After the first of the year, the City of Knox will embark on a collaborative community development project with Ball State University.
Back in October, City officials entered into a contract with the university in order to obtain a revitalization plan that will include designs for a proposed downtown façade program.
Over the past few years, this process has been utilized for other Indiana communities such as Portland, Westville, Waterloo, Montpelier and Muncie in addition the stockyards in Chicago.
When the City Council members met for their first meeting of the month, they heard from Professor Michael Burayidi, who will be serving as the project director and coordinator.
He explained, “My plan will be to come on the 16th (of January) with the students. We’ll probably get here during daylight time so we can walk the neighborhood and then take a drive of the entire City as well to familiarize ourselves with the community.”
After Professor Burayidi and the students tour the City, a public forum will be held that evening in order to gather feedback from community members.
Aside the forum, a survey will be distributed for the same purpose. There will be a chance to access the survey online and print-out copies will also be available in the Mayor’s Office.
Once that data is collected, the students and assisting staff members will work to review the information and develop an assessment. Additional community forums will be held later in the process in order for key findings and the draft plan to be presented.
The initial community forum will be held in the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday, January 16th.
Professor Burayidi explained that the more participation they get during these engagement efforts, the better.
He indicated that having a good turnout typically generates better discussion which gives the students and staff more information to work with as they develop the plan.
Mark your calendars now so you can make sure your perspective is included in the planning process!
