ULI officials ready for Friday presentation

By By Fredie Carmichael / staff writer
June 10, 2004
An advisory panel of city officials from around the United States will work today to hammer out details from research it did this week in downtown Meridian.
The panel, part of the Urban Land Institute, or ULI, spent Monday and Tuesday touring downtown and meeting with local business leaders. On Wednesday, they sat in a hotel conference room and began crafting a list of recommendations and evaluations of the city's efforts to refurbish downtown.
The ULI panel consists of city planners, engineers, architects and others from various cities, including Akron, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and San Diego.
The ULI panel, whose visit and study is being funded through a $110,000 grant from the Riley Foundation, will make a public presentation of its recommendations at 9 a.m. Friday at Union Station.
The public is invited to attend.
The ULI visit comes at a time when local, state and federal officials have already begun to pump money into downtown developments including the centerpiece project, the Mississippi State University Riley Education and Performing Arts Center.
The visit also comes at a time when new retail stores continue to open, while, at the same time, buildings that once housed businesses across Meridian remain vacant eyesores.