Downtown West Project Open House on January 20

An open house meeting on the Downtown West project will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20. The meeting is in the conference room at the Planning Department in the historic Light and Waterworks Building, 406 W. Eighth Street. (The Planning Department entrance is on the east side of the former power plant building, shown at right.)

Information on a parking study, traffic impact analysis, and programming plan for project will be available at the open house. The parking study estimates future parking needs for the project. The traffic impact analysis projects traffic volumes for streets near the project once it is complete. The programming plan provides a general layout for the space needs of City departments that would move into the three buildings in the project.

Downtown West involves the renovation of three existing City buildings. The first phase of the project includes improvements to the vacant 1987 former public library building at 808 Martin Luther King, Jr. Street to become City Hall, and renovations to the Communication and Technology Building at 510 W. Ninth Street to become the Municipal Court and City Council Chambers building.

Construction on renovations to the buildings at 808 MLK, Jr. Street (pictured at right) and 510 W. Ninth Street is expected to begin this fall. A new parking lot with 144 spaces between Eighth and Seventh streets on MLK, Jr. Street recently opened.

A later phase of the project involves programming and design concepts for the historic Light and Waterworks Building and a proposed green space between Eighth and Ninth Streets.

The Planning, Economic Development, Public Communications, Main Street, and Housing departments moved into the historic Light and Waterworks Building late last year. Long-term plans for the Light and Waterworks Building are being addressed in the programming plan for Downtown West.

For more information about the Downtown West project, contact Jackson Daly at (512) 819-3115 or jackson.daly@georgetown.org.