Whitefish downtown redesign studied

Open house planned Wednesday evening

The Heart of Whitefish downtown group has planned an open house on Wednesday aimed at painting a clearer picture of the planned reconstruction and redesign of Central Avenue.

The open house begins at 5:30 p.m. at the O'Shaughnessy Center. Representatives of the Whitefish Planning and Building Department, engineers and architects, as well as Heart of Whitefish members, will be on hand to answer questions.

The event is in response to an 11th-hour petition drive against the streetscape project that the Heart of Whitefish said is misleading.

"There's been some last-minute confusion and misinformation, so we're trying to get those who didn't participate earlier up to speed," said Rhonda Fitzgerald of the Heart of Whitefish.

Toby Scott, a downtown property owner, distributed a petition in February that supports replacing utilities and streetlights on Central Avenue but opposes the wider sidewalks and raised pedestrian crossings at intersections. More than 400 Whitefish residents, including some downtown merchants, signed the petition, Scott recently told the City Council.

Discussions of a master plan for downtown Whitefish that would strengthen and revitalize the city's core began in summer 2003. The Portland consulting firm Crandall Arambula worked with Whitefish community leaders for nearly two years and a master plan was approved in March 2006.

But it was 1988 when the first discussions about a downtown plan were held. For a variety of reasons, a comprehensive planning effort was put on hold at several intervals through the years.

The Heart of Whitefish, a nonprofit group of downtown business and civic leaders, rejuvenated the effort about six years ago, soliciting pledges from local businesses to help pay for the consultants.

Among the criticism from opponents of the Central Avenue reconstruction is the belief that the streetscape will destroy the historic character of downtown.

Fitzgerald said that's just not true.

"This plan doesn't damage the historic character," she said. "And for the business owners downtown that have walked the walk on this for so many years, it's shocking to say they want to wreck the place."

Some parking spaces will be lost, but it's because regulations for handicapped parking and visibility at intersections must be followed, Fitzgerald said, not because the redesign calls for less parking.

NOW IT'S crunch time for the project.

The City Council on April 6 will be asked to authorize the advertising of bids for the first phase, and construction is expected to begin after Labor Day this summer.

Construction will be done in phases in the fall and spring through the spring of 2012, leaving the prime tourism season of July and August construction-free for visitors, Public Works Director John Wilson said.

While Wilson said he can't speak for what the council will decide, he said he would be surprised if the council authorized any major changes at this point.

"I don't expect any wholesale change, but I don't know," Wilson said, adding that he hopes the open house will answer a log of questions people still have about the project.

Construction of a surface parking lot in downtown will be a test run in many ways for how the area can handle the intrusion of construction crews, Wilson said. The city is allowing construction to commence seven days a week and with longer hours to get it done as fast as possible. Cash incentives are being offered to expedite construction.

Wilson said a detailed phasing plan for the Central Avenue project will be presented at the April 6 council meeting.

Resort-tax revenue will be used to pay for the roughly $5.5 million Central Avenue streetscape, which includes a portion of First and Third Streets.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com