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Bear Creek's 'potential' gives residents a chance to dream By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune Waterfalls to hide freeway noise, a wading area for kids, fishing decks, quiet spots for reading, a place to float kayaks and fewer chain-link fences and blackberry canes. More than 60 people offered opinions Thursday about elements that should be included in a master plan for the seven miles of Bear Creek winding through Medford. "Bear Creek has so much potential," said senior landscape architect Chad Herd of Design Studios West Inc. of Denver. "Certainly the urban areas are challenging, with I-5 looming over downtown," Herd said. "But we can come up with ideas to soften the impact and make it more aesthetically pleasing." Medford Urban Renewal agency hired the Denver consultant to hold public meetings, collect ideas and design a creek plan. Design Studios went though a similar process with Pueblo, Colo., where city leaders restored a downtown river channel, creating urban lakes, fountains and walkways. An urban renewal agency in Estes Park, Colo., also hired Design Studios in 1984 and spent nearly $10 million over 10 years implementing Design Studio's ideas. "Retail sales in the (Estes Park) downtown area increased 8 to 10 percent so the project paid for itself," said Don Brandes, Design Studios West president. Medford Urban Renewal and the city of Medford haven't yet decided how to pay for improvements that might be suggested in the Bear Creek master plan. Design Studios will be paid $70,500 for their work. Art - everything from statues to decorated park benches - is what Medford artist Corinne Stubson would like to see in the Bear Creek master plan. "I hope artwork, both passive and interactive, will be incorporated throughout the waterway so it becomes part of the pleasant experience of being near the water," said Stubson, a city Arts Commission member. The 18-mile-long bike path next to the creek needs more connections to Medford streets, especially east-west connections, said Steve Gressett, a member of the Jackson County Bicycle Commission. "A lot of people want to ride their bikes on the trail, but they can't get there," said Gressett, owner of Sims Cycle & Fitness in Medford. The creek needs a kayak launching spot and a place for children to catch and release fish, said Mike Miles, whose family helped build the stadium that bears his name. "Water is the essence of life and having water running through town denotes life and goodness to Medford as a whole," Miles said. Design Studios divided the creek into three sections and posted maps so folks could stick their opinions on the portion of the creek they were writing about. The sections were: the more natural stretch flowing through the city's future sports park near South Stage Road, through Bear Creek Park to downtown; the steep-banked urban section carving its way between buildings and beneath a busy freeway; and the north section meandering past the Rogue Valley Mall. "We could do a major project in the central portion, for example, and do fish habitat and bank stabilization in the north and south sections," Herd said. "If you build one piece, people get behind the project and start contributing." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.