Immortalized underfoot

If you've ever wondered what you could do to really make a lasting impression on Houston, have we got a deal for you: For $1,500, your name could be inscribed on the sidewalk alongside the soon-to-be-spiffy Kirby Drive. The sale of the 18-by-18-inch pavers will help fund the Kirby Coalition and Upper Kirby District's upgrade project for the street, which is being (or is planned to be, anyway) carried out at the same time as storm sewer replacement between Holcombe and Westheimer. As the street is torn up for the sewer work, the coalition plans to rebuild it with brick crosswalks, public art, landscaping and star-shaped inlays where Kirby meets Holcombe, University, Sunset, Bissonnet, RIchmond, West Alabama and Westheimer.

There's a little urgency behind selling the pavers: The Kirby All Stars project needs to raise $250,000 per intersection to get all the upgrade elements in place as the storm sewer project proceeds. There's room in the budget if they get out of sync, but we imagine everyone will be happier if they don't: "We're trying to do everything at one time so things are only disrupted once," Travis Younkin, director of capital projects for the Upper Kirby Management District, said. By the time the entire project is finished, planners hope the 2.5 miles of Kirby Drive between Holcombe and Westheimer will be a signature street. "We really want Kirby to be an attractive corridor," Kirby Coalition co-chairwoman Kathie Easterly said. "We believe that making this a premier corridor will draw more economic development and more pedestrian walking if it's attractive and inviting."

If you're interested in being remembered on the sidewalk, you have two options: For $1,500, you can get one of the standard 18-inch-square pavers. which will be set in groups of four along the sidewalk. Or, for $6,000, you can get a 24-inch-square version that'll be set off by itself near an intersection. Fancy! Check the Kirby All Stars website for more information. (And just for the record: In the sample paver shown online, "The Smiths" as a family name should not have an apostrophe. For $1,500, we'd at least expect proper punctuation.)