City Council unveils downtown redevelopment plan

Russellville Mayor David Grissom looks on as Nathan Willingham presents the plan for downtown redevelopment to the citizens in attendance.

Russellville Mayor David Grissom said he had been working on a downtown redevelopment plan for months and he was glad to finally bring it to the city council as a whole and present it.

During Monday night’s Russellville City Council meeting Grissom along with NACOLG representative Nathan Willingham presented what they called a “four factor approach” to redeveloping the downtown area of Russellville.

“I was on vacation about a year ago in Charleston, South Carolina and I was reading about the mayor there,” Grissom said. “It turns out that he was one of the longest serving mayors in the United States and he was a big part of redeveloping downtown Charleston. One thing lead to another and the next thing I knew I was invited to their city council meeting. He and I discussed a project like this and how to go about it.”

Grissom said he also reached out to other local mayors and their city planning people to discuss how to go about redevelopment.

“There are a lot of positive things in downtown right now,” Grissom said. “It is the heartbeat of our city and there are some great parts here, but there are some parts that need attention.”

Grissom said after talking with NACOLG he felt like it would benefit the city greatly going forward. And the first step of the plan is to revitalize public infrastructure, according to Grissom.

During a presentation given by Willingham the main points of the plan were laid out including the “downtown sidewalk resolution” that was passed by the council Monday night. The city will now apply for a Transportation Alternative Project grant in order to begin the infrastructure revitalization.

“We want to get some new sidewalks and some new lighting for Lawrence St. from Coffee to Washington Streets,” Grissom said. “And we want to do the same on Franklin Street as well.

“We already have Jackson Ave. looking good and eventually we want to have the whole downtown district looking like that—to have it all look identical,” Grissom said. “We want it to be so that when you get to downtown Russellville you know you are in downtown.”

Willingham said there is a historical draw to downtown areas.

“In the beginning the downtown area is where major roads came together and it is where businesses and homes were set up,” Willingham said. “But then with the arrival of automobiles cities began to spread out and get away from downtown areas. The trend now is to come back to the center of town, to the downtown area.”

There are four key points for the plan, which Grissom said would likely be in the five to 10 year range. The first point is to invest in public infrastructure in downtown. The new sidewalks and lighting is part of that. The second point is to establish a district with guidelines and incentives. Willingham said the district is tentatively set from Cotaco Street on the north to Tuscaloosa on the south and Coffee and Washington Streets on the east and west respectively.

The third point is to revise zoning in the district to allow for downtown residents. Willingham said that would be based on timing when the residences were available and the right tenants could be attracted. The fourth point for the redevelopment plan is to recruit new businesses, something that all of the city council said they were in support of.

Willingham said the redevelopment would include suggestions and opinions from citizens and members of the community.

“We want to help develop a downtown that is safe, attractive, clean, unique, and exciting,” Willingham said.

Grissom added that his hope for this project was to provide an infrastructure “for businesses to springboard from and hopefully have something positive in motion for future mayors and council members.”

Willingham added that the four factors to redeveloping the downtown area and putting it in motion would be broken down into distinct sections of the overall plan.

“We need to develop a design, a look and feel for the downtown Russellville area. There needs to be an organization of local businesses and citizens that helps promote the district and coordinates events. There need to be those events in the district and the marketing involved with that, and there needs to be some economic restructuring so that there ends up a good mix of business, entertainment, and residents,” Willingham said.

Grissom said the plan is long-term and he wants to see the whole downtown area tied together with the businesses, local government, and residents in the same area.

The next step for the redevelopment is finding a local partner to begin the research and data collection, according to Willingham.

Grissom said he is excited about this project and he is excited to involve the public and hear what they have to offer.

“This is going to be a long-term plan and hopefully with the new sidewalks and lighting we can get this thing going,” Grissom said.

Other business taking place at Monday’s city council meeting was:

-ALDOT resolution for a road widening project on Lawrence Street from U.S. 43 to the intersection of Industrial Access Project for Innovative Hearth Products

-A resolution to bill for fire protection and related services rendered by Russellville Fire Department in Franklin County

-authorization for abatement of nuisances and demolition of 2 Brewer Lane, Russellville, Ala.

-hiring of Jeremy Ray Burfield and Timothy James Balcom by the Russellville Police Department as patrol officers

-the authorization of a five percent raise for Grant Tarascou for receiving certificates for Fire Inspector I, Firefighter I/II, Fire Instructor I and Fire Officer I

-granting of request from Russellville Marching Band to waive the rental fee for the A.W. Todd Centre on May 12, 2015