By Melissa St. Aude | Casa Grande Dispatch
Tree-lined streets, pedestrian walkways, a historic plaza, an artistic gateway and a blend of retail space, restaurants, office and residential spaces are included in a proposed plan that would give downtown Casa Grande a new look.
Monday, the Casa Grande City Council unanimously approved the vision for downtown south of the railroad tracks suggested in the Life on Main master plan.
While council approval of the Life on Main document does not obligate the city to spend any money, Ben Bitter, senior management analyst for the city, suggested moving forward with parts of the plan that require little or no funds. “We don’t anticipate this plan would be something that would sit on a shelf, but rather something that would have life and steps we could take,” Bitter said.
Making some improvements to Elliott Park or looking into agreements to acquire easements from Union Pacific Railroad are among some of the low- cost implementation steps suggested in the plan, Bitter told the council.
“I think there are some elements that are easy to pick off and get some energy going fairly quickly with minimal cost,” Mayor Bob Jackson said. Zone change issues should be addressed early in the process, the mayor said.
