Hayden searching for its center

Hayden wants a downtown center, not a hodgepodge strip of stores along the main drag.

That’s why the city and its Urban Renewal Agency hired a team of planning consultants to create a downtown that is walkable, shoppable and identifiable.

The consultants, Downtown Solutions Team of Salem, are conducting two public workshops Tuesday and Wednesday nights to get ideas from residents and business owners.

City Planner Lisa Key said the city and consultants want input on how this new downtown should look and how to make it happen.

The consultants plan to inventory existing buildings, businesses and signs in the downtown core, which stretches along Government Way between Prairie Avenue north to about Miles Avenue. The core also includes the area between Government Way and U.S. Highway 95.

They want to know what type of architectural styles and designs residents prefer and use that information to create design standards for new buildings.

Key said another goal is to get existing businesses to eventually upgrade and incorporate some of those design aspects.

The consultants also will conduct a market study to determine what types of businesses are needed in the downtown core to attract people. Key said the city already has some idea, from previous work on its downtown redevelopment plan, that residents see a need for a fine restaurant, a bookstore and an ice cream shop.

The next step is taking the information and using it to recruit new businesses to the downtown area.

“These are all pieces that help create a sense of place and a sense of who we are,” Key said.

The city and the Urban Renewal Agency split the $106,000 consultant cost.

Scott Jamar, immediate past president of the Hayden Chamber of Commerce, said business owners are excited about the transformation of downtown and plan to participate in the brainstorming sessions.

“I think that downtown really has an opportunity in the next several years to become one of the prime locations in the region as far as retail and office opportunities,” he said. “I think it will change very rapidly here in downtown Hayden.”

Jamar said Coeur d’Alene went through a similar, very successful downtown revitalization several years ago when improvements were made to Sherman Avenue.

This spring, Hayden plans to start work on the first phase of its downtown revitalization project by adding a turn lane to Government Way to help with traffic flow, burying utility lines and adding sidewalks, decorative lighting and curbs.

Hayden grew up as a commercial district along old Highway 95. About 30 years ago, the Idaho Transportation Department built a new Highway 95, and the old roadway that bisected Hayden became Government Way.

Councilman Chris Beck said that has had a lasting effect on Hayden, which now appears more like a strip than a center.

“It grew up as a commercial district around old Highway 95 and doesn’t have the infrastructure or character that old downtown Coeur d’Alene has,” Beck said.

“That’s part of the challenge not only for us, but Post Falls as well. We are looking for the consultants to help us pull together that vision.”

Post Falls, also a bedroom community that grew up along the highway, is working on creating a downtown center of its own.

Beck said new businesses and developments are already popping up in Hayden’s core and that there is a lot of vacant land with potential.

Another aspect of the downtown project is to incorporate open space, including public parking.

Key said that’s critical if Hayden wants to establish a walkable downtown.

“This has been something the community has long envisioned,” Key said.