of Public Service and Community Solutions.
He plans to take this money and start with the section of the Grand Canal from Central Avenue to 7th Street. This particular section runs across just a few residential homes and three valley high schools. Novak hopes to partner with these high schools and have them contribute to his project.
“It would be the easiest thing in the world to go to the art classes and get one foot by one foot tiles and have each student paint something of whatever they want and then you could affix those to the concrete. So now you’ve got a mosaic of student-produced art along the canals,” Novak said. He hopes these steps to beautify the Phoenix canals can make them more welcoming to families or young people in the area.
Novak compares his idea to places like Paris, New York, and Rome. “You think of these romantic cityscapes and they’re places you want to kiss someone or be near someone or have fun or walk your children and we don’t have enough of those spaces,” Novak said.
He is no stranger to this type of work, though, as Novak helped to put on the Better Block Project along 1st St in September of 2014. He and other valley residents added art displays, crosswalks, benches, and street signs to help make 1st St a more walk-able environment.
Novak said it’s hard for people to imagine the potential of the canals now because they are so far from where he wants them to be. However, he hopes that by putting his $2,000 grant toward this half-mile section he can show people what he means by making the canals into a beautiful and fun space for a relatively low amount of money.
“It’s like a Better Block project but along a canal, that’s the main thing,” Novak said. He is excited for his idea to take form but doesn’t think it’s very creative. “They’ve done it in lots of other cities, we just haven’t done it here.”
Novak says one of the best things about his project is that he feels he is starting with ASU’s approval. He believes that if people hear that a unit within ASU is backing the beautification, then other companies will jump on-board as well. For instance, Novak needs to get the approval of SRP, the company that manages the canals, before he can start on the actual implication of his project. He’s not too worried about getting their permission, though. “SRP…in the last couple of years, have shown more of an open-mindedness about making [the canals] a more pleasant place for people,” Novak said.
Novak credits his Citizen Engagement and Community Building professor Daniel Schugurensky for encouraging his students to apply to the ASU Innovation Challenge and for being an excellent mentor.
You can look for Novak’s first new-and-improved canal along the Grand Canal Trail between Central Avenue and 7th St in the spring of 2016.
Written by Kennedy Munter