Downtown plan update focus of meeting

The Heart of Whitefish downtown group will host a meeting on Wednesday to review revisions to the Whitefish Downtown Master Plan.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish. Planners from the Portland-based Crandall Arambula consulting firm that drafted the original 2005 downtown plan will gather public comments at the meeting.

Among the topics of discussion will be new land use and transportation concepts and an update and overview of the downtown master plan process.

Ian Collins of Heart of Whitefish said the downtown plan spurred development such as the Central Avenue reconstruction and improvements; a $3.5 million federal grant for the Second Street improvements between Spokane and Baker avenues; the purchase of Depot Park; construction of the public parking lot at Second Street and Spokane Avenue; the wayfinding signs throughout the city and the future parking garage adjacent to the forthcoming new City Hall. 

“These projects catalyzed over $9 million of private investment in downtown, and this is a 2012 figure,” Collins said. “More recently, we have seen great new additions like the Stumptown Market Place, the Tupelo Grille expansion and new mixed-use construction at the corner of Second Street and Baker Avenue.

Public input into the downtown plan was a key ingredient in its success, he said.