cuyahoga falls: The city is hoping to stimulate a lot of new development downtown if it follows through with plans to return two-way traffic to the underachieving Front Street pedestrian mall.
To give developers added incentive — while also protecting brick and mortar structures that have survived more than a century of consumer evolution — Cuyahoga Falls City Council is poised to approve a “downtown historic overlay district.”
Planning Director Fred Guerra said the city has asked that the area also be named a Downtown National Register District. The state last month awarded Cuyahoga Falls a $12,000 grant to complete that application process.
Combined, the two moves would establish controls to preserve the area’s historic architectural character while offering investors the potential for special state and federal tax credits.
Guerra pointed out the redevelopment of the Falls Stamping & Welding Building (currently named the Foundry Building) and the coming renovation of the old Falls Theater as two projects where developers preserved iconic buildings with the help of such tax credits.
The proposed district includes both sides of Front Street from Stow Road to Chestnut Boulevard, as well as the east side of Third Street from Stow to Broad Boulevard.
There were no naysayers at a Monday council public hearing in which officials explained how the legal designations would work.
“I think this is critical to get things going on Front Street,” council President Mary Ellen Pyke said in support of the legislation, which council is expected to approve on Monday.
Pyke said the committee that created the boundaries of the overlay district did not take their duty lightly and were diligent in only adding the “true historic areas.”
Guerra said the area includes Front Street because it represents commercial development that began in the 19th century, Church Square because of three churches with “important ecclesiastical architecture,” and the section south of Broad because of its early industrial development.
In a related matter, council is expected to approve a $3.7 million makeover for the city’s three parking decks along Front Street.
City Engineer Tony Demasi said the decks — the oldest built in 1975 — need more than routine patching. The 600 parking spaces they provide will be needed more than ever in a downtown resurgence.
The makeover will include repairing the elevator in what’s known as the “red deck” and adding an elevator to the “green deck.”
Several council members asked Demasi to include a visible digital counter at the entrance to each deck so motorists can see before entering how many spaces are available. They said they saw such technology during a bus tour last month of three Midwest downtowns.
Demasi assured them the plans would include the digital counters.
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/paulaschleis.