Streetscape Project
The City kicked-off its Uptown Streetscape Master Plan project earlier this year. The final plan document is being put together and will be shared with the community in early Fall 2024. Once adopted by the Mount Vernon City Council, this plan will serve as a vision for the future design of Uptown for 1st Street from 3rd Avenue SW to B Avenue SE, as well as the adjoining North Alley area.
The historic Uptown area serves as Mount Vernon’s downtown and central location for some of the city’s most popular and beloved community events, including Chalk the Walk. To ensure the history and natural character of Uptown is preserved, this Streetscape Master Plan will identify ways to enhance and improve existing conditions in this area without losing its unique identity to the community.
How Can I Get Involved?
Public and stakeholder feedback is essential to ensuring the final recommendations and proposed designs reflect the values and needs of the community of Mount Vernon.
The City encourages all residents, users, and business owners to attend an upcoming open house meeting on Wednesday, August 7th from 5:30-7:30 pm at First Street Community Center. At this meeting, final plan recommendations and design concepts will be presented to the community, as well as an overview of the entire project’s planning process and how the final recommendations were developed. Please consider attending this event to provide your feedback on the final streetscape design and to speak with project team members about your concerns or ideas.
What is a Streetscape Master Plan?
When completed, the Streetscape Master Plan document will provide a set of design guidelines for future improvements to the area, as well as concepts that illustrate these improvements to the public realm of downtown Mount Vernon. The recommendations of the Streetscape Master Plan document are based on community and stakeholder feedback to ensure their values and needs are reflected in the final plan. This includes informed designs and improvements that accurately reflect how people and vehicles get around Uptown, parking, landscaping, furnishings, public art, event space, and more.
How Will My Business Be Impacted By This Plan?
During the development of this plan, access to your business will not be impacted at all. This current planning phase does not include any construction or final engineered designs. During this first phase of the project, project team members have only been identifying potential improvements and design guidelines for future built projects in Uptown. Once the plan has been completed and formally adopted in early Fall 2024, the City will then be able to start the design phase where projects are designed, funding sources are acquired, and bids are sent out for construction.
Feedback collected over the last few months from business owners and the public was used to help decide what projects are possible and realistic to implement within the planning area. The kick-off of the second phase of the project is yet to be decided. However, once a construction date has been set, business owners will be given ample time and opportunity to communicate with the City about any temporary closures or access limitations to their storefronts during that time.
If you are a business owner in the Uptown area and have questions, please contact Lori Boren, Assistant City Administrator.
Special Thank You to Our Project Advisory Team
To ensure community values are represented throughout the project’s lifespan, a group of key stakeholders was assembled by the City to serve as the project Advisory Team. This team met frequently with project team members throughout the planning process to discuss project updates and progress.
- Trude & Rick Elliott – “First Street Community Center (Dance Arts Iowa)”
- Tommie Ouverson – Fuel Art & Espresso
- Olivia & Josh Randall – Bauman & Co
- Amanda & John Rhomberg – Causeteam
- Jake Krob – Mount Vernon Bank & Trust
- Tom Wieseler – Mayor
- Mark Andresen – Councilman
- Anna & Luke Wilson – Glyn Mawr Winery – The Local
- Mariah Andrews – Plantiful Pantry
- Kelly Yock – Yock’s Landing
- Leigh Bradbury – City Planner
- Lori Boren – Asst. City Administrator
- Joe Jennison – Director of Main Street and Marketing
Contact Information
Public and stakeholder input is extremely important to the project, and all residents, users, and business owners of Uptown Mount Vernon are encouraged to participate in this project to provide their input to the project team.
For more information about the project or to share your feedback with the planning team, please contact Lori Boren, Assistant City Administrator at lboren@cityofmtvernon-ia.gov or (319) 895-8742
