Drawing A Future For American Falls
American Falls is moving forward on its plan to revitalize the city’s downtown area. The project is the brainchild of the city and the Great Rift Business Development initiative and the goal is to bring more businesses to the area. So how do you take a struggling downtown and turn it into something beautiful and bustling?
You start with markers.
“You often hear this in the workshop when someone holds up their little drawing, ‘Well Mabel, I didn’t know that’s what you were talking about when you said you wanted a bike trail through town but now I understand,’ and they stop fighting after 20 years,” said Jim Waddell as he acted out this real-life scenario during Thursday night’s vision workshop in American Falls.
Waddell is the colorful guy who runs the sessions all over the country. He was a civil engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, and he’s been rehired as an instructor. He said drawing cuts to the chase.
“By drawing, we eliminate all the issues surrounding words that have baggage with them,” he said.
People draw their visions of their ideal city down the best way they can. At the end of the session, they collaborate and come up with a composite they like from everyone’s ideas. Waddell comes in with a professional artist and gives the town a sketch it can build from.
Kristen Jensen is Power County’s Economic Development Coordinator. She brought Waddell to town and is spearheading the revitalization. Ask her what the finished goal will look like and she will say it is up to her neighbors.
“This allows people to actually catch the vision and get the excitement. And that’s what we’re hoping to achieve,” Jensen said.
Delane Anderson owns a collision repair shop in town and he is also a county commissioner. His vision is all about staying local.
“I like the small ma and pa shops. I like the small town atmosphere. I would like to see that. But I know in order to have that we have to attract people to stop here,” Anderson said.
The entire session is free for the city — it is funded by the EPA. The city hopes to start on phase one of the project at the start of next year.
