The City of Twentynine Palms hosted a public meeting last night to unveil the first real look at the proposed plan for Project Phoenix, a major effort to revitalize the downtown area. The plans come after some six years of planning and litigation to free bond funds from the State of California. Reporter David Haldane was there and tells us the project’s features…
Conference room. Indoor/outdoor stage. Kitchen. And senior housing.
Those are a few of the elements unveiled by developers and Twentynine Palms city officials last night at a community meeting to discuss Project Phoenix, the planned multi-million-dollar downtown makeover aimed at attracting more visitors. Other features included offices, multi-purpose rooms and a pedestrian walkway connecting 62 local businesses.
The meeting, held at the Twentynine Palms Community Center, was part of the city’s effort to get community input on the project, which is still in the planning stages. To that end, the audience was treated to a “virtual slide tour” depicting what the city envisions. Then it was divided into small groups to discuss what had been shown and offer suggestions.
Among them: awnings instead of umbrellas, air conditioning, a gymnasium, cultural center, grocery store, solar power, dramatic archway and, oh yes, plenty of parking.
