February 26th, 2023 by WCBC Radio

Reversing a decision that officials now openly acknowledge was a mistake- efforts will get underway in earnest April 3rd  when construction begins to re-open the downtown mall. The mistake in question was the 1979 action that closed  Baltimore Street to vehicular traffic, bricked over the street and created a pedestrian mall. The hope now is that a $15 million redesign of downtown will revitalize the mall with Baltimore Street re-opening for one-way traffic; aging underground utility lines replaced; and  a new streetscape created that will include trees, shrubs and redesigned parklets. Construction is expected to take 18 months. A Thursday  town hall meeting allowed the public a chance to ask questions and voice concerns with the project. Frank Frey with Morton’s Jewerly said while allowing traffic and creating parking spaces is fine, the real problem downtown remains a lack of retail business…

CEDC executive director Matt Miller described the mall redesign as phase one of  a plan that will ultimately encourage businesses to locate downtown…