Years: 2025
The 2025 KCCI Community Catalyst Team reimagined downtown Tallahassee as a place where art, safety, and community intersect. Centered around the South Calhoun Street corridor, Leon County Courthouse, and City Hall, extending through Bicentennial Square, the team’s initiatives turned placemaking projects that celebrate people and place. Through creative design and collaboration, these projects enhanced pedestrian safety, showcased local artistry, and were reflective of Tallahassee’s unique identity.
2025 Placemaking Projects:
Safety Enhancements to Calhoun Corridor
The Calhoun Street Overpass, the Pedestrian Bridge Lighting effort advances a safer nighttime experience, guiding people between parking, City Hall, and civic destinations with clear, inviting illumination. Crosswalks to the Courthouse demonstrated how high-visibility treatments can calm traffic and improve pedestrian awareness. Following an FDOT memo in late August, the markings were removed in early September; the data and observations gathered now inform a next round of standards-aligned safety designs.
Public art is helping knit the corridor together. Art of the Box: “Harmonic Suns” extends the College Avenue artist corridor and adds color and wayfinding delight at the human scale, while a new kinetic sculpture near the Courthouse transforms a small parklet into a memorable pause point, inviting reflection, conversation, and a sense of pride in place.
Pavement Markings Enhance Safety: Crosswalks to the Courthouse
In collaboration with Leon County Government, the KCCI team introduced three vibrant Color-Safe artistic crosswalks connecting the South Calhoun Street parking garage to the Leon County Courthouse. These crosswalks slowed traffic and enhanced pedestrian safety, marking the team’s first placemaking win of 2025. Unfortunately, due to a memo by Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) on August 21, 2025 the crosswalks are no longer compliant and being removed by Sept. 4. Despite our best efforts, KCCI’s patterned crosswalk markings at this busy crossing are getting removed even though data showed they improved traffic compliance and made drivers slow down. They were privately funded, reviewed locally, and installed to support safety.
Art of the Box
To compliment the crosswalks and further enhance the user experience while walking downtown an Art of the Box was added at the corner of E. College Avenue and S. Calhoun Street. Art of the Box is when a traffic control is transformed into a radiant piece of public art; in this case the artwork features Rosiclair-Reyes’s “Harmonic Suns.” This accessible artwork enhances the area’s aesthetic while maintaining functionality, delighting residents and visitors alike. This box also continues the artists corridor of artistic boxes that run along College Avenue.
Kinetic Sculpture near the Leon County Courthouse
Small scale improvements also make a placemaking impact. The KCCI team is excited to announce the installation of a kinetic sculpture in a small parklet outside of the Leon County Courthouse. This artwork features a gentle, flowing motion and adds a focal point to the area, inviting passersby to reflect, pause and enjoy. Research suggests that moving visual art can promote relaxation by engaging attention and reducing stress, making this sculpture a perfect addition to placemaking efforts. Stay tuned to KCCI’s social media posts exploring these benefits!
Bicentennial Square: Phase 1 Enhancements
Building on the KCCI 2024 team’s Bicentennial Square Vision Plan, approved and funded by the downtown CRA in October 2024, the KCCI 2025 team began activation of Bicentennial Square as a welcoming community space. Thanks to the leadership of the City of Tallahassee with input from KCCI Community Catalysts, Phase 1 elements were completed June 2025.
At Bicentennial Square, Phase 1 brought practical upgrades that immediately improve comfort and visibility: colonnade lighting for safer evenings, a creative “I Heart Tallahassee” bike rack to encourage active mobility, self-watering planters that green the edges with lower maintenance, and clear wayfinding signage to orient visitors to the park. Phase 2 planning is underway, shaped by community input and professional design work alongside the City’s waterproofing project, with concepts for creative seating, shade, and improved receptacles that will evolve the square into a true gathering hub.
Together, these projects reflect Tallahassee’s momentum: safer crossings and clearer lighting, art that celebrates local talent, and a public realm that feels connected, inclusive, and distinctly ours. Explore the photo gallery to see the mural, art installations, and community moments that defined this year’s progress, and follow along as Phase 2 brings the next chapter to life.
Bicentennial Square: Phase 2 Plans
Looking ahead, Phase 2 will further define Bicentennial Square as a community hub with creative seating and improved trash receptacles. In addition, the City is working with professional architects and engineering teams to design and identify exactly how the future park can look once the City’s waterproofing project is completed.
A Celebration of Community Creativity and Connection
Placemaking Week 2025 brought Tallahassee together for a series of hands-on events that celebrated design, creativity, and civic pride. Across two inspiring weeks, residents, partners, and artists collaborated to reimagine how our public spaces reflect community spirit.
One example was the Good Things Grow Here mural. For more details on all the events click here.
Impact Snapshot
- 450+ residents surveyed, with 60% calling for more greenery and natural design elements, reflected in Bicentennial Square’s planters.
- Public art installations expanded, including Harmonic Suns Crosswalks to Courthouse,Art of the Box, and the downtown kinetic sculpture – all fostering pride and a sense of place.
- Completion of Phase 1- CRA funding secured (Oct 2024) for Bicentennial Square; Phase 2 planning underway, focused on public seating, lighting, and accessibility.Record community engagement: More than 300 residents attended Placemaking Week activities for improving downtown with a clearer identity, comfort, and character.
- 3 new artistic crosswalks completed, improving pedestrian visibility and downtown walkability.
Together, these efforts are making downtown Tallahassee safer, brighter, and more connected, proof that creative placemaking drives both community and economic impact.
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More Ideas
Stay tuned for more downtown ideas from the KCCI team in collaboration with community partners.
The 2025 KCCI Community Catalyst team includes:
Bianca Rhoades, Hancock Whitney Bank; Chicarla Pye, Florida Legislature; Chris Eppes, First Commerce Credit Union, Christi Billington, McKee Insurance- Acentria; Dr. Ruth Bedell, Bedell Consulting, LLC; Eliza Chase, Cambridge Systematics, Inc.; Elizabeth Barron, Ausley McMullen; Eric Pate, City of Tallahassee; Grace Shepherd, DAG Architects; Hollie Myers, Century 21 First Story Real Estate; Jonathan Klepper, Florida State University; Lori Elliott, Capital City Bank; Maxim D. Nasab, Apexx Architecture; Rachel Corry, Moore; Sam Franklin, Colony Bank; Verlonda Johnson, Preeminence Contracting and Construction. Congratulations to these outstanding individuals for being selected to serve on the 2025 KCCI Community Catalyst team!