Entertainment District session serves up surprises
GREEN BAY – There were a couple surprises at the Stadium Entertainment District master plan session.
For example, citizens attending the event at Tundra Lodge Resort & Conference Center Wednesday night preferred a high-end parking ramp over surface lots and street parking. And they liked high-density urban architecture over low buildings and strip malls. Those are not sentiments historically held in Green Bay.
The Stadium Entertainment District is a 90-acre area bounded by Ashland Avenue, Lombardi Avenue, Mike McCarthy Way and Holmgren Way, all east of Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The city is sponsoring a master plan for development that would be complementary to the Green Bay Packers' Titletown District west of Lambeau Field and all in Ashwaubenon.
Wednesday's was the second public session, with one more in late September. The turnout was less than the first session in June, but planner Quasan Shaw of Vierbicher Associates, community development consultants and city planners, said attendees views were no less important.
"It's never a waste of time in the planning process because you generate ideas," he said.
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Attendees Wednesday used technology to signal their likes and dislikes quickly. They were shown photographs representing different design approaches in nine categories and voted on them using remote-control-like devices. Results were instantaneous. And, as mentioned, a little surprising.
While some suggestions drew split votes, others that were less divided included the need to have better connectivity between the district and Lambeau Field, the Resch Center and the Veterans Memorial Complex. Also, attendees liked wide sidewalks made of various materials and with room for tables and other elements.
Carrie Bardwell of Green Bay said she enjoyed the instant-voting results, which made people's preferences clear. She said it was a neat process.
"I live closer to the stadium. I didn't realize they were so separate," she said of Titletown District and the Entertainment District. "I'm just trying to learn more about what's going on."
Shaw said results of the process should be available in about three months.
Contact rryman@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @RichRymanPG, onInstagram at rrymanpgor on Facebook at Richard Ryman-Press-Gazette. Or call him at (920) 431-8342.
