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Melding
ideas into
downtown
vision
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- Melding the proud and wonderful visions from residents --- tempered with reality --- will give Putnam its custom vision of downtown 2020.
The visions from residents and town officials who attended the March 22 and April 13 workshops will now be crafted into an action plan, according to Jill P. Barrett, a principal planner with Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc, planning consultants from Hartford. Barrett and John P. Guszkowski, director of planning services at CME, have been guiding Putnam citizens in coming up with a future vision of what Putnam's downtown should be.
Barrett said the discussions, wishes, visions and lines on a map will all now be woven together into an action plan, to be presented at a May 18 workshop meeting. The "Putnam 2020: A Vision for Downtown" discussion, guided by professional planners, is funded by a $12,000 grant from the Connecticut Main Street Center and the "Preservation of Place Program" in cooperation with the state Commission on Culture and Tourism with funds from the Community Investment Act of the state.
Community Development Director Delpha Very said a well-planned core vision will bring smart growth to town.
Following the March workshop, planners drew lines on a map delineating "downtown" Putnam. The lines run around the center of town, north to the Providence Street area from Owen Tarr to St. Mary Church, south again including Day Kimball Hospital and the new farmer's market. It includes the Town Hall, mills and churches along the way. He called it "a best fit" map.
Delineating where downtown is and dreaming about what it could be will help the town define itself, Guszkowski said. "We kept coming back to the strength of location," Barrett said.
Residents earlier had come up with strengths including: "good bones" (building, topography, history, river, vistas, compact layout), arts and culture, a good location, locally owned business and a police force. Weakness included: the condition of sidewalks and curbs, perceived lack of parking, traffic flow, empty buildings and second floors, overcrowded public buildings, too rapid residential growth, mills (also listed as an opportunity).
The planners' list of opportunities gleaned from the previous meeting include: Mill development, retail opportunity, education, passenger rail, government support, zoning, YMCA and the Airline trail. Threats included: Vacancies and maintenance problems, Big box stores and Rt. 44 east, inadequate government funding, public housing and poverty, economy, future parking, internet shopping and "political coup."
Last week residents filled in the blank: "I want a downtown Putnam that ________" and words like vibrant, safe and welcoming, "a destination," walkable, small town flavor, pedestrian friendly came forth time and again. A "small town feel" is vital to the vision.