By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Several dozen people gathered at the Old Post Office in downtown Havre on Thursday evening to hear from representatives with High Plains Architects about their work creating a downtown master plan.
Ideas provided by High Plains included utilizing more second floors of buildings for housing, improving signage and wayfinding, turning excess parking to infill, adding more greenery, and having restaurants use the sidewalk for street seating.
“You’re looking at 120,000 square feet of just second story downtown that isn’t obviously commercial. It’s not a bank or it’s not somebody’s office building,” said Brad Kahler, Project Designer with High Plains. “We picked out just the buildings that looked like they had second stories that were being underutilized. And that square footage equates to over 133 2-bedroom units. We took into account circulation and stairs as well. It’s about how many 2-bedroom units you could fit into those second stories that already exist. It’s not new construction, the buildings are already here.”
One proposal that received pushback from several members of the audience was for there to be a median placed on First Street in downtown, potentially shrinking it to one lane in each direction. Officials with High Plains admitted receiving MDT approval for this would be no easy task, but said it would improve pedestrian safety and result in more travelers stopping.
Members of the public were concerned that it would impede large vehicles, which is especially problematic since there is no truck route around downtown.
“Overall, I think it was a very positive reaction,” said Kahler. “As you will with most of these master plans, especially where highways are concerned, you’re going to have those concerns about the wider loads and getting things through town. But at the end of the day, it’s just a concept, so there’s always room for negotiation. But first and foremost, it’s a downtown. It’s not a highway, so you have to take that into consideration.”
The team from High Plains Architects is expected to return to Havre in June for a final public meeting, where they will showcase a more detailed proposal and discuss funding possibilities.
