Downtown Master Plan could yield positive results

    The City of Presque Isle has recently sought proposals from qualified, inter-disciplinary planning, engineering and architectural firms with considerable experience in downtown planning, community and small city design, land use planning, visioning and other citizen participation methods and quality  presentation graphics to create a Downtown/Main Street Area Master Plan & Redevelopment Strategy. The Downtown Master Plan/Strategy must assess and recommend a Main Street “character/Theme”; analyze the impacts of surrounding commercial developments and recommend a set of guidelines to maintain and strengthen the Main Street character and enhance and expand the economic vitality of the downtown area. The “downtown area’ extends from Blake St. south to Howard Street and east to and including Second Street, west to the Presque Isle stream.
    The purpose of this Downtown Master Plan is to provide a 20 year plan/strategy to guide future land use and economic development decisions in the Downtown area and is to be designed, organized and implemented as a flexible document, enabling it to respond in a proactive manner to the changing needs of the City’s Business and Commercial Center.
    Despite the initial efforts of the Quality Main Street Advisory Committee, active in and around 1995, as well as the Strategic Study produced during their tenure, the committee eventually disbanded and the study and its goals sat on a shelf.
    In early 2006, members of Presque Isle’s downtown businesses and interested business people, in cooperation with the Presque Isle Area Chamber of Commerce and the City of Presque Isle, announced the creation of the Downtown Revitalization Committee. Initially formed under the direction of the Chamber, the group currently serves as an ad-hoc committee for the City.
    The mission of the Committee, to encourage our community to preserve and reinvest in the economic, aesthetic, and cultural future of Presque Isle by promoting viability and vitality of downtown, will be implemented using the 4-Point Approach, developed by the National Main Street Center, via sub-committee formation. The four points include: Organization, Design, Economic Restructuring, and Promotion.
    The 4-Point Approach has been used successfully by several communities in Maine to promote positive change within their downtown areas. The objective of the Downtown Revitalization Committee is to build upon the past successes of the city while establishing a structure to address the immediate needs of the downtown district, as well as ensuring a sustainable, long-term, economic vitality. As such, each sub-committee will be utilizing the 1995 Strategic Study to evaluate how the analysis and goals apply to Presque Isle today.
    It is anticipated that downtown improvements will be funded with a combination of private and public monies, including grant funds as applicable. It will be necessary to update the downtown strategic study and comprehensive plans to be applicable for certain funding sources. The hiring of qualified and professional consultants for planning, engineering, and design will be necessary to implement the desired improvements.
    Proposals received from interested consultants will be reviewed in late October and a contract award to the chosen consultant will occur by early November, 2007. The Master Plan study will be initiated immediately with the goal of completing the 2007 Master Plan for Downtown Presque Isle by late February, 2008. The City’s Planning and Development Department will keep you informed, as this project progresses!
    Ken Arndt is Presque Isle’s director of planning and development. He can be reached at 764-2503 or online at karndt@presqueisleme.us