HomeProgress-Index, 01/31/2006
DPI wants opinions on downtown revitalization
Julie Buchanan, Staff Writer
PETERSBURG - Hopes for a revitalized downtown district gleaming with new residential and commercial development have been hinged for some time on the dredging of the Appomattox River.
After many delays, the project is expected to begin in 2007.
But once the dredging is complete, what's next? That's a question the members of Downtown Petersburg Inc. would like residents to answer.
DPI is a nonprofit organization made up of citizens and business owners who want to revitalize and preserve downtown Petersburg. Tonight, it will host the first of many meetings on the Downtown Harbor Initiative project. The public is invited to attend to learn what the planning process will entail and how they can become involved.
“The community needs to be involved in this because it affects them," said Jim Wilson, president of DPI. "The harbor region is central to downtown and to the economy of the city.”
The initiative will bring a group of professional planners from outside the city to conduct an intensive public-planning process developed by the American Institute of Architects. The goal is to form a steering committee for the project and gather as much public feedback as possible to guide it through completion, said Terry Ammons, a Petersburg architect and member of DPI.
“The whole idea here is it's a public-planning process," he said. "And there will be a set of goals that are laid out. It's not just a plan that is laid out by the planning department ... We feel something that's really needed here is citizen planning.”
Even though any possible construction on the harbor is a ways off, Wilson said it's crucial to start planning now.
“Every citizen who has an interest in seeing downtown Petersburg be revitalized - they need to attend this meeting and they need to be involved," he said. "It needs to take place now so we can have a tangible plan in place.”
The meeting will be held from 6:30 to 7 tonight at the Petersburg Regional Art Center, 132 N. Sycamore St.
* Julie Buchanan may be reached at 722-5155.
