By DANIEL PRZYBYLA, LaPorte Herald-Argus Staff Writer
LAPORTE — Resurrecting LaPorte’s downtown will take money, cooperation from a number of players, persistence and a strategy that will bring new life to an area that’s languished since the 1970s.
A consulting group hired by the city to outline recommendations for a downtown turnaround outlined those details to 25 city officials, business owners and residents at LaPorte Civic Auditorium Monday night.
Doyle Hyett of HyettPalma pointed out the strengths and weaknesses of the city that citizens voiced to the group, as well as those that HyettPalma personnel detected while on their visit to LaPorte back in November.
“There’s not a single thing that’s not accomplishable with the current resources you have. This is realistic,” Hyett told the crowd when talking about what people want in the downtown.
Making sure the downtown is pedestrian-friendly, historic, quaint, yet progressive and vibrant with fine dining restaurants and cultural elements are what people highlighted during public meetings 10 weeks ago.
Among the solutions that Hyett detailed for the downtown:
Erect signs on how to get to places
Install pedestrian crosswalk signals that count down time for crossing the street
Create more angled parking and erect signs that read, “free two-hour customer parking” and more all-day parking
Increase accountability of property owners to meet code standards
Keep businesses open during market-driven hours
The timing of revitalizing the downtown is key, Hyett said, because economic development is occurring around northwest Indiana and “you don’t want to play catch-up with the big boys. You want to stay ahead of the curve.”
LaPorte Mayor Leigh Morris said there’s business development occurring on the east end of LaPorte and the west end is expected to see growth in the years ahead.
“We have no choice. (The action plan) has to go somewhere. These areas will succeed and the downtown will continue to descend,” he said.
Councilman Duane Miller is supportive of a newfound strategy.
“(Downtown LaPorte doesn’t) want to get lost in the shuffle and become the black hole in the middle of town,” he said.
Morris will ask the council to approve the downtown action agenda to make city and business officials more accountable to the strategy and to increase momentum.
“I’m pleased so far with it,” said LaPorte Redevelopment Commission President Anthony Sindone. “The key is to get everyone on board.”
It’s likely that someone would have to be hired to make sure the strategy is implemented, Morris said.
Thaddeus and Laura Cutler, who own Thaddeus C. Gallery on Michigan Avenue, said they’re excited and positive by what they heard Monday.
“Something needs to give this city motivation and belief in something,” Laura said.