Town and Amherst County residents have formed a list of dozens of ideas to improve the downtown and other town areas at little, if any, expense.
“This was a very low-key sort of effort,” said Scott Smith, a senior planner for the Local Government Council of Region 2000, who presented the results last week to the Amherst Town Council.
“The Town of Amherst has existing project ideas, documents adopted over the years,” Smith said. So, residents met and arrived at a consensus. Such meetings often are held for deciding projects in towns or whatever particular buildings should look like, he said.
“What this basically was was kind of a little bit of a restart of previous downtown planning,” Smith said. “As opportunities arise … I think the town has been approached by folks who would like to do something but don’t know what to do.”
The ideas are organized into four categories: events, facilities, infrastructure and programs.
Events: The list includes restarting the Amherst Live concert series, a spring cleanup, a downtown health fair, a road race and a welcome-back festival for Sweet Briar College students.
Facilities: Consideration of converting the former Amherst Baptist Church (at Second and Washington streets) into a community arts center; and a community outreach facility, such as renovation or construction of a building as a site for meetings or a farmers market.
Infrastructure: Installation of flower baskets and planters and improving the garden at the Second Street traffic signal; creation of a town square on East Court Street; installation of directional signs; expansion of the mini-park; hanging seasonal banners from utility poles; moving utility poles to behind sidewalks when replacing them; addition of a sidewalk from the traffic circle to the Food Lion shopping center; and addition of plaques identifying the historical significance of various buildings.
Programs: Provide downtown maps and brochures, including a restaurant guide; form a downtown advocacy group; establish architectural guidelines; create a commissioned public art program, in addition to continuing with the town’s ArtMeters project; focus on downtown marketing and creation of a downtown website.
The Town Council approved a survey in April to solicit ideas.
The town hasn’t set aside money for improvement projects but wants to begin the discussion, said Jack Hobbs, the town administrator. The survey wouldn’t necessarily guarantee that a particular idea would be accepted.
Here’s the list of Downtown Amherst project and program ideas:
EVENTS
E-1 Downtown events. Promote more and better downtown events.
E-2 Amherst Live/Concert Series. Concert Series.
E-3 Amherst Day Celebration. Town-wide event with parade, crafters, games, music.
E-4 Dancing Through Amherst. Site Specific Dance and Music program featuring “real dancers” from the Amherst area .
E-5 The Spring Clean. A day of community service around the town of Amherst.
E-6 Summer Sports Spectacular. A partnered event between IRON and the Amherst town and county law enforcement.
E-7 Town of Amherst Cruise-In. Classic cars at Goodwin Court Streets.
E-8 Downtown Health Fair. Courthouse square, festival atmosphere, vendors, services that focus on health and safety.
E-9 Road Race. Bicycle, running, etc.
E-10 Zombie Walk. Zombie Walk event in town.
E-11 Welcome Back Festival. Partner with Sweet Briar College to host annual “welcome back” festival downtown for students.
PROGRAMS
P-1 Downtown Maps Brochures. Develop brochures and maps.
P-2 Coopeerative Advertising. Cooperative advertising programs for the downtown merchants.
P-3 Downtown Advocacy Group. Form group whose purpose would be to promote and advocate downtown Amherst.
P-4 Architectural standards. Develop suggested architectural guidelines for signs and storefronts.
P-5 ArtMeters. Maintain and improve the ArtMeter program.
P-6 American Flags. Maintain and improve the American Flag program.
P-7 Door decorations. Promote door decoration on holidays.
P-8 Farmers Market. Develop a farmers market.
P-9 Restaurant Guide. Organize menus for all of the town’s restaurants in one place, either in print or online with schedule.
P-10 Commissioned Public Art Project. A piece of public art would be proposed by a number of visual artists for the site chosen.
P-11 Windows on History. National Art Society students to paint 8 windows on the 2nd Street façade of the Goodwin Building.
P-12 Amherst Historic District. Create a State/National (not local with all the rules) Historic District in Amherst.
P-13 Amherst Student Art Program. Engage H.S. students each summer to complete a beautification project/public art project.
P-14 AmherstInteragency Council. Participants would be reps from area service and civic agencies to share ideas and resources.
P-15 Historic Walking Tour Brochure. Brochure giving history of town and buildings.
P-16 Enterprise Zone. Pursue Enterprise Zone designation w/ County.
P-17 Sister City. Establish Sister City with Auvillar, France.
P-18 Downtown Marketing. Educational/Public Relations Strategy.
P-19 Downtown Website. Create a downtown website.
INFRASTRUCTURE
I-1 Traffic light Flower Garden. Improve the flower garden under the traffic light.
I-2 Support the Village Garden Club. Support/maintain/improve landscaping in the MiniPark, museum, post office and traffic circle.
I-3 Street trees. Encourage the planting of street trees.
I-4 More downtown flower pots. Install more flower planters in front of merchant shops on Main Street.
I-5 Hanging baskets. Install hanging baskets with flowers on utility poles.
I-6 Municipal parking. Improve the parking lot off Kent Street.
I-7 Bike Racks. Install bike racks along Main Street.
I-8 Town Square. Install the Town Square project on E. Court Street.
I-9 Wayfinding Install. Wayfinding signage.
I-10 Banners. Move the S. Main Street banner away from the downtown power lines.
I-11 Christmas Decorations Wiring. Replace wiring for ChrIstmas decorations.
I-12 MiniPark Expansion. Expand the MiniPark to include the S. Main/E. Court/Goodwin/2nd St. Block
I-13 Street Sweeping. Increase the frequency of street sweeping.
I-14 Trash Cans. Install more/better waste receptacles along S. Main Street.
I-15 Utility Pole Banners. Hang seasonal banners from utility poles
I-16 Underground power lines. Bury or move overhead utility lines.
I-17 Power pole relocation. Moving the power pole at the corner of W. Court Street Mt. Olive Road.
I-18 Move utility poles off sidewalk. Have APCO and Verizon move utility poles to behind the sidewalk when replacing them.
I-19 Crosswalk Study/Improvement. Evaluate locations and improve crosswalks.
I-20 U.S. 60 Sidewalk. Install a sidewalk along U.S. 60 from the traffic circle to Mountain View Shopplng Center.
I-21 Traffic Circle Sidewalks. Install pedestrian improvements in the area around the traffic circle.
I-22 Downtown Sidewalk Repair. Fix patchwork sidewalk between W. Court Street and the traffic light.
I-23 Gutter Repairs. Fix broken up concrete gutter pans and entrances along N.Main Street.
I-24 Community Park. Park with picnic tables, ball field, playground, grass, etc.
I-25 Gateways. Improve gateways and physical connectivity to districts outside the core downtown.
I-26 Infill Development. Identify opportunities for new infill development and redevelopment in and around downtown.
I-27 Historic Building Plaque. Plaques with historical information on/in front of buildings.
FACILITIES
F-1 Amherst Community Arts Center. Amherst Baptist Church.
F-2 Community Outreach Facility. Town build/renovate a building and site for meetings, farmers market, etc.
F-3 Establish YMCA. Or community access to Sweet Briar College gym.
Speak Your Mind