By By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
A proposal to create a “harbor district” in Washington is picking up support.
The “harbor district” idea surfaced several years ago when talk about putting a mooring field in the Pamlico River off Washington’s waterfront began. At the Washington’s City Council meeting Monday, a refined version of the “harbor district” concept was discussed. The council took no formal action as a result of the discussion.
Chris Furlough, spokesman for Citizens for Revitalization, told the council that the group developed seven goals to help begin implementation of the reinvestment and revitalization strategy for the downtown/waterfront area recently adopted (in concept) by the council. The strategy calls for creating a downtown harbor district that includes activity centers and districts along with a diversity of uses while maintaining the public’s access to the Pamlico River. The plan calls for “investments” to improve the quality of life in Washington, with those investments being made by the public sector, the private sector and public-private partnerships.
“We are taking the first steps to initiating this things,” Furlough told the council.
To help ensure implementation of the strategy and to make sure it does not sit on a shelf collecting dust, Citizens for Revitalization developed seven objectives, Furlough said.
The seven goals follow:
• Creation of a “harbor district,” mainly for branding purposes. Branding a certain area of the city’s downtown and waterfront areas as the “harbor district” would help support the planning and implementation process for the strategy, Furlough said.
• Analyze possible revisions of downtown traffic patterns, including making Main Street and Second Street two-way streets.
• Begin planning for the realignment of Gladden Street and Stewart Parkway.
• Find grant funds, or other funding opportunities, to pay for public restrooms at the west end of Stewart Parkway and, later, somewhere east of Market Street and near the open space being called Festival Park.
• Modify the landscaping of the Harding Square area at the foot of Market Street to the Pamlico River.
• Begin design work, as funds become available, for the Festival Park area west of the N.C. Estuarium.
• Develop a financial plan to implement the reinvestment and revitalization strategy, possibly with assistance from the National Development Council and similar organizations.
Councilman Doug Mercer told Furlough and his council colleagues that several of the proposed projects may need to be accomplished in phases over several years. He also said the council, during its next budget-cobbling process, should discuss how to finance the projects.
Furlough agreed with Mercer that the city and Citizens for Revitalization should pursue funding opportunities to help pay for the proposed projects.
Mercer also said the strategy provides a concept and suggestions that can be modified as situations dictate.
“I think that you’ve got seven specific items is good for us,” Mercer said.