By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A series of public meetings were held by the city of St. Joseph to hear feedback on the River Bluff Gateway project.
Historic Preservation Planner Kim Schutte says the meetings were overwhelmingly positive.
"The energy in the rooms was really high, people were really excited," Schutte tells host of the KFEQ Hotline Barry Birr. "People who lived in those areas, who have businesses in those areas, were just really overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the whole thing, it was a lot of fun."
Community Alliance Director Tama Wagner says through the meetings the city received very little project ideas from the north end.
"At the community meetings the south end was well represented, downtown was well represented, but if you live in the north end and you've always wondered, or you've always said somebody should do something about that, please give Kim a call," Wagner says.
Wagner says the way the grant is written it covers projects from King Hill to St. Joseph Avenue
"And St. Joseph Avenue is really the true gateway to the River Bluff bike trail," Wagner explains. "So, we want projects in that area to improve that."
Wagner encourages north end residents to contact Kim Schutte at 816-271-5349 with any project ideas they might have.
The project will focus on four areas of the city - the Southside centered on King Hill Avenue, the 6th Street Corridor, Downtown, and Northside centered on St. Joseph Avenue.
Schutte says a valuable part of the project will be sixth street with its easy access to go from north to south.
"It also has a huge amount of potential, it has amazing history, and so there's a lot 0f fun stories to be told along there, I think there's a lot of projects and things that we could do to at least start improving that," Schutte says. "Keeping in mind what happens with 229, that is not grave and in stone yet we're not sure, but we're pretty sure Sixth street will have a role to play there as well, so it's kind of setting up for the future as well."