The public, especially those who live and do business in the West Broadway Downtown Gateway area, are invited to take part in a five day-long Charrette, much of which will be virtual due to COVID restrictions.

Annette Marchessault, Project Manager, Redevelopment Specialist with the Missoula redevelopment Agency provided details on Monday afternoon.

“This week is the kickoff of the master planning process,” said Marchessault. “This is for the site between North California St., Russell Street, West Broadway and the river, so it's sort of that mega block there. While this area was part of the Downtown Master Plan, and there was a very, very high level look at the site, we're not going in with a preconceived notion of what the design for that will be.”

The planning process actually began on Monday afternoon.

“This week is the beginning of an intense master planning process, and the intention is to really engage the public, really focusing on residents in that neighborhood, especially the West Side and the North Side neighborhood, as well as business and property owners within the area,” she said. “So this will be mostly a virtual design Charrette.”

Marchessault provided the website for those who wish to participate in the planning process.

“The website is www dot Envision West Broadway, (all one word).com,” she said. “Just go to the website and everybody who wants to participate needs to register and then you hit the ‘events’ button and there is a whole series of events that you can participate in.”

For those who do not have computer access, Marchessault said there will be a special in-person design event.

“We have made the opportunity on Wednesday evening between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.,” she said. “We're going to set up a table at Western Cider so that people can just drop in if in person if they don't have access to a computer and participate that way.”

The City of Missoula, through the Missoula Redevelopment Agency has partnered with the Business Improvement District and the Missoula Economic Partnership to launch the detailed master plan for the West Broadway Downtown Gateway Area.

 

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