The work on fashioning a future for Wake Forest’s downtown district is still underway and people are invited to attend some or all of the remaining open sessions Thursday, April 29, from 9 to noon and then from 1 to 5 p.m. followed by the final markup session with displays of all the comments and ideas submitted during the week. The sessions are in the ground-floor training room in Wake Forest Town Hall, which is most easily entered from South Taylor Street.
The first draft of the results of the sessions and other information will be presented Tuesday, May 10, at 6 p.m. in the training room. Craig Lewis, who was also instrumental in designing the original Renaissance Plan, said they will offer “a whole palette of ideas” at that time.
Some of those ideas were offered Monday night when Lewis and others led the kickoff meeting followed by an exercise by all attendees who were asked several questions about downtown and how they view it.
Wake Forest adopted the Renaissance Plan for the Heart of Wake Forest in 2004, 12 years ago, and this year the plan is getting an update. The Renaissance Area stretches from the CSX railroad line east to South Allen Road and South Franklin Street, from the N.C. 98 Bypass (Dr. Calvin Jones Highway) north to Spring Street. It is the heart of the town.
An international consulting firm, Stantec, was chosen to help shape the plan update and to address several concerns.
— A market study identifying market readiness and barriers to appropriate development
— Housing infill
— Detailed streetscape plan for all streets
— Strategies for prioritizing how people move around by bicycle, on foot or on a bus
— Parking strategies including management and on-street and off-street parking areas
— Identification and tabulation of private development and redevelopment opportunities
— Desirable conditions to attract new retail, restaurant, office and housing
— Key urban design principles for new development and redevelopment
— Events and marketing strategies
— Implementation strategies including timing, phasing, funding and partnerships.
