Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Among the activities that Shawano residents and visitors will be table to take part in at Shawano Summerfest on Saturday will be an opportunity to provide input to the city on long-range development plans for three of the city’s major corridors.
The city and various economic development partners will set up shop at 153 S. Main St. — formerly known as the Qualheim building — from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for a “public visioning open house/workshop,” according to City Administrator Brian Knapp.
The city will host the workshop with the assistance of the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.
They will be looking for ideas and thoughts from residents, business owners and visitors on how to improve the city’s major commercial and retail areas, including Main Street, East Green Bay Street and County Road B.
Knapp said this will be the public’s only direct opportunity to provide input to the regional planning commission, which is working on the long-range plan at no cost to the city.
The event is being held during the Summerfest celebration to make it easy for attendees to participate in the public input activity, Knapp said.
“The open house will have a number of quick, thought-provoking, visual exercises that will allow people to share their thoughts and concerns about how the downtown, Green Bay Street corridor and other commercial/retail areas of the community look, feel and function,” he said.
Knapp said the city hopes to get input that will improve the image and aesthetics of those areas.
“Furthermore,” he said. “The community’s thoughts about where and how the city and private sector business should invest will give us the ability to better budget for infrastructure improvements, building renovation and redevelopment opportunities, as well as any concerns about traffic safety and accessibility. This initial input will provide great meaning as we formulate a vision for Shawano’s future.”
The input gathered from the open house will be compiled, organized, and interpreted for the city so that it can be used to generate an overall vision and goals for how to keep the existing corridors vibrant and successful, Knapp said.
For information, call Knapp at City Hall, 715-526-6138.