Wednesday, June 6, 2018

Downtown Plaza Follow-up


In a follow-up to yesterday's preview of the City of Champaign Council meeting, the News-Gazette had more information on ideas around the downtown plaza planning:
Champaign council members like what they see so far on downtown plaza
...
An examination of public input about the plaza proposal identified several recurring themes, according to city staff, which said much of the input was focused on having a space that is flexible; arts focused; able to host programs and entertainment; and that allows for local entrepreneurship.

No financial specifics were presented Tuesday, so some council members asked for those to be included when the project is reviewed again in August.

Senior city planner Lacey Rains Lowe told city council members that most of the options already available downtown require money to experience. But she said a plaza would be the opposite, which could create better representation of ages, cultures and financial backgrounds in the downtown area.

Councilman Matt Gladney said he initially didn't see the use for a plaza because the city has West Side Park nearby. But, he said, then he saw plazas doing well in other cities and considered a park's use for mainly nature-related purposes.
More details and quotes at the full article here.

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