See where your vision is leading – downtown plan open house

September 22, 2008

(Red Deer, Alberta) – Mayor Flewwelling and Council are delighted to invite residents to review the results of their visioning efforts for Red Deer’s Greater Downtown at an open house on Wednesday, October 8.

“This project continues to generate wonderful excitement for our downtown. The proposed ideas were developed with resident input and are starting to form a real picture of the future of our downtown,” said City Manager, Craig Curtis. “This open house is a perfect opportunity for residents to continue to tell us if we are getting it right when it comes to how our downtown should look and be used in the future.”

The open house will be held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Festival Hall. Residents will have the chance to chat with planners and other interested citizens, as well as review information panels outlining progress on the action plan. There will be a presentation and question and answer period from 7 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.

In June, residents shared ideas with one another and a team of urban, landscape and community planners during Greater Downtown Planning Week. Hundreds of citizens got involved in the workshops and presentations, generating ideas for the city centre, the Riverlands area, “Cannery Row” (the former light industrial area north of Superstore) and neighbouring residential areas. Greater Downtown consists of most areas in the city’s river valley, south of the Red Deer River.

At the October 8 open house, residents will see how the concepts are being translated into the Greater Downtown Action Plan 2008 update. The updated plan will be submitted to City Council near the end of 2008. John Hull of John Hull Architect and Lorne Daniel of Grandview Consulting are leading the planning process.

For more information on the Greater Downtown Action Plan visit:
http://www.downtownplan2008.ca or www.reddeer.ca/downtownplan.

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For more information, please contact:

Craig Curtis
City Manager
403-342-8154

Lorne Daniel
Grandview Consulting Inc.
403-346-6139

John Hull
John Hull Architect
403-309-3690