This Saturday 10-noon at High School caf: downtown planning

Stop by the high school cafeteria this Saturday, January 30, 2010 from 10-12.

Forum to get your input on pragmatic design improvements for Hopkinton's downtown

The Downtown Revitalization Committee (DRC), with the assistance of the team from the Conway School of Design, will be conducting a public forum at the Middle School Lecture Room on Thursday, January 28th at 7 PM. The purpose of the forum is to gather input from town committees, boards, and departments on issues, concerns, and ideas, which will assist in the development of a practical design plan for the downtown area. Topics will include pedestrian flow, safety, infrastructure improvements, and current and future uses of our downtown.

The town and local business and property owners have hired the Conway School of Landscape Design to formulate a practical design plan for the downtown taking into consideration current and future needs. The Conway School of Landscape Design is a graduate school, located in western Massachusetts that is renowned for practical landscape designs that are ecologically and socially sustainable. Some of their past projects have included a Revitalization Guide for Centennial Business Park in Peabody, Massachusetts, and a study of Gardner Hamlet in New York to help that community establish a downtown area.

As an early step in the process of reviewing our downtown, the Conway School of Design Team is looking for input. Meetings are being held to encourage participation from downtown business and property owners, downtown residents, people who work in town, as well residents who use the downtown as a community gathering place. Town boards, committees and departments have given particular attention to details of change in town, and your input is therefore of critical importance to the Conway team.

In addition to the Thursday meetings the Downtown Revitalization Committee is holding a public forum on Saturday, January 30, 2010 from 10-12 at the High School cafeteria to solicit thoughts from residents.

For more information please contact Peter LaGoy at 508.435.5937 or Tim Kilduff 508.509.3484. Also feel free to send your input via email to: Peter_LaGoy@msn.com.