The Valentine Community was fortunate enough to receive a stipend from the Citizens Institute on Rural Design, (CIRD) to host a workshop focusing on the 2021 and 2022 reconstruction of Main Street. Included in the workshop will be local citizens, local businesses, and experts in transportation, urban planning, community art and place making. The workshop dates are October 8th through the 10th.
Representatives from the Nebraska Department of Transportation have been engaged in this process and will be available to discuss the reconstruction process and learn what the community would like to see when completed. It is anticipated that everything from store front to storefront, including sidewalks, will be replaced during the construction phase. The City of Valentine will be replacing the infrastructure under the street during this project.
Monday October 8th will be the opening kickoff event; from 5:30 to 8pm. This will be the community’s first opportunity to establish a vision on what could make Valentines Main Street even healthier than it is right now.
During the day on October 9th, participants will walk Main Street and take notes on the positive and negative attributes to acquaint themselves with the area. At sessions during the day, they will gather information from business owners about what they would like the downtown area to look like and how it could function more effectively. That evening, from 6 to 8pm, will be the initial design open house where business owners and members of the community will have the opportunity to express their views.
On Wednesday October 10th, participants will work with information gathered from the previous day, to facilitate a design that works for the community. From 6 to 8pm there will be a reveal of a potential design for a new more vibrant downtown area.
A crucial part of the workshop will be a survey designed to let the community have input about the current condition of Main Street and ideas to make it an improved location. Citizens are encouraged to go online and take a simple survey to express their opinions about the Main Street neighborhood.
The survey link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/heartcitynebraska
The survey link is available at KVSH.com.
All events will take place at 272 North Main Street, the old Clinic Pharmacy building. It is vital the public contributes ideas during this workshop in order to achieve a design that best fits the community.
For additional information on this workshop, contact Mike Burge at 402 376 6842.