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CITY OF TALENT Talent to break ground on new plaza Monday Comment By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 30, 2015 at 4:56 PM Updated Aug 31, 2015 at 10:31 AM By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 30, 2015 at 4:56 PM Updated Aug 31, 2015 at 10:31 AM » Social News TALENT — By late October, downtown Talent will have a new public plaza just off the West Valley View Road roundabout. Officials from the Talent Urban Renewal Agency will start on the new $329,365 endeavor Monday on an abandoned roadway. Once finished, it will boast additional parking spaces, bike racks, and a refurbished landscape that includes multiple grass-filled sitting areas, shade trees and sandstone paver walkways. Lighting will likely be installed sometime in November. "The public that designed this — we had about 40, 50 people designing it — they said 'We'll just do something that is something specific to Talent. We're simple; we're small; we're casual,' " said TURA director Marla Cates. "'Let's not go over the top with this. Let's just keep it simple, and then as the community's needs evolve, then you can evolve the plaza.' " "This is a major investment, long term, that will take a number of years to actually do all that it's intended to do." There will be no sitting benches, though there will be concrete sitting walls and large planters filled with grass where people can sit beneath the trees. The project is the next phase — or phase 1D — in the ongoing West Valley View Project, first envisioned by TURA in 2004. A reinvigorated downtown core is the endgame, with safer, less confusing street network for motorists and pedestrians. Cates said this was prompted by the old intersection at Talent Avenue and West Valley View Road, which she said was confusing for motorists. "We had this really dangerous intersection here at Talent Avenue that was kind of an exploded four-way stop," Cates said. "Everybody was funneling in through here." Ongoing work has included the construction of a new Camelot Theatre adjacent to its former location, which is now an extension of East Main Street. Workers then constructed Seiber Street with Camelot parking, extended Main Street and realigned LaPree Street. Additionally, construction crews built 480 feet of new roadway to link up the end of East Main Street to the roundabout off West Valley View. "We want the plaza and the downtown to be the focus," Cates said. "It's been designed so you'll actually look all the way downtown." The next phase of urban renewal — phase 2 — would connect the roundabout to Wagner Street. That section is currently Talent Irrigation District-owned land. Talks between the city and TID are ongoing. "We do have that third leg to the roundabout designed, and the city is taking the lead on discussing right-of-way acquisition," Cates said. Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil . Talent plaza by Mail Tribune By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted Aug. 30, 2015 at 4:56 PM Updated Aug 31, 2015 at 10:31 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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