$11,183,437.
That’s the dollar amount that has already been funded for the revitalization of downtown Neosho as part of Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt’s Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) Initiative.
While the total public funds of $3,334,850 and private funds of $7,848,587 is staggering, there is still much work to be done on the DREAM project for Neosho.
And that is what Thursday night’s meeting at the Lampo Community Building focused on — an update on the progress and the future plans of the DREAM Initiative, led by DREAM consultants with Peckham Guyton Albers & Viets, Inc.
Patrick Hanlon, senior project manager with PGAV Inc., said one of the keys to success for downtown Neosho is to raise awareness of the improvements, and develop a marketing strategy. He suggested starting a downtown Neosho web site, putting together a promotional brochure, a downtown Neosho newsletter, and to start a “Shop Downtown Neosho” campaign.
Hanlon also encouraged the city to use its “City of Springs” brand, and to forego the older brands of “All-America City” and “Flower Box City.”
Gayle June, senior designer with PGAV Inc., later discussed the streetscape design.
The design featured more narrow streets on the square. June said the streets, as they are now, are designed for vehicles — not for pedestrians.
“It is not a pleasant walking experience,” June said.
The consultant group recommended widening the sidewalks out 8 to 12 feet, depending on which side of the square, to allow the introduction of benches, chairs, trees, café seating and sidewalk sale space on the existing sidewalks.
“This will make it a much more pleasant experience,” June said.
Jan Blase, Neosho city manager, said it is no secret what makes a downtown special.
“Downtown has to be a people place,” Blase said. “You have to have those nooks and crannies that you can go and read a newspaper in the fall sun, or a spring day. You have to have people feeling safe, and people moving around throughout the streets, alleys and sidewalks. If people aren’t going to matriculate, your downtown is not going to be special. Regardless of whether or not you can drive through that square fast, it is not a friendly place to walk. It is intimidating.”
At each corner of the interior of the square, the consultant group proposed a water feature to highlight Neosho being the “City of Springs.”
The proposal also features red brick pedestrian crossings in the middle of all four streets of the square, and red brick squares at each corner. It was also recommended to take the streetlights from 16 feet down to 12 feet.
“The square would still have two lanes of traffic,” June said. “You have a very handsome vertical edge on your square. You do not have very many missing teeth, so to say, that we see with missing buildings in other communities.”
Russell Volmert, associate director with PGAV Inc., talked about how shopping downtown should be a different experience than shopping on the boulevard or in the southtown area of Neosho.
“Wal-Mart and Walgreens don’t have the character that downtown Neosho has,” Volmert said. “The streetscape design that we have in place makes that very tangible.
Downtown Neosho is unique to downtown Chillicothe, Aurora or Sikeston, but a Wal-Mart or Walgreens in those towns look all the same. Folks want to go somewhere unique. That’s the idea behind this, but it is easier said than done, and doing (the streetscape design) will take a lot of time.”
And, it will take funding. Blase said there is no dollar amount attached to the streetscape proposal.
“(The consultants) are still in the dreaming stage,” he said. “They haven’t gotten to realism yet, but that is where they will go next.”
According to Blase funding to pay for the streetscape plan could come from a combination of a self-imposed, and using that to match Community Development Block Grant or other grant funding that might be available through state or federal programs.
“We are very careful not to try and play favorites between one side of the business community and the other side of the business community,” Blasé said. “This is no different than the CID (Community Improvement District) out by Wal-Mart. This would just be downtown. A Community Improvement District can impose either a sales tax or a property tax, depending upon what the property owners want to vote for.”
Blase said the maintenance of the proposed streetscape improvements would be handled by the city, as in the streets or sidewalks, however the special improvements, such as the water features, should be handled by the CID.
“The CID could then hire or individual or have a contract to handle those things that are unique such as flowers, the water features, trees, etc,.” Blase said.
One concern put up at the meeting by those attending was the issue of parking — or the lack there of. The widening of the sidewalks will not delete any existing parking spaces, according to Blase and the consultants, and the added water fixtures would delete about four spaces at each corner.
The consultant group recommended talking with county courthouse employees about not parking on the square, and utilizing the parking lots around the square, but the general public at the meeting did not think that was an option.
“That’s been a battle for 100 years,” said someone in the crowd.
“Parking is definitely an issue,” said Hanlon. “By improving those parking lots, that will encourage people to use them.”
Jeff Werneke, a member of the Neosho City Council and a business owner on the square along with his wife, Debbie, addressed the consultants about the current business climate downtown. He asked for input on how long stores should store open, and talked about when stores did stay open later there is little or no business in the evening.
“We do need more bodies downtown,” Hanlon said. “And a more pleasant experience downtown could help attract people to shop.”
The consultant group suggested stores stay open a few hours past 5 p.m. one night a week, and advertise that change, in an effort to gauge customer response.
Brad Taylor, a business owner off the square on Main Street, shared his opinion that the streetscape design “is the key to the success of this plan.”
Larry Neff, who recently renovated the Sterling Building on the square into modern office space, apartments and condos along with Rudy Farber, said downtown is about 35 percent of where it needs to be right now.
“This is the next step,” Neff said in reference to the consultants’ presentation. “We can get where we need to be, but it will not happen overnight. It might take eight or 10 years. Right now, people want to live downtown. If you build something nice, they will want to live in it.”
Neff then listed renovations to existing buildings that have taken place in past years such as the former immediate school, the Sterling Building, the Newton Hotel, and the Berger Block building.
“This type of downtown renovation is happening in larger cities, and there is no reason it can’t be done here,” Neff told the crowd.
Bob Miserez, executive director of the Missouri Development Finance Board, told the crowd, “a downtown is the heart and soul of any community. As your downtown goes, your town goes. You have a chance to create a very special place. We can’t come down from Jefferson City, St. Louis or Kansas City and give you that special place — you have to create that on your own. What we are going is giving you the components. Each component, by itself, is worth nothing. But when you integrate these components, and come up with a strategic plan, it will all come together and be something.”
And Blase said that would take time and patience upon the public.
“It is a long, and somewhat cumbersome process, but I think everyone got a good picture that we are ready to go, and things are going to start happening,” Blase said.
“This was an opportunity to see if we are on the right path, or wrong path… I think the sense the staff had is we are going to keep right along the path that we are following.”
