Picture this: a brand-new multi-level town library, substantial parking, a small- town inn, a larger Durham Marketplace and cafes that flow onto Main Street. Trees would line this urban oasis and a gazebo would stand across the street from a crystal-clear College Brook.
"It could be beautiful," said Durham Marketplace Owner and Mill Plaza Study Committee member Chuck Cressy. "The Plaza and Main Street could be one, and everything would tie in together."
Cressy's vision is shared by many last Wednesday's final public hearing for the Mill Plaza Redevelopment at Oyster River Middle School committee revealed. A group of architects presented a final hybrid design to about sixty members of the public in a multipurpose room at Oyster River Middle School. Audience members ranged from lifelong residents to university students.
"To put it simply, downtown Durham needs re-shaping," said Mill Plaza Study Committee Vice Chair Julian Smith.
Roger Hayden, owner of The Outback and Hayden Sports, said, "It's about time the town faces the facts. To help the downtown thrive, they actually have to do something."
The Mill Plaza Study Committee began meetings last February after Durham won a grant from the American Institute of Architecture, in celebration of its 150th Anniversary. According to committee chair Dave Howland, the committee has been working with the AIA in creating development ideas. The final goal is to present a collective vision to John Pinto, the New York based owner.
The design has been through multiple phases, with changes coming in response to feedback from the community at similar public hearings, along with opinions from the Mill Plaza Study Committee. Various architectural, economical and environmental studies influenced the concept as well.
AIA New Hampshire Co-Chair Patricia Sherman said that the environment was one of the biggest factors in designing the Mill Pond property.
"The AIA has a list of criteria addressing environmental control," said Sherman. "We wanted to understand, especially with College Brook running by the property, what do we do to clean it up?"
Others were concerned with increased noise and traffic, building height, the library location and whether a proposed roundabout on Main Street would actually fit. Still others worried if the design that would enable semi-trucks to arrive at the re-located Rite-Aid and Durham Marketplace as efficiently.
Architect Bill Schoonmaker, working with a group of other architects in what he dubs the "Midnight Oil Team," cautioned meeting participants that the designs were ultimately conceptual.
"We still need to refine the design, and the owner has the final say," Schoonmaker said.
"John Pinto has been aware of every step of the process," Howland, a UNH professor, said. "This is a very non-traditional way of doing things."
He said that in most towns private developers present a plan to town officials, and most of the work is done behind the scenes.
"Usually, the public has less input," said Howland. "With the committee, we've been able to talk to different people and build a consensus."
An example of a recent agreement came last month, with the Library Board of Trustees unanimously approving the site of the new library in the Southeast corner of the Mill Plaza property.
"In any given town, people don't see eye-to-eye," Howland said. "But we've been able to work through it."
The committee consists of a diverse coalition of council members, neighborhood residents, local business owners, landlords, representatives from UNH, the Library Board of Trustees, Historic District and Planning board.
Howland is one of the representatives of the Faculty neighborhood, where he has been a homeowner for nine years.
The consensus-building has obviously worked. Smith, a councilman, said that there has not been any "real opposition" to the project. He said the committee has not heard any objections since "one meeting back in April."
Including the public in the decision-making process has proved effective as well.
"We have been very open - clear and transparent," Bagelry owner and committee member Warren Daniel said. "It's made the public invested in their own future."
Business owners are especially cheerful about future changes.
Cressy envisions a new Durham Marketplace at least 50 percent larger than the one that exists today.
"We would bring in many new food categories, including many international foods, such fresh Indian," said Cressey. "And we'd bring in a larger sushi bar. Right now there's just no room for that."
Peter Marcoux, owner of Libby's Bar and Grill, said that any additions to Durham would be positive. "Whatever you can develop in Durham that keeps the people in the downtown is a good thing for business," he said.
Hayden said, "If they can actually develop and bring in more stores, it will help the whole downtown. Right now, the downtown is dead."
Downtown Durham was not always as small as it is today.
Hayden said that as recently as fifteen years ago, the greater number of restaurants in the downtown kept students "congregating in main business areas." Now, he said, "Why come to downtown Durham when you can go into Portsmouth or Dover, where new stores open all the time?"
In 1965, when Smith first came to Durham, he said he could buy shoes and socks on Main Street.
"In fact," he said, "the last suit I bought was in downtown Durham, when a store actually sold them. Back in those days, students wouldn't need a car to buy the essentials."
Committee members, people working for the American Institute of Architecture, and business owners are hoping for a bit of a return to the old days.
Cressy believes that everyone involved is on the right track.
"The owner is very cognizant of the town's needs," he said. "He cares immensely for the town, and no one will be hurt."
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