Panel Will Focus On Downtown Work

The City Council has created a committee to establish guidelines and consider proposals for downtown redevelopment.

On March 21, council members voted to accept Portland-based consultant Walker-Macy’s blueprint to revitalize downtown and revamp the lakefront.

The committee of nine city appointees represents different interests. Members include Councilman Dave Walker, Del Hatch, Dave Screiber, Denny Hague, Scott Reed and Red Halpern. Mike McDowell will represent the Parks and Recreation Department, and Brad Jordan will represent the Urban Renewal Agency.

While the planning continues, the council also promised to consider community values. Those values are: keeping public space accessible to all citizens, promoting and enhancing open space, encouraging vistas and views, creating a community gathering place and linking downtown with the waterfront.

Walker-Macy was hired in the fall of 1998 and has spent more than a year conducting public workshops and open houses to create the redevelopment concept.