By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The design committee for the downtown green space has been asked to come up with three options for the city to consider.
City officials are continuing to hear concerns about plans for the city’s green space at the corner of West Wooster and South Church streets. City Council passed a resolution in October dedicating the 1.7 acres as a green space to be used as a town square.
Criticisms have ranged from concerns that too much is being planned on the property, to concerns that the space it not being designed for young users.
“The getting started process is taking longer than some of us would like to see,” but is proving to be necessary, Mayor Dick Edwards said. “Lots of different ideas are circulating.”
During a strategic planning meeting of City Council on Saturday, Edwards again stressed that the planning process has been and will continue to be a very open process.
But City Council member Daniel Gordon voiced concern about a lack of younger people on the site design committee.
Edwards said the design committee is open to members and is chaired by high school art teacher Lloyd Triggs, who is young, the mayor said.
The green space steering committee is chaired by Eric Myers, who asked his BGSU students the other day what they would like to see in the green space. According to the mayor, the students said, “Give us a bench and a shade tree” and someplace to plug in their electronics, and they would be happy.
But Gordon said there is a difference between listening to input from young people, and actually having them represented on committees.
Edwards said the process is still in its “embryonic” stage, and there is still a lot of time for ideas to be submitted. He added that the project is different in that it’s on city property and a city-sanctioned project, it is being done with private funds.
“It may not be as smooth as one would like,” the mayor said.
Gordon suggested that the process should be made more public, and the mayor said that plans could be put on the city’s website.
Edwards said Downtown BG is acting as the gift-receiving site for the green space fundraising campaign. Some money has already been donated to jumpstart the process, he said.
