Brookings firm to create master plan for downtown Mitchell

Talk about it

Mitchell Main Street & Beyond has hired a Brookings firm, designArc Architecture + Design LLC, to design a downtown master plan for Mitchell’s Historic Commercial District.

After an extensive review of proposals and rigorous interviews, MMSB chose the team to provide an innovative comprehensive streetscape and landscape plan for Mitchell’s Main Street, with the goal of creating a strategic plan that will effectively transform downtown into an inviting and user-friendly environment, according to MMS&B Executive Director Molly Goldsmith.

The team for the Mitchell streetscape planning process is comprised of representatives from South Dakota, including designArc, of Brookings, James Valley Nursery, of Mitchell, AcV2, of Rapid City, Civil Design Inc., of Brookings, and Roby Quintal Everson Engineers, of Mitchell.

The firm will start work immediately, said Carrie English, MMS&B’s vice president and the chairwoman of the Streetscape Committee.

The plans are to gather community input throughout the winter and the project can be done as early as April 2013, English said.

The design firm, one of five that applied for the work, will be paid approximately $30,000 with the addition of requested studies, she said.

None of that is from city dollars, English pointed out.

“The funds came from all the hard work our organization has done for the past decade and events,” she said.

English said it’s unclear how much the entire project will cost. “Without a plan in place, the figure is impossible to know,” she said.

Mitchell Main Street & Beyond was founded in 2006. Its mission is to maximize the economic potential and to preserve the heritage and sense of place in Mitchell’s historic commercial district.

That’s the driving force behind this effort, English said.

“The ultimate goal is to put investment into the community’s downtown, the heart of Mitchell,” she said.

Tags: master plan, news, updates, local, mitchell, downtown, design, streetscape