MASON CITY, IA - The goal: bring new life to downtown Mason City.
For the design team working on the Federal Ave. “Streetscape” project, who better to ask for advice, then the people who walk it every day?
"We like to sit down with the folks who are going to live, work, and play in a place, and get a good understanding of what it is they are concerned about in the area," said architect Justin Platts from RDG Planning and Design.
Members of several planning organizations came together, hit the streets by day and by night, and found out what the people want in their downtown.
"They are afraid to come down here at night," said Platts talking about the concerns of some Mason City citizens.
After more than 50 interviews, designers say they've got some ideas on how to improve everything from safety, to parking, to the asthetic appeal of the Streetscape.
Now, at a meeting of Tuesday night, they offered concepts that range from simple landscaping and lighting improvements, to much more elaborate plans.
For example, in the Plaza by Southbridge Mall, a splash pad to look like a model of the Winnebago River, or maybe a complex overhang, featuring a sound system and lighting to encourage nightlife.
But even while bringing all these new ideas, the team is looking at Mason City’s past to bring the history of the town back to life.
"Such fantastic ornamentation,” said RDG Planner David Dahlquist after seeing the city’s archives, “a grander that your community had had, and we tried to build that in to some of the things we thought of."
While no one we talked with is completely sold on the all of the concepts, they do say they're impressed.
"It looks like they've got some really, really good, viable ideas for the downtown area,” said Colleen Devine on the way out of the meeting.
The designers say this is just their first round of planning, and the mock ups still very rough.
They want public input on the designs, and then they'll go to work and will return with an update in mid-January.
They want to start construction on the project by May of next year, and city administrator Brent Trout tells us, he'll be excited to see what direction they take.
