Marion wants to work with county on revitalization plan

Marion wants to work with county on revitalization plan

Courthouse square a key area in development initiative

news@theeveningtimes.com

Marion says it will work hand-in-hand with the county on any plans to revitalize the area around courthouse square.

Mayor Frank Fogleman told the Quorum Court that they have been working with an architect to transform downtown Marion into a destination, but since they do not own the land around courthouse square, they will need to involve the county to make any of the suggested improvements a reality.

“Marion has had some public meetings about developing downtown,” Fogleman said. “And within that process there was conversation about trying to develop a plaza on the courthouse square. But there was some concerns about whether Marion had approached the county. So I wanted to come here and answer some questions and give you some background.”

Marion hired Ecological Design Group and Fennel Purifoy Architects to develop ideas on how to revitalize downtown Marion including around courthouse square.

Ideas range from building a splash pad to holding a farmers market to building an outdoor amphitheater to host concerts.

Fogleman said any proposed improvements to courthouse square will come at a later date and are entirely dependent on the amount of funding available.

There are two other phases that involve improving Military Road which will come before courthouse square.

“These are just some ideas that have been talked about,” Fogleman said.

“We haven’t developed a schedule for any of these phases or if the money will even materialize.”

Fogleman said Phase I — the widening of Military Road from the intersection of I-55 to the railroad tracks — has been included in the state’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget.

The state is proposing to widen that stretch of the road from two lanes to five lanes.

However, Fogleman said the city is hoping to convince the state to scale that down to only three lanes and allow the city to pay for additional landscaping enhancements.

Ecological Design Group has developed a list of improvements which includes adding a decorative arch, landscaped medians, lighting, bike lanes, and banners that Marion would like to include along with the widening.

The city is not in favor of widening Military Road to five lanes which could eliminate several buildings and the popular oak trees by Marion Elementary High School.

“We know that the highway department wants to widen Military Road,” Fogleman said. “To me, any improvement would have to be three lanes. The worst thing they could do is five lanes.”

Fogleman said they will be meeting with highway department officials in August to discuss their concerns and to try and sell them on their ideas to improve the look of the highway.

“We don’t know if the highway department will buy into that,” Fogleman said. “They have to study traffic counts, accidents, and things of that nature.

The architect we are working with has had some conversations with them and was encouraged by those positive meetings. But the traffic count is near the threshold where they want five lanes. We think that will be detrimental.”

Justice Hubert Bass asked whether the county needs to appoint a liaison to the project.

“I’m just wondering,” Bass said.

Fogleman said County Judge Wheeless has been at all of the meetings, but assured the Quorum Court that they will make sure they are kept informed of the process as it moves forward.

“It’s not the city’s property,” Fogleman said. “So certainly. We could not do this without you. We certainly look forward to working with the county because we want this to be something that is beneficial to the public.”

Fogleman said they do not have a definite timeline for when any of the improvements will begin.

“I’m trying to get a commitment from them about when they will start (Military Road),” Fogleman said. “They aren’t even telling me for sure that they are going to do Military Road. And the other phases are going to be done with money we don’t have.

We’re going to have to find grants and money from some source to do it.”

By Mark Randall