Posted: 6:17 p.m. Friday, May 2, 2014

MIDDLETOWN

City needs strong vision to revitalize downtown, officials say

By Amanda Seitz

Staff Writer

    MIDDLETOWN — A long-term plan for Middletown will be vital to develop a successful downtown, create more jobs and lure tourists to the area, city leaders said Friday.

Local leaders here are inspired by a recent trip to Greenville, S.C., a city where local stakeholders spent the last 35 years redeveloping its downtown and turning a long-term vision of the city into a reality.

    Roughly 80 residents, city officials and local business owners gathered Friday evening at the Pendleton Art Center on Central Avenue in Middletown to share highlights from their visit to the South Carolina city and brainstorm ideas for future development in Middletown.

    A total of 23 Middletown leaders and residents traveled from April 21-23 to Greenville to understand how the Southern city of 61,000 people became one of the fastest growing areas in the country, established a downtown dining mecca and lured in more than 1,700 condominium and apartment units to the town.

    Planning was key to execute such a turnaround of Greenville and will be important as officials revitalize Middletown, said Calista Smith, the interim director of Middletown Moving Forward, a community improvement corporation.

“They had a long-term vision, a long-term vision,” Smith said. “When they say long-term, we’re talking 30 years.”

    Smith said Greenville officials faced challenges to create a well-visited downtown; city officials had to narrow down the city’s main drag of streets from four lanes to two lanes in order to create a more walkable city, for example. Greenville also had to pay $6 million in an eminent domain lawsuit, in order to gain the right-of-way for a development project, Smith said.

“They type of challenges Greenville has faced, they looked in them in the eye and said, ‘I’m not going to let you beat me,’” Smith said.

    Greenville officials also worked with local business owners to create a cohesive looks for storefronts throughout the city and brokered deals with universities to develop new campuses and programs that now churn out students educated in the automotive, health, science and business fields.

    Middletown will need investment from the private sector as officials work to redevelop the city downtown but first, leaders need to develop a grand plan for economic development in the future, Smith said.

    To kick off that planning, city leaders are launching a challenge called “What if Middletown?” to collect ideas for city development. Residents can submit their idea for the city’s future on a website that will launch May 9. Smith said the city is also seeking input from college students, who will be entered into a $1,000 scholarship competition, sponsored by the Middletown Community Foundation, when they submit an idea.

    Smith said she wants to hear feedback from all of Middletown’s residents and business owners to create a plan for the city’s future.

“This is just the start — we know it’s not the end,” Smith s aid. “We want you to stay engaged.”

Constructing a green space and pavilion between North Verity Parkway and Manchester Avenue was one of the first ideas discussed during Friday’s meeting. Smith unveiled a sketch for the project, which illustrated a stone walkway between a grassy lawn.

    Denise Brodsky, one of the owners of the Sorg Opera House in Middletown, said she wants to see more green spaces in Middletown — eventually. First, she said, the city needs to focus on rehabilitating the city’s empty, downtown storefronts and properties.

“Until we begin to rehabilitate and fill our vacant and blighted properties, to me, green space is not the priority,” Brodsky said.