Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / The City of Chilliwack hopes to revitalize the Lickman Road roundabout, a highly visible and heavily traveled intersection, so that it makes a better impression on the visitors and the traveling public alike as opposed to an empty roundabout. The City is accepting bids for public artwork in the center button of the Lickman Road roundabout just south of Highway 1, near Heritage Park.
Public art coming to Lickman roundabout

City of Chilliwack soliciting bids for artwork at Lickman Road roundabout

Nov 15, 2023 | 8:55 AM

CHILLIWACK — The City of Chilliwack hopes to revitalize a roundabout at a highly visible intersection so that it makes a stirring impression on the visitors and the traveling public alike.

The City is accepting bids for public artwork in the center button of the Lickman Road roundabout just south of Highway 1, near Heritage Park.

According to documents on the city’s website, the city has released a request for proposal (RFP) to solicit proposals from qualified proponents for the provision of artwork for the Lickman Road roundabout. The 61-page RFP has been prepared to solicit interest from artists or artist teams who are experienced in public art, budgeting, fabrication and installation. The successful proponent will design, fabricate, deliver and install the outdoor public art of which the city will provide traffic control and support to facilitate the installation in the center button of the roundabout. The request is open to all artists.

City staff consider the Lickman Road roundabout a sort of welcoming point into the city since it hosts a significant amount of local traffic as well as siting from both eastbound and westbound Highway 1 traffic.

“The goal of the artwork project is to meet the City of Chilliwack’s public art program vision to enrich the visual environment of the community by placing works of art in strategic locations throughout the City,” RFP paperwork states. “Establishing a piece of public art in this location will present a visually impactful first impression of Chilliwack and furthers the introduction of public art to the community.”

The objective of the commissioned Artwork is to create and establish a piece of artwork that enhances the streetscape by providing an additional focal point along Lickman Road corridor. Artists are asked to design a kinetic compass and/or weather vane. The piece will have its four due points accurately displayed and ideally be decorated with vignettes of local activities, in order to present a high-quality piece of public art that is visually appealing from all approaches but will not impede traffic flow in any manner including through the use of reflective material.

The city indicates in RFP documents that the project should not exceed a maximum budget of $70,000 inclusive of all applicable taxes. The $70K price tag entails all associated project costs including artist fees, studio overhead, WorkSafeBC and insurance coverage, artwork fabrication, materials, labour, supplies, engineering, installation, contingencies and taxes. The city says failure to meet budget requirements will result in disqualification.

The city of Chilliwack will furnish the footing installation, electrical connection (including external lighting system if required), traffic control and crane services if required at the roundabout.

The city usually has a strict policy of accepting the lowest bidder for public works projects, but that is not the case with this public artwork proposal.

“The City of Chilliwack is not obligated to accept the proposal with the lowest dollar amount,” it specified in RFP documents.

Bids will be accepted from interested proponents until Wednesday, November 29.