Home LOCAL NEWS Toole Design proposes improvements to Farmers Market, expanded Plaza, safer streets, and increased parking for Downtown Paris.

Toole Design proposes improvements to Farmers Market, expanded Plaza, safer streets, and increased parking for Downtown Paris.

by MyParisTexas
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The Toole Design Group made their final presentation to the public Thursday night at City Hall.

The crowd was large (additional seating had to be added at the last minute) and overwhelmingly supportive.

Ian Lockwood began the presentation with an overview of their previous visit, and what citizens said we wanted from our Downtown.

An updated design for the Farmer’s Market and Bywaters Park area was then presented.  Increased shade, relocated parking, a new park/playground, and a new “great lawn” area were proposed.  Restroom facilities were included, as well as space for a monument (proposal suggested a monument to First Responders tied to our history of recovering from downtown fires).

Paving and landscaping would be used to tie the Farmers Market to Bywaters park across the Library parking lot.  It was suggested that we add a stair-stepped, or the terraced area behind the library parking lot.  This area could be used for many purposes including seating for any events held at the Farmers Market.

The next area presented was The Plaza/Fountain area over toward the Splash Park.  Toole Design suggested a major expansion of the area surrounding the fountain, almost doubling the square footage.  Benches would be relocated (the crowd had a good laugh after it was pointed out that, despite lots of shade surrounding the fountain, we located all of our benches in direct sunlight), retail storefront sidewalks would be expanded, trees added, and a bike lane would be installed to connect our Trail all the way to our Splash Park.  In order to make the area more “event friendly,” it was suggested to raise the streets to curb-level.  This would remove any pedestrian obstacles and increase accessibility.  Three of the grassy areas would be leveled out, with steps added to the fountain on those sides, and one slope would remain.

This design would carry over to 1st Street Northeast, where the street would be raised, paved with brick, and designed to be closed whenever needed.  The idea is that an “Arts District” could develop here (current businesses facing this street are 1st Street Media’s 3,000+ square foot soundstage, On Top of It Catering, and Lickity Split Wine Lounge.  The Paris Community Theatre has a building on the corner.)

Some citizens have made it very clear they are concerned about parking downtown.  Toole Design addressed this with maps showing that, if all designs are implemented, Downtown Paris will GAIN 49 parking spaces.  The area within one block of the Plaza will GAIN 17 spaces.  We would see a move toward parallel parking, which has been shown to be much safer than head-in parking.

The other major change to downtown would be the restoration of two-way streets.  Although somewhat controversial, Toole Design pointed out that these streets were originally two-way and would function much better this way.  They presented traffic data that showed safer crossings, slower speeds, and fewer maintenance costs (as we’d no longer need traffic signals).  In a worst-case scenario, these changes would add less than 30 seconds of travel time across town.  Though the details would need to be worked out, roundabouts were suggested at the North and West entrances to downtown to ease the transition.

Overall, the Toole Design Group has presented us with a safer, more beautiful, more useful, pedestrian/bike friendly downtown.  These methods have proven to encourage a more active downtown and have demonstrated an increase in retail investment in other cities.

 

Many City Officials have shared their thoughts on the project:

“The folks from Toole Design did a great job capturing the vision of our local people who care about and understand the value of downtown.  Our next steps include working with TXDOT to make implementation of some of the road changes possible, developing some sort of implementation plan with timelines, and calculating likely costs and the best means of affording those costs, including the creation of a TIRZ, which we have been planning for several months.  We have a downtown staff workgroup that has been meeting for almost two years, and that should help us move forward faster.  We are also fortunate to have City Engineer Carla Easton and Main Street Coordinator Cheri Bedford on our staff; they both do a great job for downtown and rarely get enough credit.”  -John Godwin, City Manager

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“We have good ‘bones’ in Paris, a government structure, supportive city management, and staff.  Tonight, we were presented with an inspiring design that will make us a Destination City of East Texas.”  – Glee Emmite, Paris Downtown Association President

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 “I am excited that Paris is exploring the possibilities of redesigning our downtown.  The time is ripe for the next step in making Paris a place where our young people want to stay and raise their families, where visitors want to come, and where industry would like to bring their business to our city.  I spent about four hours in Sulphur Springs last Saturday, looking and asking questions.  I asked merchants, residents, and visitors what they saw as pros and cons.  There were many pros given and only small cons.  One merchant said she wishes there was no parking on the street in front of her shop.  She felt that no parking there would mean better ambiance and a better view of her storefront.  One resident felt that Main Street is too narrow but that her family comes downtown at least twice a week now.  They used to never go downtown before the redesign.  Visitors just raved about the shops and restaurants and the veterans memorial.”  – Paula Portugal, City Council District 7

“All great ideas. I am especially a fan of street changes to make it more user-friendly, safe and comfortable for everyone. If I could pick one thing that has been the biggest complaint from the public, it would be the streets.  Loved ideas they had for the plaza will definitely make it better for events. Adding more green space and adding more parking seems like a win situation. An important part of this process, in my opinion, was citizens input. 

One thing I know from working in downtown is there is already a tremendous amount of support from citizens. They love downtown. I have experienced it since I started my job, and it was evident by the attendance at the meetings, input with the consultants, and the willingness to financially support the Toole Design group to come to Paris for visioning. The Public already uses downtown as a place where they can hang out and bring their families. I see it every day.  Numerous citizens think improvements are necessary and needed for downtown to continue to thrive and grow. I hear that quite a lot.  Many have already expressed they are ready and willing to roll up their sleeves and work on the plan.

Visuals speak where words cannot. Before and after testimonial pictures from other cities were impressive. Fleshing out ideas into sketches specific to Paris will help everyone catch the vision.  I can vouch for the fact that there has already been an investment in downtown since the group has come, and I am looking forward to the future changes.”  – Cheri Bedford, Paris Main Street Director

The Toole Design Group has presented a concept, or “vision,” for Downtown Paris.  Many details will have to be worked out, and some changes are likely.

The timetable would vary depending on many factors, including the support and approval of the City Council.

By Chad Lindsey

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