STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — A meeting held on Thursday night was to begin the planning process for downtown Stevens Point and the area around Division Street.
Residents packed the Community Engagement Room at Mid-State Technical College for the first meeting of the Redevelopment Authorities’ planning process to better meet community needs in two areas of Stevens Point. The two areas the plan will focus on are downtown Stevens Point and Division Street near UWSP and the roundabout exit from I-39.
Representatives from Vandewalle and Associates, an urban design group out of Madison, gave a brief presentation on what the group is looking for to begin planning the future of the areas. After the presentation, community members participated in two interactive activities to provide initial ideas to the design team.
The first activity was an interactive poll detailing what residents use the two areas for and what they’d like to see come to the area. Overwhelmingly those in attendance wanted to see more retail space both downtown and on Division St. The second activity was in small groups to label on a map areas residents like and areas residents would like to see improvement.
Brian Munson, a principal urban designer for Vandewalle and a Stevens Point native, said the group is looking to really collaborate with members of the community on the project. “What we are looking for are opportunities to work collaboratively with the entire community to really look at how these areas serve the function of the community. How they enhance the quality of life for everyone who interacts with the downtown and Division St. corridor. And what this looks like not tomorrow but 10 years and 20 years from now.”
The meeting on Thursday was mainly to collect initial ideas for the area. Munson describes what Vandewalle and Associates will do with the information after the meeting.
“We’ll start with the broad brush of the community. Step down into the planning areas. And then step further into individual slices and start to think about what could be. We’ll then be working with the steering committee to get that information back out and find out how we’re doing. All those things are part of that kind of the third step of presenting the vision and then going back and making revisions.”
While the planning is in its very initial stages, Munson says the group already has ideas of how to put the plan into action once it’s complete. “The final piece will be moving through an approval process with the committees of the city. It will go through a public plan doctored process so that we can begin to look towards how do we move it into actions. How do we couple the ideas of the plans with either grant funding, support from different groups or different initiatives to help us move beyond paper and actually get construction going.”
The planning process for the area will be a four-step process. This includes asset inventory and analysis, opportunity analysis, vision and master plan, and implementation. The meeting was the first step in the asset inventory and analysis phase. If you were unable to attend the meeting and would like to view the presentation it is available online at the Stevens Point Granicus page.
