A project first envisioned in the mid-1990s could finally get off the ground later this year.

The Gateway Greenspace - so named because it's at the end of the main downtown exit ramp from Interstate 64/77, greeting visitors as they approach the Clay Center - could be finished by the end of this year.

"We are making the final changes in the bid package," Susie Salisbury, a vice president of the Charleston Area Alliance, said Wednesday. "We hope to advertise for contractors within the next week," she said Wednesday.

Construction could begin in June, she said.

Salisbury has been waiting for that since she was director of Charleston Renaissance Corp., one of the three groups merged to form the Alliance several years ago.

Renaissance members developed the CENTRAL (short for Commercial, Economic, Neighborhood, Transportation, Recreation And Living) Redevelopment Plan in the mid-1990s, after they had completed many of the goals set in a previous plan for linking the Charleston Town Center with downtown, Salisbury said.

Among the many ideas in the CENTRAL plan was a two-acre park "between Sentz Court and Broad Street, as far north as Lewis Street." The park would feature "flower gardens, picnic areas, walking paths and lawn game areas," according to news accounts.

The concept evolved to more of an outdoor learning center with an environmental emphasis. It also shrunk to about an acre, as planners decided to focus on the four parcels closest to Washington Street and leave the Verizon building along Leon Sullivan Way.

In 1999, Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members bought the old Motorcar Supply auto parts site for $315,000 - their contribution toward the project.

The process ground to a near halt as Barbara Selman drove a hard bargain for the last parcel - a small site on Washington Street she leased to a rental car firm.

CURA took the land through eminent domain in June 2006. A court-appointed panel awarded Selman $376,000 for the land, but she appealed and a jury gave her $591,000 last summer. She ultimately settled for $520,000 in December.

A project first envisioned in the mid-1990s could finally get off the ground later this year.

The Gateway Greenspace - so named because it's at the end of the main downtown exit ramp from Interstate 64/77, greeting visitors as they approach the Clay Center - could be finished by the end of this year.

"We are making the final changes in the bid package," Susie Salisbury, a vice president of the Charleston Area Alliance, said Wednesday. "We hope to advertise for contractors within the next week," she said Wednesday.

Construction could begin in June, she said.

Salisbury has been waiting for that since she was director of Charleston Renaissance Corp., one of the three groups merged to form the Alliance several years ago.

Renaissance members developed the CENTRAL (short for Commercial, Economic, Neighborhood, Transportation, Recreation And Living) Redevelopment Plan in the mid-1990s, after they had completed many of the goals set in a previous plan for linking the Charleston Town Center with downtown, Salisbury said.

Among the many ideas in the CENTRAL plan was a two-acre park "between Sentz Court and Broad Street, as far north as Lewis Street." The park would feature "flower gardens, picnic areas, walking paths and lawn game areas," according to news accounts.

The concept evolved to more of an outdoor learning center with an environmental emphasis. It also shrunk to about an acre, as planners decided to focus on the four parcels closest to Washington Street and leave the Verizon building along Leon Sullivan Way.

In 1999, Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members bought the old Motorcar Supply auto parts site for $315,000 - their contribution toward the project.

The process ground to a near halt as Barbara Selman drove a hard bargain for the last parcel - a small site on Washington Street she leased to a rental car firm.

CURA took the land through eminent domain in June 2006. A court-appointed panel awarded Selman $376,000 for the land, but she appealed and a jury gave her $591,000 last summer. She ultimately settled for $520,000 in December.

That price - about $150,000 more than expected - set back project planners. Land costs have now eaten up about $1.4 million of the $2.1 million in mostly federal grant money supporters have raised, not counting design fees of more than $100,000, Salisbury said.

The Alliance is looking for more funding, she said, and is trying to get grants from the state Development Office.

In 2001, designers estimated it would cost $625,000 to build the greenspace, so Salisbury's holding her breath. "We won't know until we get the bids back," she said. "The good thing is we're not using steel. We're not building a building.

Construction is expected to take six months, Salisbury said. "They'll be getting rid of the all the asphalt, hauling in a lot of dirt."

People entering the space will see a wall of terraces - the highest 8 feet above street level - with a stream cascading down to a reflecting pool. Benches and natural seating areas will allow school groups to gather for outdoor learning.

"They're building stacked terraces that will symbolize the different elevations of our mountains," Salisbury said. "It will need a lot of native plants and trees that are strategically placed in the terraces to indicate what lives at different elevations."

Visitors now can see a pile of boulders brought there last year by Charles Jones of Amherst Industries, she said. They'll be set along the streambed leading to the reflecting pool.

"We're transforming this former brownfield and asphalt parking lot into a slice of West Virginia natural heritage. It's going to be a fabulous addition to the city."

Given the long history of the project, you might forgive Salisbury for a bit of hyperbole: "I just want this done before I expire."

To contact staff writer Jim Balow, use e-mail or call 348-5102.