By unanimous vote, the Helper City Council last Thursday approved the concept for a redesign of the south end of Main Street. The area, called The Wedge for now, is where the street widens.
The extra space created opportunities to showcase businesses and accommodate downtown events. While there has been some concern from business owners further north, backers have emphasized that this project is intended to be the first of several and will provide a prototype for future improvements.
Lenise Peterman told the council that the plan is the consensus of many individuals and subcommittees who have gathered ideas and comments from the community.
Design criteria
It had to incorporate a variety of criteria, including such things as economy of maintenance, showcasing and historic preservation of existing buildings, access to businesses, and ability to rearrange some aspects like benches for handle events.
The tentative budget is $80,000. This could be offset by leveraging in-kind support and donations to use as matching funds for grants.
The first phase would be installation of utilities, with other aspects such as paving, tree planting, lighting and seating to come later.
One recommendation calls for including “language bricks” in the paving. These would say “Welcome to Helper” in all the languages that have been spoken in the town throughout its history.