HomeProgress-Index, 03/16/2006
Hoping this song has a different ending
To the editor:
I have attended two presentations of the R/UDAT (Regional Urban design Assistance Team) program to our City of Petersburg: the first at a meeting of 300 people at the Petersburg Regional Art Center on Jan. 31, which was enthusiastically received; the second presentation was to City Council on March 7, which brought out at least 75 citizens to show their support.
The R/UDAT program is offered to communities as a public service of the AIA, a national association of approximately 73,000 architects and related professionals. R/UDAT is a plan which offers communities a tool to mobilize local support and identify ways to encourage desirable change in a community.
As a downtown resident of Petersburg for over 30 years, I want to share my initial reaction to the plan which was, “here we go again, another plan!” I have witnessed the birth and death of several former plans: three plans from 1975–1977, the most notable the Arthur Cotton Moore Plan. There was also a fourth plan during this time which was referred to as the Retail Plan. Then in 1998, we had the Elkington Study. Therefore, it was with some skepticism that I attended the presentation of this new plan, the R/UDAT Program.
I was not prepared for the positive response of 300 people to the plan. I was impressed by the presentation of both Terry Ammons, architect and Jim Wilson, President of Downtown Petersburg Inc. After the presentation to City Council by these two accomplished gentlemen, I can only echo Councilman Kenneth Pritchett who said, “Let's not drop the ball this time.”
Sonja Reiss
Petersburg
