Key Projects

Strategic Development and Land Investment Opportunities:
The Creamery
Railroad Right-of-Way Aquisition
Nazarene Church
Higher Education
Gateways & Wayfinding System
City Hall Relocation
Circulation System

The Creamery: Meridian 's downtown Creamery is an historic landmark and intimate part of the community's heritage. This complex includes a variety of intriguing buildings that might be adaptively reused (e.g., for the arts, entertainment, public market, government) to provide a truly unique draw for Downtown's target markets. Such older buildings with their eccentric construction are nearly impossible to replace. They offer character and historical connections that add greatly to the marketing strength of the district. For example, a World War II-era Torpedo Factory in Alexandria Virginia , is now an internationally recognized arts center.

Unfortunately, the Creamery has become a major eyesore in recent years and a magnet for crime. Many residents want to see this remarkable complex of buildings restored to host a variety of attractive urban uses. Some believe the facilities should be torn down to remove the blight from a strategic corner of the city center. The time has come for one or the other of these two alternate futures. Downtown's image as a whole is suffering from the Creamery's current conditions.

To help resolve this problem, the City should adopt, promote and enforce two key building codes available from the International Code Council:

• International Existing Buildings Code
• Uniform Code for Abatement of Dangerous Buildings

The first of these codes provides a framework for the rehabilitation of historic buildings. It ensures public safety while providing more flexible, lower cost solutions to bringing historic buildings up to code. The second code provides tools for cities to abate dangers related to dilapidated buildings. Its adoption and use will aid the City of Meridian if it should have to force the property owner to stabilize or remove structures at the Creamery.

In concert with code adoption and enforcement, the City and Meridian Development Corporation should identify tools that would encourage the (present or future) Creamery property owner to rehabilitate and adaptively reuse the complex. Such tools might include access to a low interest revolving loan fund (e.g., through SAGE) for construction, placement of some of the structures on the State and/or National Registers of Historic Places, assistance with historic tax credit acquisition, and infrastructure/right-of-way improvements through Tax Increment Financing.

Railroad Right-of-Way Acquisition: Regional development organizations like Valley Ride and COMPASS indicate that the Meridian rail line is likely to become a transit corridor in the foreseeable future. This possibility represents an extraordinary opportunity for Downtown Meridian to become a central transit hub for the entire Treasure Valley . Strategically tapped, the opportunity could result in a Transit Village that is host to a variety of regional business, entertainment, cultural, educational and government facilities.

The City should seek to acquire land on both sides of the rail line in the Downtown and Transit Village Districts. This land could then be developed strategically by Meridian Development Corporation in keeping with the Marketing Strategy vision.

Nazarene Church: This facility, located along Pine Avenue between Meridian Road and Main , is a remarkable building that could easily serve as a multi-purpose community center. The complex is weakened by limited parking. For this and other reasons, its owners are seriously considering constructing a new church in south Meridian to replace it. Relocation would almost certainly result in the complex being offered for sale. The City should seriously consider negotiating a purchase for the following reasons:

• Community center activities fit perfectly with the marketing strategy for Downtown Meridian.
• Location is central to downtown, providing a magnet to draw Meridian residents to the heart of the community. Spillover effects, including shopping at nearby businesses, would be highly beneficial.
• Facilities are ideally suited for a community center. Meeting rooms, conference rooms, auditorium, commercial kitchen, storage, offices and other spaces could support a wide variety of social, civic, and cultural activities.
• Cost is likely to be significantly less than new construction for a similar community-oriented facility.

The issue of limited parking might be addressed by creating a joint parking facility/lot serving City Hall and the potential future community center. The City should continue discussions with Nazarene Church leaders to investigate collaborative opportunities with this important community organization. Should the Church leaders decide to remain in Downtown, research should be undertaken to support the Church's continued operations.

Higher Education: The acquisition of knowledge has increasingly become a life-long exercise. In today's explosive information development environment, people simply need to have constant access to both specialized and general knowledge . The City and Meridian Development Corporation should actively recruit higher/continuing education candidates for a presence within the Transit Village . This presence would be ideally suited to support the Marketing Strategy by helping anchor Downtown Meridian as an education center for both the community and the Treasure Valley . The object would be to complement regional educational entities and establish a defensible niche in continuing education and distance learning. Ideal candidates would be at the community college level or distance learning specialists like University of Phoenix , which is currently seeking a location for a major facility.

>Key Projects Continued