The Lyndale Tunnel is a non-motorized link located between two
business districts, two city parks, our civic center,
an award-winning college, and an historic downtown neighborhood. The
tunnel is currently an unadorned canvas. This project by a consortium of well known
Helena artists will take this blank canvas and transform it into an
enticing vital link between Helena's old Downtown and its new green-
space.
The Work 
The tunnel and buttresses (3200 square feet of plain concrete) will be decorated with brightly colored water jet cut ceramic tile with
imagery referencing the rich architectural history of our city, organic fabric formed concrete caps mimicking Helena's
mountainous skyline, and highly detailed extruded panels. The interior
of the tunnel will be covered on both sides with tiles depicting a
Montana poem. The same poem will be the basis of a motion activated
sound sculpture in the tunnel interior.
Above each end of the tunnel a lyrically elegant metal sculpture will
spring upward before swooping outward and downward, leading the eye
from the road level to the tunnel entrances. 
 Lighting, motion-detecting sound system, and increased pedestrian traffic, will transform
this tunnel from an underutilized passage into a vital
link and cultural destination.
The artists, Chip Clawson www.chipclawson.com, Nathan Craven www.nathancraven.com, Robert Harrison http://robertharrison.net, Louis Katz http://louiskatz.net  
and Richard Swanson http://richardswanson.com , have local and international reputations for
innovation and site specific work.
The Impact
This project will create the critical mass necessary to stimulate the
desire and opportunity to transform Montana's "Most Historical Mile"
into a thriving non-motorized corridor. It will reduce Helena's carbon
footprint while promoting intergenerational interactions, increase
economic and recreational activity, and promote intellectual and
artistic curiosity. This enhanced connection to employment centers,
public spaces and services, parks, schools, and cultural opportunities
will strengthen the downtown economy and enhance its historic qualities.