Consultant offers tips on rekindling downtown Kelso
Wednesday, March 5, 2008 5:30 AM PST
By Amy M.E. Fischer
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E-mail this articleIf downtown Kelso is ever to reclaim its status as a bustling town center, the city must make it easier for visitors to find, a Seattle-based consultant told the Kelso City Council on Tuesday.
BHC Consultants representative Greg Waddell also recommended beautifying the downtown streets with trees, lighting and banners, rehabilitating shabby buildings, shrinking the downtown's boundaries and revising zoning regulations to encourage a compact town center with a mix of commercial and residential uses.
The city is beginning the third phase of its downtown revitalization planning process, which it launched in 2005 with the help of BHC Consultants. After the city assessed the downtown's problems, a committee of citizens, business owners and other stakeholders crafted a "strategic conceptual plan" to fix them. The newly formed Kelso Downtown Revitalization Association is recruiting members to help carry out the revitalization plans.
Consultants said the most effective physical change the city could make would be to remove the "snake" curve between South Fourth Avenue and Grade Street.
Waddell said when he first visited the city, he accidentally wound up in West Kelso while trying to get downtown. Although merchants blame the new Allen Street Bridge for routing traffic away from their downtown businesses, the consultants felt the street layout at the eastern foot of the bridge is equally problematic, Waddell said. The city should find money to conduct a study of the downtown traffic patterns and find a circulation system that will "enhance people's experience in the town center," he said.
To fill the numerous empty storefronts downtown, a list of downtown properties for sale should be compiled and marketed to developers and businesses, he said. The city should work with Cowlitz County officials to encourage the county to invest in downtown.
A safe walkway over the railroad tracks between Pacific Avenue and the river should be constructed, Waddell said. Plans to create a riverfront park have gathered dust for years because the city and railroad officials haven't reached an access agreement.
Community Development Director Mike Kerins said some of the recommendations will be incorporated into the city's Comprehensive Plan update, which starts later this year.
To learn more about the Kelso Downtown Revitalization Association, visit www.kelsodowntown.org.
lifer wrote on Mar 5, 2008 11:56 AM:
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