Group aims to improve downtown
By Heather Mangold
City
Editor
A Purdue student focus group will contribute to
results of a study, which is being conducted to improve downtown Lafayette.
Up With Downtown, a project conducted by the city
of Lafayette in partnership with the Virginia based consulting firm
HyettPalma, is expected to present its results in December. The project
is a compilation of research provided by HyettPalma and those in Lafayette
who have worked to find out what downtown lacks in addition to what
people perceive that it needs.
Eleven Purdue students were interviewed for the
study in an effort to get a student perspective for the study and to
include that perspective as a possibly large factor in the study's considerations.
"We're thinking that 35,000 students is a pretty
good market to try to trap," said Sherry McLauchlan, director of the
Lafayette community and redevelopment department.
The anonymous focus group consisted of students
with various majors and interests and was very diverse, said Laura Gibbons,
the Indiana downtown coordinator and developer of the Indiana Association
of Cities and Towns.
"They (Lafayette officials) thought it would be
important to get the information from students to see if that would
be a market for Lafayette to market to," said Gibbons. "Consultants
will use that information in their recommendations to improve downtown."
Students were questioned about their perception
and experience with downtown Lafayette. They reported that downtown
Lafayette was unique in character, suggesting that it was distinct,
serene, calming and a reminder of home. They said the area's best assets
are its restaurants, the courthouse, farmers market and historical buildings.
Gibbons wrote in her report on the focus group
that although students' main attractions to the downtown area were mostly
to restaurants, bars and a few coffee shops, they are searching for
a sense of place and points of interest that would inspire them to journey
downtown.
Students said they did not frequently visit the
downtown area because they did not feel welcome or familiar in the area.
They said they would like to have more information and promotions about
the area's layout, its businesses and an event schedule. According to
the report, students overlook business downtown because they find little
retail and entertainment geared toward their population and would like
to see a mix of businesses that target their demographic. Suggestions
for such businesses were shops that are different from those of Wabash
Landing and the mall.
Results from this study along with many others
will be presented to the public in December by the consulting firm and
downtown improvements are expected to follow, said McLauchlan.
West Lafayette had done its share in trying to
improve its own downtown area as well. Wabash Landing has been under
construction for the past several months. New stores within Wabash Landing
include Panera Bread, Starbucks Coffee, Roly Poly and the Wabash 9 theatres.
A new hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn, broke ground in September and is
expected to be complete by the fall of 2002. An ice skating rink is
on its way to Tapawingo Park near Wabash Landing and new additions to
the Levee have added something new to West Lafayette's downtown area
as well.
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