The Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort’s Planning Committee will unveil the first conceptual plans for the proposed downtown “HUB” on Thursday.
The “HUB” is an acronym for a “high-use building” or “high urban benefit” building for supporting economic development efforts in Sweet Home.
The idea is to construct a new building where the Chamber of Commerce is located and the property to the west, 1435 Main St., owned by the Sweet Home Economic Development Group, to house the organizations and their activities.
The proposed facility would likely include a visitor’s center, the Chamber of Commerce, SHEDG offices and additional downtown parking.
“The citizens of Sweet Home love their community and believe in its future, and in early 2008, a number of public workshops
were held in an effort to start community conversations regarding its downtown region, its issues and its opportunities,” said Planning Committee Chairman Mike Adams.
“As a result of these workshops the SHARE group was formed.”
SHARE focuses its efforts on downtown revitalization through the broader efforts of SHEDG, he said. To that end, SHARE has developed a vision for the community and created a strategic plan, complete with a mission statement and strategic goals.
One of those goals is to redevelop downtown property to serve as a HUB, Adams said. SHARE has hired a professional planner to develop conceptual ideas for potential redevelopment of the downtown property purchased earlier this year by Sweet Home Economic Development Group directly to the west of the Chamber of Commerce building.
“SHARE would like to invite all business owners and interested citizens to the first in a series of public meetings to learn more about the HUB development concepts being considered and provide input to the potential end result,” Adams said.
The main purpose of the meeting on Thursday is to get public input on the project, he said, to find out what residents think about how the concept looks and how it might function.
“It’s intended to be a good focal point for future development,” he said. Once the public input process is complete, the planner will be able to create the final three-dimensional designs to present to SHEDG, SHARE and the Chamber.
“Come, take a look, ask questions and give us feedback,” Adams said. The session will function informally as an open house.
He especially encourages members of the business community to attend.
The open house will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 12 in the Sweet Home Police Department meeting room. A second session will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
For more information, contact Adams at 367-6243, extension 244, or [email protected].