In the summer of 2007, downtown business owners came together under the guise of Vision 2020 to discuss what the future may hold for the City Center.

"As these people started getting together they thought there is so much going on, what do the people want to see as the city center develops?," Urban Development Project Manager Courtney Knox said.

In December coordinators sent out surveys to help find what residents in Salem felt was needed. They then ranked the responses in five different categories: Provide places for people to live and gather; create a vibrant destination; preserve and enhance the look and feel of the Historic City Center; expand options to get about the city center; and improve connections to parks, creeks and rivers.

"The community designed 24 actions or goals for the area," Knox said.

One of these goals was the development of a town square.

In a recent meeting Vision 2020 staff and volunteers brought in examples of other town squares.

"We would want to talk to other cities and get some ideas about what works and what doesn't work for other communities," Knox said.
Knox said that the first step would be to find a location that works.

One possible location would be the geographic center of downtown. This is located between Chemeketa Street, High Street, Court Street and Church Street, though there is some debate over this.

"We want the town square to be in the center of things, but we don't know whether it makes sense for this project," Knox said. She went on to say that location may not work out because of the businesses currently in place.

Many town squares have a focal point such as a
fountain or a statue; Vision 2020 has also been discussing a focal point for a Salem town square.

"I was at a city hall meeting this morning and noticed the fountain had been turned on and people were naturally gathering around there, Annie Gorski, project coordinator for Vision 2020 said.
Another question asked was how this would affect transit.

Allan Pollock, the general manager of Salem Keizer Transit said, "Once we have a location we will be able to make changes to better accommodate the public."

Knox said that creating pedestrian and bike trails will also be very important.

There were some ideas about creating a pilot location. This would be a temporary location to make sure that there is enough need for a gathering place.

When the group discussed this they mentioned that having one location this year would be hard to move next year if it is successful.

"If we choose a spot and it is successful that would be great. However, if it isn't a success we have this failure in the way of future planning," Knox said.

Knox designed a scope of work for the group. In the scope she asked several questions that will need to be addressed before the project can be successful.

The questions included cataloguing desired activities for a town square, building and maintenance costs and ensuring that the square would be flexible and seasonally comfortable.

The goal, as they discussed, was to take what the community asked for and make it successful.
In the next meeting the group plans to take a tour of different sites to discuss possible locations.

One idea is to take an existing area such as Riverfront Park and make more use of the area by designing more activities that people can be involved in.

"A lot of people were saying there is Riverfront Park, why don't we have some more programming and lunchtime activities there," Project Coordinator Annie Gorski said.

However, according to the scope Knox worked on, some of these spaces may not be seen as useful locations for a town square. Many activities the community wants may not fit into the areas.  She said there needs to be an assessment done to see what will fit.

Knox also mentioned that they should talk to experts in the field and review the experience of like-sized cities to get an understanding of what this project will take.

"This project is still in its early stages and we need to plan accordingly to make sure it is successful."

The town square group meets on the fourth Friday of each month at 1pm.

Information about upcoming meetings or to volunteer can be found by contacting Courtney Knox at (503) 589-6178 extension 7516 or Annie Gorski at extension 7555. Information can also be found on the Web at City of Salem.