August 30th, 2021 | Story by Gordon Dritschilo | Originally Posted in the Rutland Herald
Experimental closures of Center Street contemplated for the summer may yet happen in the fall, downtown leaders said Monday.
As part of the scoping study being conducted for a potential redesign of the street, community leaders had discussed putting the perennial suggestion of converting the street into a pedestrian zone to the test with a temporary closure. As the summer ends, that has yet to take shape, but Rutland Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Brennan Duffy said the idea hasn’t been abandoned.
“Where we were planning to do that was around an event that has now been cancelled,” Duffy said. “I think the original plan was to do it over consecutive business days, see how that works. The purpose would be to look at what that does on a weekday versus on a weekend during an event.”
This was the second year in a row that Center Street was given the alternate configuration first experimented with last summer, with narrower streets and parklets used to facilitate outdoor dining.
“I think it’s been a little weird of a summer,” Duffy said. “The folks that are using the parklets seem to be having success. I see people using them and haven’t heard any negatives.”
Duffy said the focus now is on public engagement, with surveys being planned for Friday Night Live — the first of which is scheduled for next week — and also offered online at the Downtown Rutland Partnership website. Duffy also said he expects draft redesigns for the street should be ready for public discussions in the fall.
“There’s still a lot of movement toward looking at a permanent change for Center Street in the future,” DRP Executive Director Nikki Hindman said.
Hindman said that the emerging new generation of downtown business owners is also interested in taking the discussion beyond Center Street and looking at improvements to Wales Street and Merchants Row.
“I would definitely love to see more outside dining done downtown as a whole,” she said. “I think it was appreciated by locals and visitors alike. I think that improves the vibrancy of the shopping district.”
Hindman said she encourages anyone with ideas for the future of Center Street to take the survey, which is available at downtownrutland.com/centerstreet