With the aim of helping Albert Lea make better first impressions on visitors, Jessica Arneson is spending the summer studying, sketching, drafting and dreaming up ideas to beautify the city.

Friday, July 06, 2001

With the aim of helping Albert Lea make better first impressions on visitors, Jessica Arneson is spending the summer studying, sketching, drafting and dreaming up ideas to beautify the city.

Arneson has been studying new possibilities, from simple additions like new welcome signs and slogans, to more in-depth projects involving landscape themes and urban renewal that reflect the city’s history and culture.

A landscape architecture student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Arneson is working in Albert Lea for the summer through a partnership between the city planning department and the First Impressions program of Greater Jobs, Inc. She has the summer to develop workable plans to improve the appearance of nine areas in the city.

Though it’s difficult to develop so many plans in just two months, Arneson hopes to have a presentation prepared for an end-of-summer public meeting.

&uot;Public input is very important in this whole project,&uot; Arneson said. &uot;I was told that from the very beginning, and I want to hear what people are thinking about their city.&uot;

Arneson is preparing preliminary sketches for her first public presentation at the Planning Commission meeting July 12 at 7:30 p.m. She considers her efforts to be simply laying some foundation for a series of projects that would likely take years to complete.

&uot;Some of these projects, like the gazebo or the Blazing Star Trail entrances, are smaller and pretty manageable. But others, like the business loop or the downtown area, could take several phases,&uot; she said. &uot;All of them will take a big investment.&uot;

Arneson began by surveying each site and drafting base maps to get accurate dimensions and a feel for the scope of the projects.

So far she has completed preliminary drawings, and in some cases, more detailed plans for landscaping with overlays showing before and after perspectives. Eventually, her plans could be put into a state-of-the-art computer program giving virtual tours of the improved areas – but not this summer.

&uot;I feel like my job is to give the community some kind of starting point. I don’t expect my proposals to be implemented without major revisions,&uot; Arneson said. &uot;That’s why the public input is so important.&uot;

Arneson has been concentrating on public lands, but future projects could also involve private partnerships. The city’s overall appearance to visitors is everyone’s responsibility, she said.

&uot;I think Albert Lea has great potential. It has the advantages of its lakes to really set it apart,&uot; she said.

First Impressions is a community-improvement program that encourages cities to reconsider their appearance, signage, activities and services from the perspective of a first-time visitor.

Targets:

Fountain Lake gazebo

Blazing Star Trail entrances

Water Street near Broadway

East Main Street/South Broadway Avenue business loop

North Aire Industrial Park

North entrance to the city between Plaza Street and I-90

Downtown area on Broadway leading down to Fountain Lake

Channel area between Bridge Avenue and East Main Street

City land fronting Farmland facility