Input Sought On Downtown Ironwood From Area Residents
IRONWOOD, MI - Friday, April 17, 2009 – If the citizens, the business community, and the government were to work together over the next five years to make downtown Ironwood the very best it could be, what would you like to see result from that effort? For you to consider those efforts a success, what would the downtown look like in five years? What types of land uses would you see in the downtown? Who would the customers of downtown be? What types of goods and services would you be able to find there?
On Tuesday, April 21st, from 7:00 PM until 8:30 PM, the City of Ironwood will welcome HyettPalma, a nationally recognized downtown consulting firm, to lead a discussion aimed at answering these questions. While the focus is downtown Ironwood, everyone who lives or does business in the Gogebic Range is encouraged to attend. The discussion will take place in the auditorium of the Ironwood Memorial/Municipal Building (213 South Marquette Street), and light refreshments will be provided. The community vision session is a major component of the Blueprints for Michigan’s Downtown planning process. Some of the valuable outcomes from the Blueprints process will include a partnership with the agencies at the state level that fund many of the economic development programs and a common vision towards the city government, businesses and resident to work towards.
“We want to know how Ironwood’s historic downtown district can better-serve the needs and desires of the people who do business here,” said Downtown Ironwood Development Authority (DIDA) Chairman George Goerig. “This process is a good opportunity for citizens and downtown businesses to create a common vision about what they would like their downtown district to be.”
The Blueprints for Michigan’s Downtown program is intended to give local communities an action-strategy to revitalization of the traditional downtown area. Another important aspect of the program is the partnership that it will establish with State of Michigan agencies, matching the goals and needs of the community with the state programs that are intended to address those issues.