City explores concepts to change look of downtown

By Ed Richter, Staff Writer 10:05 PM Friday, July 31, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — Downtown could have a different look in the coming years if one of two concepts being developed by a consultant is eventually approved by Middletown City Council.

The proposed changes could include an expanded Smith Park, realigning several downtown streets, adding more streetscaping of key traffic arteries, demolishing some buildings and landbanking the properties for future development, demolishing the city-owned parking garage, developing gateways to the downtown core and identifying new uses for several buildings.

Earlier this year, City Manager Judy Gilleland made the city’s Economic Development Department take charge of developing a strategic development plan for the downtown. City Council approved a consulting study to be completed by Woolpert Inc.

Since then, Woolpert has been meeting with the stakeholders and other property owners in developing the new downtown strategic plan, which will be presented to City Council on Aug. 18.

Mike Robinette, the city’s economic development director, said the proposed plan is “very viable.

“The whole strategy is to implement the plan within a five-year window,” he said. “It’s a short term, action-oriented kind of plan which is exactly what we wanted.”

Robinette said the plan shrinks commercial space downtown to build stability and sustainability, then builds out from there.

The study also identified downtown development intervention strategies that would transition, maintain, redevelop or be proactively preserving sections of the downtown area bounded by Second, Girard, First and Columbia avenues, University Boulevard, Casper, Clark, and Main streets, and Carmody Boulevard.

Both concepts are similar, but one also addresses the possibility of establishing a downtown train station off Charles Street on the east boundary of the downtown district. The train station is part of other discussions with the state that is exploring a statewide passenger rail service.

The concepts explore existing conditions such as current land use, civic assets and traffic circulation. It also explores key goals such as:

• Consolidation through concentrating on entertainment, arts and retail in the downtown core. The plan seeks to encourage business relocation to the downtown core by filling vacant space; preserving building fabric and infilling the remaining gaps; strengthening the gateways; concentrating programming; and enhancing façade and storefront design. It also looks at transitioning areas east of Clinton Street to residential/office/institutional uses by preserving and rehabilitating buildings with reuse potential, demolishing and landbanking other buildings, and encouraging compatible infill.

• Increased residential presence through creating attractive downtown neighborhoods along the riverfront, artist/resident space in the upper floors of downtown buildings, expanding the Trinity Place neighborhood and looking at rehabilitating the former Orman Building. It will also look at improving existing neighborhoods adjacent to downtown by demolishing/landbanking foreclosed homes, buffering or relocating heavy commercial uses, and reinforcing the South Main Historic District.

• Making the downtown walkable and functioning by right-sizing streets. This could be down by converting some one way streets such as Verity Parkway and Clinton Streets back to two-way streets; reducing unnecessary lanes; extending the Central Avenue streetscaping to calm traffic. The study looks at realigning some streets to eliminate jogs and awkward intersections and eliminating unnecessary street segments. Two possible street eliminations could be Main streets between Reinartz Boulevard and Verity Parkway and Broad Street between Reinartz and Main.

• Connecting assets by integrating institutional anchors with downtown. This explores relocating one or more anchor uses closer to downtown such as reusing the former Swallen’s building as a business incubator and partnering with Miami University to promote and manage the facility.

Another possibility would be to create a premiere downtown park system with interconnected paths and greenways. A possible greenway could be along Central Avenue to connect Bicentennial Commons with the bike path, extend the park system into the streets, converting the Dublin House front yard into a neighborhood park. This could also include expanding Smith Park into the Main/Reinartz/Verity triangle if those sections of Main and Broad streets are vacated. In addition, this could include improving pedestrian connections to Smith Park and extend the bike lane along Clinton to connect with Verity Parkway’s bike path.

• Making the downtown more welcoming through stronger gateways at University Boulevard and Central Avenue. Other aspects include linking with the Interstate 75 gateway theme and Central Avenue streetscape; establishing north and south gateways and demolishing/landbanking the vacant properties; coordinating a western gateway with the Central Avenue gateway; exploring a complete or partial demolition of the city-owned parking garage; locating all parking lots to the rear of buildings; and creating mid-block cut-throughs with lighting, landscaping and street furniture.

The only difference in both concepts are the addition of Middletown Station and using it to leverage the passenger rail station as a catalyst for downtown revitalization by restoring the historic train depot and making the area a transit-oriented development on adjacent blocks. It would also look at improving the surrounding street grid to accommodate increased rail and auto traffic and support redevelopment. In addition, it could mean vacating Charles Street between Central and Manchester avenues.