Time To Update The Blueprint
(click image to view report)
The Downtown BlueprintPlus report was completed in October of 2005.
One of the initiatives of that report is a call to “evaluate the feasibility of relocating a mixed-use baseball stadium downtown”. The BaseballPLUS committee report of July 2006 did exactly that.
Our mixed-use baseball stadium will open to downtown fans in the spring of 2009.
There is also a whole section of the report that can basically be classified as the “north river section”. The North River Task Force report of August 2007 has since been completed and made available.
The BlueprintPlus report is a great resource for looking towards the future of development in downtown Fort Wayne. Some recommendations from the report have materialized and others have fallen to the wayside.
The report should be updated, and the whole charette process repeated, in order to reflect the changes that have and will be occurring.
How many more people will be involved now as compared to 2005, when downtown baseball was just an idea on paper?
The cycle of citizen input and involvement needs to be kept fresh. The conversation about what downtown can become needs to be revived.
While a good idea, I think it’s a bit too soon for another Charette. With zoning changes in the works for downtown, at least I think they are, and all the staff and other resources being poured into the Harrison Square project, I don’t think there’s a lot left over to put into another full charette. Plus, can we really afford another one at this point? I think the budget needs to settle a bit first.
One of the things I liked most about the original BluePrint was the matrix that was put together - and updated frequently - that showed progress of the various recommendations. I’ve spent some time looking, but I can’t seem to locate one for the BluePrint Plus plan.
I don’t think at this point a full-blown Charette is necessary, but at least some sort of update would be nice. I think once the ballpark opens, then do a full-blown Charette either summer of ‘09 or wait until that fall or winter to fully capitalize on the excitement the ballpark will hopefully generate downtown. I think strategic planners usually like to work in 5 or 10 year blocks. Five years would put the next Charette in 2010 - right on time with all the components in the HS project in place and functioning and hopefully the City looking towards, “What’s next?”
The other problem I could see with doing one right now, is the amount of negativity towards our government in general - for whatever the reason. I could see a Charette right now being more of a venting for this negativity than anything productive coming out of it.
But I do agree that citizen input and involvement needs to be kept fresh. However, once again, the citizens need to show up and get involved. Hence your point about how many people now as compared to then is a valid and interesting one.
And if you haven’t been down to see the ballpark progress lately, do so! It’s looking great!