Residents give input on future of Grand Forks' downtown water treatment plant - Grand Forks Herald | Grand Forks, East Grand Forks news, weather & sports

GRAND FORKS – Residents weighed in Tuesday on the future of the city’s old water treatment plant site.

More than two dozen locals gathered at the HIVE on Second Avenue, also known as the former Herald building, for an open house with members of the consulting firm Development Strategies.

The city is working with the firm to develop a request for proposal to redevelop the 3.6-acre plant site, which sits on downtown’s southern edge between Third and Fourth Street, near the flood wall.

On poster boards outlining the project, residents pasted Post-Its with suggestions for the site like “outdoor dining,” “food hall” and “rooftop something.”

Tuesday’s meeting is meant to keep stakeholders and area residents engaged in the project as it moves forward, said Meredith Richards, the city’s former community development director who’s working as a consultant on the plant redevelopment.

“Our goal is for those closest to it, that they’re aware something’s going on, so they’re not blindsided when things start going a little faster,” she said.

At the moment, the project, which Richards called a “multi-million-dollar, multi-year, multi-step process,” has few parameters.

Development Strategies principal Justin Carney said the project could be as small as low-density housing like townhomes or a major multi-use redevelopment. City staff want to see that the site’s future use serves the public good and highlights the Greenway and the river.

City Administrator Todd Feland noted the site, which hosted the city’s water treatment facilities for 120 years, is located adjacent to the fork of the Red and Red Lake rivers that give Grand Forks its name.

Olivia Charette, who lives opposite the plant site, said she’d like to see more street lighting but not more apartments and condos.

“And some kind of public amenity,” she added. “Probably not a parking garage.”

Residential development is “probably the most likely and most feasible” use for the site, Richards told the Herald. A fully commercial space is considered unlikely.

“We’re not trying to recreate Columbia Mall on this property,” she said.

A more ambitious redevelopment project could lead the city to tear up Third Street south of Gertrude Avenue, or take over a lot north of the plant occupied by a handful of single-family homes.

Downtown resident Lisa Johnson said the project should come up with a plan to replace the lost housing with single-family homes if that happens.

“I don’t think you can replace a house with a yard, for a family, with an apartment,” she said.

Redevelopment of the water treatment plant is expected not only to have an impact on surrounding blocks but possibly the character of the entire downtown. Richards called it a “master planning exercise” for downtown, and Feland noted it is likely the last "strategic" site the city would redevelop in the foreseeable future.

Third Ward City Councilmember Tricia Berg relayed an observation she'd heard from attorney Alex Reichert.

"Cities very rarely get a chance to expand their downtown, and we have a chance to do that," she said.

Carney said Development Strategies planned to seek more input from residents through online engagement sometime during the holiday season.

A second public input meeting, where the city and Development Strategies will present possible concepts for the plant site, is planned for late this year or early next.