Downtown development leaders from Rapid City, South Dakota and Missoula, Montana will share stories of how plazas reshaped their downtown cores during a Yakima City Council study session in the afternoon on Tuesday, September 22nd and again at a community meeting that evening.
The Council study session will begin at 2:00 pm in the Council Chambers at Yakima City Hall. The community meeting will begin at 6:30 pm at the Seasons Performance Hall.
Dan Senftner from Rapid City will be in Yakima for the study session and the community meeting. Linda McCarthy and Ellen Buchanan from Missoula will present via Skype.
Senftner is a downtown Rapid City business and property owner and is currently serving as President and CEO of Destination Rapid City, a non-profit economic development organization. Senftner has been a driving force behind the revitalization of downtown Rapid City, the centerpiece of which is Main Street Square, a plaza opened in 2011 that features special events, arts and culture, live concerts, seasonal ice skating and interactive fountains.
McCarthy is the executive director of the Missoula Downtown Association. Buchanan serves as director of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. Both women have played key roles in downtown Missoula’s continuing emergence as a popular regional cultural hub. Caras Park, a plaza located near the Clark Fork River, has been the main community gathering place since it opened 12 years ago and has been the site of more than 1,000 events in its history.
The Council study session will be telecast live on Y-PAC, Charter Cable channel 194. The community meeting will be taped by Y-PAC staff and replayed on the channel later next week. A translator will be at the community meeting to interpret the meeting for Spanish-speaking attendees.