Rapid City Plaza Captures Casper’s Interest – Yakima, Are You Listening? — Dave’s Diary

Next Monday evening Catherine Gustafson will be back to town with greater detail on the proposed plaza plan for downtown Yakima.  You are invited to check it out starting at 6:30 at the Seasons Performance Hall.

It looks like we have addressed the day to day parking concerns and we are working on the special event parking as well.

Keep in mind the main purpose for the plaza is economic revitalization and while there are no 100% guarantees there is plenty of evidence that a well designed plaza can help spur the economy.  The latest example of that comes from an article in a Casper, Wyoming newspaper.

Casper wants what Yakima wants and Casper has seen it already at work in Rapid City, South Dakota.  Their success can be Casper’s and it can be Yakima’s too.

Casper public plaza concept copies Main Street Square Tom Dixon, Casper Star-Tribune and Journal  

Six years ago, Rapid City was looking for a way to revitalize its downtown business district. Destination Rapid City was formed in 2008 to develop the concept of a plaza that would bring visitors and residents to the downtown area for events and to shop at businesses.

In little more than two years, Main Street Square has exceeded expectations and renewed interest in Rapid City’s downtown area.

The success of Main Street Square is catching the attention of other cities that have struggling downtown business districts. If it works in Rapid City, why can’t it work elsewhere?

In Casper, Wyo., a development group is using Rapid City’s Main Street Square as the model for their own downtown revitalization plan. Build a public square downtown and people will come.

With the city’s tacit approval of a public plaza in their back pocket, Casper downtown advocates say they will spend the spring creating a budget and exploring ways to commit the land for the project.

The blueprint calls for a 47,250 square-foot plaza and 12,000 square-foot parking lot on the corner of David and Second streets, just a block from the parking garage, which would act as a “bridge” between downtown and the Old Yellowstone District.

Advocates envision a public space capable of driving year-round traffic to the city’s retail core. One idea is a winter ice rink that could convert to a summer venue for hosting everything from concerts to farmers' markets.

The go-to example for downtown advocates is Rapid City. Supporters say the introduction of a plaza renovated a blighted area of that city into a bustling social scene.

“Five years ago, there were 15 vacant buildings … today there are zero vacancies,” Downtown Development Authority Secretary Brandon Daigle said of downtown Rapid City.

Daigle added that the number of unique visitors to Rapid City jumped from 100,000 to 700,000 people since the plaza was built.

Downtown Authority Executive Director Kevin Hawley isn’t surprised. He said tourists want to be where the local community likes to hang out.

The site Downtown Authority members are eyeing for a public hangout in Casper is home to a parking lot and the old Adbay building, both city-owned. There are also a privately owned parking lot, Ames Automotive and state office buildings.

Downtown Development Authority, an arm of the city responsible for improving and maintaining downtown, wants to take over the lease on the AdBay building. Members also have talked with state officials about taking over the state building in lieu of the Wyoming Business Council’s usual grant or loan programs.

“The Wyoming Business Council has yet to respond; they say they haven’t seen that yet,” Daigle said. “They said that’s very creative. They didn’t say no right away.”

The state plans to move workers in the downtown offices and three other locations around the city into one building. The David Street property would have to be torn down to make way for a future plaza.

Councilman Keith Goodenough said planners should first look to combine plaza plans with the city’s intentions to build a town square on Midwest Avenue to boost Old Yellowstone District development.

The city received the land in trade a couple of years ago, but nothing has been done with it, Goodenough said.

Downtown Authority Chairman Charles Walsh said the Second and David streets location was ideal for linking the established downtown retail sector on Second Street with what local planners hope will become a thriving retail corridor on Yellowstone Highway.

“I’m sure it’s really nice land, but that’s not real leverage. Real leverage is to put (the plaza) on the strip where all the retail is happening,” Walsh said. “This is the bridge between current primary shopping in downtown and where we’ll see the bulk of development in the Old Yellowstone District.”

Goodenough said his support would come down to how much public money it takes to finish the project.

“I’m usually willing to kick in a minor amount,” Goodenough said. “It should be mostly private investment that drives these kinds of things.”

The Downtown Authority plans to take council members on tours of regional plazas, likely Buffalo and Rapid City, in the coming months.

The timeline calls for plaza design to begin late next year. The hope is to begin construction in the spring of 2016.