Downtown success
To the editor:
The downtown consultants have asked the public at the Nov. 17 meetings for a measurement of success of the first concept presented. However, I did not find any measurement of success in this concept. I did find successes in the downtown that are worthy of mention.
The first success is that three empty buildings in the downtown have been recently bought and now are being rebuilt to house apartments and commercial rental space.
The second success in the downtown is that 90 percent of the available commercial space is rented, according to my calculations.
The third success in the downtown is that in the last six months and in the next six months over $1 million will be spent by private investors in the downtown area.
The fourth success in the downtown is that four new businesses are slated to move in just north of State Street by July 2012.
As important as the subjects of parking, pedestrian traffic and truck traffic are to making the downtown more effective for economic growth, these subjects are not the primary elements in the current success of the downtown.
I am sure that the chamber and the downtown committee play a major role in this current success. I look forward to the consultants’ next concepts. Hopefully, the concerns of the public can be addressed adequately.
Paul E. Kinney
Presque Isle
