HomeProgress-Index, 03/30/2007
R/UDAT Arrives: Architectural team looks at downtown’s future
By F.M. Wiggins, Staff Writer
PETERSBURG — The eight members of the Regional/Urban Design Assistance Team arrived Thursday for the beginning of their four-day stay to develop a plan for the revitalization of downtown.
“This is my first time coming to the city and I really think that Petersburg is a phenomenal place from what I’ve seen,” said Todd Scott, one of the R/UDAT design team members. “I’ve only been here five hours, but from what I’ve seen I can see that the potential here is amazing.”
Scott said some of Petersburg’s best features are its amazing stock of buildings, both commercial and residential. Scott added that he was looking forward to a tour of the city by bus and a more in-depth walking tour of the downtown today.
Jane Jenkins, the R/UDAT team leader, said that she’s looking forward to having the entire team in Petersburg and working on the plan for the downtown.
Jenkins visited the city last month in preparation for this visit and took a similar bus and walking tour of the city that the entire team was taking this morning.
“I’m actually a little glad that I came a little early this time and was able to go back and visit some of those places,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins arrived in town Wednesday and visited several retailers in the downtown she wasn’t able to visit during her visit last month. She spent the day Thursday as a tourist.
“I visited the city and the area like a tourist might, and I went to Centre Hill, Blandford and the [Petersburg National] Battlefield itself,” Jenkins said. Jenkins said she is excited about the visit and what will ultimately result from it, a viable work product which will be created with input from residents.
The eight-member team chosen by the American Institute of Architects in consultation with the local R/UDAT steering committee will address specific issues in Petersburg related to economic development, transportation, the harbor and waterfront development. The team members are all serving without compensation.
They will use citizen feedback, concerns and ideas gathered through the public meetings before this point and a Saturday forum to prepare a report of both short-term and long-term goals for the designated area.
“This is going to be a plan by the citizens,” Jenkins said. “We’re going to create this with the input of the community. That way there is a degree of ownership of the plan.”
The R/UDAT team will host a meeting at the Petersburg Regional Arts Center, 132 N. Sycamore St., from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday to listen to what residents would like to see in the plan which is ultimately developed for the downtown.
“After a year and a half, it’s sometimes hard to believe, but really we’re just at the beginning of an exciting process,” Terry Ammons, R/UDAT steering committee co-chairman said. “We’ve just been building the excitement to get to the beginning.”
Ammons asked the public to come out and participate in the public meeting Saturday morning.
“It’s going to be a different format from what we’ve had before and with the team to get information for the actual plan,” Ammons said.
• F.M. Wiggins may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 254 or fwiggins@progress-index.com.
