New Plan for Downtown Eau Claire features pedestrian mall, outdoor performance venue
By Andrew Dowd Leader-Telegram staff Leader-Telegram
The Downtown Master Plan unveiled Thursday would turn 2½ blocks of a downtown side street into a pedestrian mall that ends with an outdoor performing arts venue.
Conceptual drawings from the new plan show a promenade with grassy, landscaped islands, leading up to a large tentlike structure between buildings along the east bank of the Chippewa River.
A couple of years ago, when a pedestrian mall was proposed on South Barstow Street, City Council President Kerry Kincaid said businesses strongly opposed it.
But she said the plan for East Grand Avenue does not appear to have the same conflicts because it has fewer storefronts and less need for on-street parking than other downtown streets.
"This seems like a positive element of pedestrian traffic without the negative impact," she said.
The new plan puts heavy emphasis on redeveloping land closest to the Chippewa River on Graham Avenue.
"We're suggesting that all this property be redeveloped from the Farmers Store (Plaza), all the way to the Ruder Ware property on Graham," said Mike Morrissey of Wausau-based Redevelopment Resources.
The waterfront is underused, he said, because many of the current buildings on Graham Avenue face the street and have parking or garbage in the rear, closest to the river.
The plan defines downtown as the blocks from Lake Street north to the Eau Claire River, between the Chippewa River and Dewey Street.
Councilwoman Kathleen Mitchell said one of the strengths of the new Downtown Master Plan is that it came from business leaders.
The overwhelming majority of the plan's steering committee are members of the South Barstow Business Improvement District and Downtown Eau Claire Inc.
Kristen Fish, a managing partner with Redevelopment Resources, said the plan will take a partnership between the public and private sectors to become reality.
So far, the city already has planned for a few years to redo a couple of the streets. Graham Avenue will be resurfaced this summer, before downtown turns into two-way traffic this fall. South Barstow Street will undergo an extensive reconstruction next year.
About 60 government officials and downtown business leaders attended the plan unveiling Thursday at RCU Corporate Center. Prior to Thursday's unveiling, the most recent comprehensive, business-driven planning for downtown was done in 2000.
Plan Highlights
Highlights of the Downtown Eau Claire Master Plan unveiled Thursday:
- A large city parking lot at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers, plus some adjacent property, would make a good spot for a landscaped, public gathering space.
- East Grand Avenue, a half-block west of South Farwell Street to the Chippewa River, would be turned into a pedestrian plaza, terminating in an outdoor performing arts venue.
- Transform the Eau Claire school district's Administration Building, 500 Main St., into apartment housing.
- Attract a high-end "boutique hotel" to land along the riverfront.
- The city's bus transfer station in downtown should be moved to the current municipal parking lot behind the Schlegelmilch-McDaniel House. This would free up public parking closer to South Barstow Street.
Source: Downtown Master Plan Steering Committee
To view the entire Master Plan, please go to the
DECI website.
