City Set to Hire Firm to Turn in Downtown Plan

City officials say they are exploring all options after the city council authorized staff to hire a firm to develop downtown plaza plans Tuesday.

Two of the plans will involve the large parking lot across from the Capital Theatre. The other will be a design for the parking lot on second street.

Economic development manager Sean Hawkins says, “What this does is give us some really detailed options with some cost estimates that we can really begin to make a decision next with.”

Hawkins says it does not authorize construction plans but only gives the city details about how much a plaza would cost and what a plaza would require in order to be successful and whether it should include things like water features and bathrooms.

The cost of the design work is expected to be around $140,000.

The council also authorized a downtown parking study that is estimated to cost between $15-20,000.