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Cache Valley 'Georgetown' in the works By
Heidi Thueson PROVIDENCE -- Designs for a new residential park boasting a pond and a colonial-style shopping area are being submitted to the City Council. The purpose is to create green spaces and pedestrian-friendly areas to help keep the downtown area alive and booming with business, says Creekside Townhomes developer Susan Roberts. The park, which would be built at Spring Creek Parkway and 180 North, would serve both aesthetic and practical uses. If the council approves the plan, construction would begin in June and take a year to finish. "It allows an area for Providence to provide a barrier between it and Logan -- something intimate and personal," Roberts said. "It's nice to have a residential park to picnic in, fly kites, or throw a Frisbee around." On a more functional note, the park will also provide a way to save precious water during Cache Valley's current drought, Roberts said. She plans to transform an already marshy area into a pond that would serve as a natural storage for wasted irrigation water. That water would then irrigate the new park as well as existing parks, saving culinary water for drinking purposes. "We've come up with a situation that's win-win for the city," Roberts said. "The sooner they get the water feature in, the more money they save." The proposed project has generated a lot of initial enthusiasm from the council. "I personally love the project," said Councilman Vic Saunders. "The general concept gives us something unique that Providence can build which no other community in the valley has right now." Enough impact fees have been collected from the neighborhood to make the park feasible, Saunders said. The council is deliberating on whether or not to approve the water feature and the strip of buildings that would ring the park. The buildings, designed by architect Joe Beck, could be leased or sold to retail stores or to the city. If the city buys the buildings, it would use them for city offices and possibly a new library. Beck spent several weeks studying the local architecture and determined that colonial-style homes provide the overall "feel" of Providence. He based his designs on Georgetown, a colonial neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Steve Roberts, co-developer for Creekside Townhomes, is anxious for the city council to move forward with its approval. The council is discussing how much it would cost to find a good engineering firm to work on the project. "We've got many families out there who've built homes and they're anxious to see their park," Steve Roberts said. "We're very confident there's a very good payback for the city." Councilman Dennis Nelson agreed. "If we're going to spend tens of thousands of dollars building a city park, I think $8,000 or $9,000 [to hire an engineering firm] is well-spent money." Susan Roberts is eager to see her plans come to fruition. "There's a lot of synergy [in the plan]," she said. "It'll make a really neat center of town - a jewel in the city."
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