Ferndale Bus Shelter Blooms with Color and, Eventually, a Green Roof

FERNDALE, MI — Catching a bus in Ferndale is becoming a sensory affair, thanks to volunteers who picked up paintbrushes Sunday and began painting a SMART bus shelter at West Nine Mile Road, just west of Woodward Avenue, under a pilot project that will give several around the city a makeover.

“It’s a pilot effort so we can assess the costs and also look for grants or sponsorships,” Cindy Willcock, operations manager for the Downtown Development Authority, told The Daily Tribune. “It fits in well because we’re such a (mass) transit and art oriented city.”

The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, which owns the shelters, quickly approved the idea to transform them in to public art to brighten the streetscape and enhance the experience for riders using the bus transit system. Four shelters are due to get makeovers.

“SMART is looking forward to the creation of the first-ever ‘Art in SMART’ bus shelter enhancement program in cooperation with the Ferndale DDA,” John Hertel, general manager of SMART said in a statement.

Ferndale has been working on public art projects for abut a decade under a program the DDA calls “The Bus Stops Here.” Decorative benches were installed at five bus stops in 2006 in cooperation with the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

The West Nine Mile bus shelter, located near the Rust Belt market, is also due to get a green roof.

Volunteers hope to have the first shelter finished in time for this weekend's Woodward Dream Cruise.

Image: Brandi Redd via Flickr / Creative Commons