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Helena Business Improvement District
225 Cruse Ave., Suite B
Helena, MT 59601
Contact: Tracy Reich
(406) 447-1535
treich@helenabid.com
Friday, May 8, 2015
Downtown Master Plan Consulting Team Selected
The Helena Business Improvement District in partnership with the City of Helena has
selected a team of consultants lead by WGM Group to lead the master planning process for
Downtown Helena.
WGM Group’s team was selected from a pool of four teams of consultants. In addition
to the team lead by WGM Group, teams from Inside Edge Design LLC, KLJ Engineering, and SMA
Architects were also considered. In addition to submitting written proposals, each team made a
one hour presentation of their qualifications to the selection committee. “We were really
impressed with the quality of the proposals and presentations,” said Randy Riley, Board Chair of
the Helena Business Improvement District. “You could tell each team had been thoughtful in
putting together the expertise that would deliver a very high quality plan for Downtown
Helena. The teams embraced the need for the process to be community driven and the passion
for Downtown Helena was very evident. This is an exciting project and we are looking forward
to working with WGM Group.”
“Downtown Helena is a special place, and we are excited to be part of planning its
future,” said Jeremy Keene, Principal Engineer for WGM Group. “We have a great opportunity
to bring people together around a plan that makes downtown an asset for the entire
community.”
The Master Plan will be a visioning and guiding document for the management and
future growth of Downtown Helena by the Helena Business Improvement District, the City of
Helena, and other agencies. This will be a community based planning effort where the public
will drive the vision and content of the plan. “We are excited to launch this process,” said Tracy
Reich, Executive Director of the Helena Business Improvement District. “Bringing the public
together with Downtown stakeholders to create a vision for Downtown and then putting
together strategies to accomplish that vision is a vital tool for the City, the Business
Improvement District, and other Downtown stakeholders. It’s important that the citizens of
Helena have a say in what their downtown will look like in 5, 10, 20 years and understand the
processes that will take place to achieve that vision.”
Master planning is an important tool for guiding downtown economic growth. Other
Montana communities have completed master plans that have spurred economic growth in
their downtowns such as Bozeman, Missoula, Kalispell, and most recently Hamilton.
“The City of Hamilton adopted its Downtown Master Plan in June of 2014, and the
Hamilton Downtown Association has taken the lead in its implementation,” said Russ Lawrence,
Coordinator of the Hamilton Downtown Association. “The completed Master Plan included
prioritized action items, and a timeline for their implementation. This has been extremely useful
to me, as the HDA Coordinator, in showing us where to focus our energy. The action items also
identify whether there are policy implications for the City Council, and who should take the lead
on them. A clear master plan, with thorough public involvement (surveys, public meetings,
focus groups), has been very beneficial, and it's a reference upon which I draw regularly.”
“Having a Master Plan for Downtown Missoula has been an extraordinary tool for
guiding the decision making of all parties vested in our downtown,” said Linda McCarthy,
Director of the Downtown Missoula Partnership. “It guides goal setting and allocation of
resources for our downtown organizations, and it has put our municipalities, developers and
stakeholders on the same page in terms of our future. The Missoula Downtown Master Plan is
some of the best work we have done for our community.”
The City of Helena is partnering with the HBID to create the plan. The City Community
Development Department will be the lead for the City on the project. “The City is excited to
partner with the Helena BID on this master plan project,” said Sharon Haugen, Community
Development Director. “The process represented in the RFP will provide the City, the BID and
others a blueprint for moving forward to creating a stronger and more vibrant downtown, will
help inform the City on what changes may be needed in our ordinances and regulations to
have achieve that vision. It will also help identify the many partners who have an interest in the
downtown area.”
Why create a master plan? Nick Kalogeresis, Vice President of the Lakota Group and
former Program Officer for the national Trust Main Street Center, recently wrote in the Main
Street News, “A downtown master plan is one of the most important sustainability documents a
Main Street community can have as it reaffirms the downtown’s role as the economic, cultural,
and social center of the community. Downtown master plans have long been developed and
adopted by Main Street programs and municipalities to guide decision making for public
improvements, private investments, and changes to existing zoning codes and regulatory
mechanisms.”
He continues to say, “These plans often have specific elements related to streetscape
improvements, open space and parks, historic preservation, land-use and development
opportunities, transportation and parking, and governmental and cultural facilities. Downtown
master plans can also address sustainability concerns such as the reuse of historic buildings and
existing infrastructure, the mixture of commercial and residential land uses to encourage
pedestrian activity and less reliance on autos, and the guidance of development and reuse of
vacant parcels and land inside, rather than outside, the downtown area.”
Initial funding from the Montana Main Street Program grant program, the Helena
Business Improvement District and the Big Sky Trust Fund has been secured; additional funding
is in process.
For more information, contact Tracy Reich at treich@helenabid.com or 406-447-1535.
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