Public Invited to City's North Highland Avenue Planning Study Visioning Workshop

Jun 28, 2016 at 05:00 am by bryan


Downtown-area property owners, residents, business owners, community leaders, interested stakeholders, and the general public are invited to participate in a visioning workshop Monday, July 11 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Patterson Park Community Center, Meeting rooms A and B.

The purpose of the workshop is to hear what citizens and stakeholders want in the study area, which includes an area near downtown Murfreesboro, extending north of the downtown square from the intersection of East Clark Boulevard and North Highland Avenue south to College Street, and east along Lytle Street from Northwest Broad Street to Middle Tennessee Boulevard.

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Attendees will work together in small groups at tables with planning professionals to discuss ideas, wants and needs for the study area. Work from the visioning workshop will be included in the formulation of the study's results and deliverables, which includes a future land use plan, a development scenario, potential infrastructure improvements and market recommendations.

"Having a visioning work session like this helps stakeholders really dig into what can be possible in the study area, which includes two very important streets---Highland and Lytle--- between downtown Murfreesboro and Middle Tennessee State University," said Matthew Blomeley, AICP, Principal Planner for the City of Murfreesboro and lead Murfreesboro planner for this project.

After Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital moved to the Gateway area, many medical offices followed, leaving an inventory of empty and underutilized buildings. With the Murfreesboro Police Department moving into the former Murfreesboro Medical Clinic facilities and MTSU purchasing the Bell Street building, reinvestment is already occurring.

"We see incredible opportunity for improvement in the study area," added Blomeley. "The recommendations that come from the study will support ongoing efforts to revitalize and attract businesses, retail, arts and entertainment to our downtown. We hope to have a great turnout at the workshop and lots of engagement and ideas."

For information about the North Highland project, contact Matthew Blomeley, Murfreesboro Planning, at 615.893.6441 or via email at mblomeley@murfreesborotn.gov.

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