2008 Woodie Awards
City continues Cravath Lake park renovations
Greg Ylvisaker
Issue date: 2/13/08 Section: News
The city of Whitewater will widen Whitewater Street by removing one of the curbs and installing diagonal parking along one side of the road, increasing the number of parking spaces. The city has set aside approximately $70,000 in this year's budget for the project.
The funding for this project comes in part from state grants and loans but much of it is locally funded through tax increment financing. TIF is a financial tool designed to tax the increases in property value resulting from property improvements.
"It is local money going to benefit the community at large," Tami Brodnicki, director of Downtown Whitewater, Inc., said.
One of the goals of the redesign of Whitewater Street, and downtown as a whole, is to make more attractive to everyone.
"This is to bring more activity to downtown and to get more people excited about walking around the downtown area," City Planner Ryan Garcia said. "We want to make it more of a destination."
Garcia said that it is still early in the process. The redesign of Whitewater Street is only the first phase of a long-term plan to transform the area by Cravath Lake in to a community park area.
Ideas for the lakefront park began during the 1980s, according to John Patterson. Patterson is the secretary for Downtown Whitewater, Inc. and was a professor of urban geography and urban planning at UW-Whitewater. In the 1980s there were two car dealerships and a warehouse on Cravath Lake where there is now a park and community center.
"You couldn't even see the lake," Patterson said, "We wanted to take an eyesore and turn it into and asset."
The funding for this project comes in part from state grants and loans but much of it is locally funded through tax increment financing. TIF is a financial tool designed to tax the increases in property value resulting from property improvements.
"It is local money going to benefit the community at large," Tami Brodnicki, director of Downtown Whitewater, Inc., said.
One of the goals of the redesign of Whitewater Street, and downtown as a whole, is to make more attractive to everyone.
"This is to bring more activity to downtown and to get more people excited about walking around the downtown area," City Planner Ryan Garcia said. "We want to make it more of a destination."
Garcia said that it is still early in the process. The redesign of Whitewater Street is only the first phase of a long-term plan to transform the area by Cravath Lake in to a community park area.
Ideas for the lakefront park began during the 1980s, according to John Patterson. Patterson is the secretary for Downtown Whitewater, Inc. and was a professor of urban geography and urban planning at UW-Whitewater. In the 1980s there were two car dealerships and a warehouse on Cravath Lake where there is now a park and community center.
"You couldn't even see the lake," Patterson said, "We wanted to take an eyesore and turn it into and asset."
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