AUGUSTA — City councilors Thursday will review a plan to raise money to install a to-be-determined work of art on a recently created traffic island at a major gateway to the downtown.

The Augusta Downtown Alliance proposes to work with the city to install a piece of public art as part of the landscaping of a relatively new traffic island at the intersection of Green and Water streets. The island, now empty, was created by the city last year as part of changes that included making the previously one-way Green Street open to traffic in both directions.

But before any work can take place, the alliance plans to raise roughly $10,000 to pay for it and to work with the city to seek proposals from artists with ideas for a work of art that would be both attractive and reflective of Augusta’s past and present.

Councilors are scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Thursday in council chambers at Augusta City Center.

“Our design committee would put a process together to put out requests for proposals to artists — hopefully local artists — and have people submit ideas to be evaluated by a panel of downtown people and city people,” Steve Pecukonis, downtown manager, said of how the work of art would be selected. “They’d select something appropriate for that spot that would reflect Augusta. We’d like to have something that’ll help make downtown more attractive.”

In 2013 a visiting team of downtown revitalization experts who spent a week examining aspects of the city’s downtown noted downtown Augusta has nearly no public art, and they recommended steps be taken to add some. Pecukonis said participants in a downtown alliance board retreat earlier this year agreed, adding that some public art downtown would help increase curb appeal there.

The largely unadorned traffic island at Green and Water streets sits fairly prominently atop Rines Hill, which leads many drivers into the city’s downtown via Water Street.

“It’s one of the southern gateways into the downtown, a high-profile spot. It seemed like the perfect place to put some art, to delineate a new downtown,” Pecukonis said.

A presentation of the idea was made to councilors last week, and this week they are scheduled to vote on it. The proposed resolution would authorize the alliance to work with the city staff in the design and placement of public art on the traffic island and direct Mayor David Rollins to work with the alliance to establish a public art committee to develop policies, procedures and a selection method for public art to be placed downtown.

Councilors on Thursday are also scheduled to consider:

• banning parking on sections of Water and Chamberlain streets;

• approving a five-year agreement with the state for the city to continue running the state-owned Augusta State Airport;

• accepting donations of $73,000 from the Friends of Lithgow Library for the restoration and installation of stained-glass windows at Lithgow Public Library and $5,000 from the Friends of Bicentennial Nature Park and the Augusta Rotary Foundation to help cover expenses at the city-owned Bicentennial Nature Park;

• authorizing the sale of beer and wine on Aug. 15 at Market Square Park as part of the Augusta Downtown Alliance’s block party;

• disposing of five pieces of property acquired for nonpayment of taxes with proceeds from the sale of the properties to be allocated to a city fund for the demolition of unsafe structures.

Keith Edwards — 621-5647

kedwards@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @kedwardskj