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Central Point wants your ideas City's effort to revitalize downtown includes citizen workshop Tuesday By SUSAN JAY CENTRAL POINT -- City dwellers have a unique chance to try some of their ideas about sprucing up downtown. The city invites residents and business owners to join its planning consultants in a brainstorming session at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, as part of the downtown revitalization project. Pizza and soft drinks will be served during the session. For more information, call City Planner Tom Humphrey at 664-3321. Planning consultant Dave Early and his associates in Design, Community and Environment, a Berkeley, Calif. firm, will lead the workshop. They will share their research on downtown's opportunities and drawbacks, plus people's comments from last week's community walk down Pine Street. They'll show slides of other city downtowns to illustrate what happens when buildings are moved back from the sidewalk or when front facades are extended or second stories are added. They'll also show what kinds of changes can be made to curbs, intersections and sidewalks to make them more pedestrian-friendly. Participants will divide into groups of eight, be given a map showing all downtown's buildings and streets and let loose to redraw their downtown. They'll be able to draw in narrower streets, different kinds of parking or differing kinds of commercial uses. "The outcome of this will kind of dictate the direction we go in attracting new business, redesigning and changing the overall appearance," Humphrey said. Lloyd Smith, manager of Central Point Florist, sees the downtown revitalization project as a potential boost to business and to the city and plans to attend. "We feel like we're the ones who started this," Smith said. That's because owners Rick and Judy Samuelson spent $75,000 over the past several months renovating and remodeling the florist shop, including a new facade and entrance. He also worked with the planning consultants on possible facade designs. "We're kind of hoping it's like a fire and will spread through the town," Smith said. Gordon's Pawn Shop in the same block also added storefront improvements, and other owners are talking about doing so, Smith said. Ethel Goshorn, a 26-year-resident, plans to roll up her sleeves at the workshop. "Oh, I just can see Central Point being a real neat little town, if they could just spruce it up," said the former owner of Kool Kart Ice Cream. "It could be almost as attractive as Jacksonville if they just keep working on it." Humphrey said the consultants will return with alternative designs, and one will be selected after the city hears public comment on the options. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA