Wheaton will hire consultant for ‘suffering’ downtown

Wheaton officials will seek outside help to create a plan for the future of its struggling downtown district.

At a planning session Monday, city council members said they would agree to accept qualifications from consulting firms before narrowing that list down to a select group of firms that would be asked to submit formal proposals.

Jim Kozid, the city’s director of planning and economic development, said the shortlist will entice firms to submit formal proposals because of less competition. The city has allocated money in the budget for the work and officials said Monday a portion will be paid for through tax increment finance money.

Mayor Mike Gresk said there has been interest shown on some downtown properties, and the midsummer sale of the old Hubble Middle School by the school district to a developer is a good sign. Hiring a consultant could be the added push the downtown needs, he said.

“I am very optimistic,” he said. “The downtown is suffering, but it’s always a work in progress. Businesses come and go throughout the years, and it’s always a matter of revitalizing, replacing, refurbishing and replenishing those stocks.”

While the entire city council seems to be on board with the plan, some said proposals coming from the final list of firms have to be detailed enough to give officials an idea of the work that will be done.

Also, city councilwoman Jeanne Ives said the plan must be able to be implemented with as little disruption of downtown property owners as possible.

“We have been down this road before, but it has been met with resistance,” she said. “Once we go through a process and we have a plan, it has to be a realistic one and it has to be things we can do while taking our property owners into consideration.”

The goal is to develop a viable and comprehensive mission for downtown while the city seeks to fill several vacant buildings and properties.

City Manager Don Rose said several factors, including experience and “breadth of work,” will figure into the decision of which firms to approach initially.