Cda Mails Out Invitations For First Downtown Debate Meetings To Focus On City’S Green Space

The public debate over the future of McEuen Field, boat launches and parking lots is flaring up this month as a consultant searches for citizen suggestions on the future of downtown Coeur d’Alene green space.

Ten thousand Coeur d’Alene households - every residence that gets a city water, sewer or street light bill - will receive a newsletter in the mail today spelling out the next round in the downtown redevelopment.

The first in a series of public meetings will be conducted Jan. 20 at Lake City High School to find out what folks want done with the land running from McEuen Field west to Memorial Field.

Representatives from Walker Macy, the design firm, and a group hired to solicit public input, Barney & Worth, will conduct the workshop. Those companies emphasize they have no preconceived notions for what should happen to the area.

“We come with open minds,” said Tim Dabareiner of Barney & Worth. “We want to hear what people have to say.”

“Initially we need ideas … not just `build something’ or `change this.’ Equally valid ideas are `don’t touch this,”’ Dabareiner said.

The ideas can touch on everything from McEuen Field, which the community has repeatedly resisted changing, to solutions for reviving the sluggish downtown retail district.

Even though there are other meetings, people concerned about what the city will do with its downtown green space say the Jan. 20 meeting is vital.

“I feel the first meeting is most important,” said Charlie Roan, a member of the mayor’s committee on city green space as well a spokesman for the McEuen Preservation Alliance. “It will really set the framework for what these planners feel are the values of the community.

“If people take a passive position, they are missing an opportunity to have a impact on what goes on down there.”

The City Council decided to hire a planner to redesign the green space at the suggestion of another consultant, HyettPalma. Mayor Steve Judy appointed a “city facilities committee” to select the planner. Walker Macy of Portland landed the job.

Walker Macy has until June to come up with its plan. The City Council and Urban Renewal Agency will decide which parts to accept.

The planner will use mail surveys, individual interviews and public meetings to try to bring in a broad spectrum of public opinion.

Already people are suggesting a performing arts center, a community center or a library be built somewhere downtown to draw more people. More downtown festivals, increasing green space, and consolidating city parking lots also have been suggested.

Workshops and public meetings are likely to attract intense citizen scrutiny. Two years ago, more than 300 people turned out for a public meeting on a proposal to put a public library and botanical garden in the place of McEuen’s softball diamonds, lawns and picnic tables.

The overwhelming consensus: leave it alone.