The Jefferson City Downtown Association is hoping to pin down a list of priorities for the year, but they could range anywhere from creating a downtown smart phone application to moving forward on a downtown conference center.
About 50 people attended a "Downtown Brainstorming" meeting Saturday morning at the recently-renovated Merchant's Bank property on West High Street. Those in attendance included city and county officials, downtown business owners, downtown residents and those who simply shopped downtown.
Association President Stephanie Bell said it's something they've never done before, but they hoped input from the community could help create a clear vision for the downtown area.
"We want to make sure, moving forward, that we have a clear vision," Bell said. "Resources follow vision."
Throughout the three hour session, people participated in various focus groups with the task of coming up with several concise ideas on how to improve the downtown. Ideas ranged from a downtown parking garage to improving the branding of downtown with some type of slogan.
Toward the end of the session, Bell said she was pleased with both the turnout and the ideas coming from each focus group. She said she was happy to see a wide range of ages represented, as well as more than just those who own businesses downtown.
"I'm so glad to see people interested in downtown," Bell said. "I think it's going great."
By the end of the session, a number of ideas were placed on the wall around the room and those in attendance were tasked with voting for their favorite. The five ideas that received the most votes were: enhancing and expanding the streetscape, focusing on redevelopment, moving forward with a downtown conference center, creating a space for people to hang out downtown that is not a bar and riverfront development.
Because a number of interested people were unable to attend Saturday's session, Bell said she would send out a survey asking for more input on what the goals of downtown should be. From there, she said she will take the ideas to the association board to decide the priorities for 2015 and the next five years.
"It's a fluid process," Bell said. "The votes taken today are not the end all, be all."