A.M. Briefing: Midtown makeover

By TOM HASSLINGER

Made-over Midtown needs a touch up.

Concrete coloring on sections of sidewalk didn’t set properly during

last summer’s construction process, and has since peeled off, leaving

patches of bland, gray concrete where bright color should be.

“It’s nothing too major,” said Craig Firkins, Safco Construction

president. “We’ll make it look good again.”

The roughly $3 million makeover took up the whole summer last year.

But weather at the time was wet and cool, and the coloring stain

didn’t set properly in the less than ideal conditions.

The coloring has eroded on several blocks worth of sidewalk along

Fourth Street north of Roosevelt Avenue, prompting crews to come back

in sometime this summer to finish off the project for good.

Safco Construction contracted out the artistic work. Firkins said the

touch-up would be a quick process, but didn’t have details of the

timeline.

“Hopefully the weather will start to cooperate with us,” he said.