Downtown-area property owners, residents, business owners, community leaders and interested stakeholders are invited to participate in two Public Open Houses on two consecutive evenings:

• North Highland Avenue Planning Study Public Open House, Monday, October 10, 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., at MTSU's Andrew Woodfin Miller, Sr. Education Center (formerly the Bell Street Building), Second Floor Atrium, 503 East Bell Street, Murfreesboro, TN 37130. Please enter through the double doors immediately under the breezeway entrance and take the front entrance elevators to the second floor. The parking lot for this building is accessed from Greenland Drive.
• Historic Bottoms Planning Study Public Open House, Tuesday, October 11, 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m., at Patterson Park Community Center, 521 Mercury Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37130.

The purpose of the both Public Open Houses is to receive input and feedback from the public.

Both Public Open Houses will consist of a come-and-go format with a brief presentation beginning at 5:30 p.m. If you arrive later than 5:30 p.m., a handout summarizing the key points of the brief presentation will be available.

"Both of these studies are moving forward very well with a great deal of public input being documented and used to continue revising our work," said Randy Caldwell, Ragan-Smith Executive Vice President and a registered landscape architect (RLA). "At the North Highland Avenue Planning Study Public Open House, we are asking the public to review the key planning concepts for the study area, as this study's schedule is a few weeks ahead of the Historic Bottoms Planning Study. At the Historic Bottoms Planning Study Open House, we are asking the public to review the preliminary concepts for that study area. All of the ideas and feedback received on both nights will be documented and then used to further modify the plans as we move forward."

North Highland Avenue Planning Study Open House Monday, Oct. 10

At the North Highland Avenue Planning Study Open House, participants will review the key planning concepts for the study area, organized in information stations within these topical areas: Parks and Open Space, Development Scenarios, Land Use, Transportation, and Arts and Entertainment, including the "big ideas" that have been identified thus far for the study area and the marketing analysis results. The key planning concepts have been fine-tuned since receiving valuable public input at the first public open house. Participants will be invited to share their comments, ideas and questions to planners staffing each information station, and all input will be documented and used in developing the draft of the plan.

The North Highland Avenue Planning Study area includes downtown Murfreesboro and includes the intersection of East Clark Boulevard and North Highland Avenue south to Lytle Street, east along Lytle Street to Middle Tennessee Boulevard and west along Lytle Street to Northwest Broad Street.

Historic Bottoms Planning Study Open House Tuesday, Oct. 11

At the Historic Bottoms Planning Study Open House, participants will review preliminary concepts for the study area, organized in information stations within these topical areas: Parks and Open Space, Development Scenarios, Land Use, Transportation, and Arts and Entertainment, including the "big ideas" that have been identified thus far for the study area and the marketing analysis results. Participants will be invited to share their comments, ideas and questions to planners staffing each information station, and all input will be documented and used in developing the draft of the plan.

The Historic Bottoms Planning Study includes the area of downtown Murfreesboro that is south of the historic Downtown Square, east along Southeast Broad Street to the Discovery Center, and west along Southeast Broad Street to Memorial Boulevard to the CSX Railroad as the western boundary. The study area includes Murfreesboro's Civic Plaza, Cannonsburgh Village and the West Main Street area, to name a few key landmarks.

"Having Public Open Houses like these gives all interested citizens and stakeholders a chance to review, react, ask questions, make comments and provide more direction to the City and its consultants as we all work together on plans for both of these key areas of downtown Murfreesboro," said Jennifer Moody, Assistant City Manager for the City of Murfreesboro. "We see incredible opportunities in both of these study areas to advance our downtown and our entire community, so we encourage everyone to stop by both Open Houses and help us create a vibrant Murfreesboro."

For information about the North Highland Avenue Planning Study, contact Matthew Blomeley, Murfreesboro Planning, at 615.893.6441 or via email at mblomeley@murfreesborotn.gov. For information about "The Bottoms" project, contact Donald Anthony, Murfreesboro Planning, at 615.893.6441 or via email at danthony@murfreesborotn.gov.