Town Hall will discuss future of downtown Raytown

The Raytown Main Street Association will host a town hall meeting, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m. at Raytown High School.

Gayla Roten, President of the Missouri Main Street Connection will be on hand to facilitate the forum.

“We want complete community input,” Roten said. “We want to see what the community feels are the assets and challenges in Raytown. Then we will learn how Raytown can move into the future.”

The goal of the meeting is to hear from Raytown residents about what they want to see happen downtown. The Main Street Association uses a four-point approach when it comes to developing their [program]: Design, Organization, Promotion, and Economic Restructuring.

The first two phases of the Main Street Association are already underway.

The Raytown Park Plaza is currently undergoing a facelift. The new facades are almost complete and soon we will see more landscaping and detail work.

In addition to the Plaza, the plans to demolish the old First Baptist Church and the addition of the Pocket Park all add to the overall design plan of downtown.

Scott Walz, president of the Raytown Main Street Association, together with many downtown business owners have already joined together to provide input and support about the direction that downtown Raytown is taking. Together with the input they receive from Raytown residents, they are working towards developing goals and opportunities to meet the needs of the community.

“Right now we are just trying to get by laws in place. Right now is more administrative than anything,” Walz said. “We are moving forward. It is all very exciting.”

According to the Missouri Main Street Connection’s website, “Everyone with a stake in the commercial district and its future should be involved. Merchants, property owners, the chamber of commerce, industries, local government and private citizens all benefit from a healthy local economy and from a historic city core that reflects the community's heritage and ideals. A solid partnership is crucial to the Main Street program's success.”

Because of this, the Main Street Association relies heavily on the involvement of area business owners, community leaders, and local residents. The town hall meeting provides those concerned about the future of downtown Raytown an open forum to exchange ideas, concerns and expectations that they are feeling about the Raytown Main Street.

The Raytown Main Street Association cordially invites you to a “Town Hall Meeting” on Monday, February 4, 2008 from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The meeting will take place in the Raytown High School Auxiliary Gym located at 6019 Blue Ridge Blvd. The Missouri Main Street Connection will conduct the meeting and is designed to gather community input before a comprehensive plan is generated for Downtown Revitalization. Involvement of individuals, families, businesses, schools, local government, and many other elements of the community are essential to the success of a Main Street program. The Town Hall Meeting will give all of these community elements an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the needs of the historic commercial district. Above all, it gives everyone a chance to express his or her vision for what Downtown should look like in the future.

www.momainstreet.org and www.raytownmainstreet.org