Marketing Orange as a city of destination has been a dream of Orange City Council members for some time. With the recent unveiling of a three-phase plan to revitalize downtown, that dream may come true a lot sooner than expected.
Brown Claybar, mayor of Orange, said the idea of creating a welcoming downtown has been in the works for more than two years as the city has been anticipating the opening of Shangri La this spring.
“We’ve got the core attractions with the various Stark properties, the natural beauty of the area and a good location along the interstate,” Claybar said. “What we need to do is build an infrastructure, improve beautification, pedestrians, restaurants so we’ll be able to entice people to stay overnight.”
The Stark Foundation has wanted to help remake downtown for a few years, said Walter Riedel, the foundation’s president and CEO.
“Whatever revitalization that is accomplished downtown will directly impact us (the Stark Foundation),” Riedel said. “Bringing people back into the downtown area will hopefully increase our attendance, enjoyment and appreciation of museum, house and theater.”
Riedel said the new downtown will integrate nicely with what the foundation has done with Shangri La. The Stark Foundation had been working with the city on their vision for downtown Orange, and the talks finally culminated when the city approached the foundation and asked them to participate in creating a masterplan of downtown revitalizations.
The city, Stark Foundation and Lamar State College -Orange — the three primary property owners of downtown Orange — collaborated for several months and contracted Jeffrey Carbo Landscape Architects in Alexandria, La., to produce a masterplan.
Jeffrey Carbo, the firm’s proprietor, said JCLA has had a presence in Orange for about six years due to its work with Shangri La.
The masterplan is designed to be executed in three phases. The first phase should be accomplished in three years and includes a new city administration building, a performance pavilion, a new public park and a hotel at the old Jack Tar Hotel site.
Phase two should be completed in three to six years and involves the construction of a boardwalk, a waterfront plaza and a residential development. A renovated riverfront park, new street front and possible Lamar expansion, as well as retail and office development round out phase three, which should be completed in six to 10 years.
The new buildings and renovations suggestions came from the firm, but the masterplan was not constructed without keeping the city’s needs in mind.
“Both the city of Orange and the leadership of the Foundation described to us the things that they thought were important to us, but they didn’t push us in any specific direction,” Carbo said. “An immediate need for the city was for hotel availability, so we looked for locations to put a new hotel.”
Carbo said the firm, which has had personal experience on similar projects in Natchitoches, La., has been contracted for certain portions of work in phase one already — work that the firm made certain is feasible for the city to complete.
“We came to them with things that we thought could be accomplished within a certain period of time,” Carbo said. “We didn’t want to come with things that were overly ambitious and not able to happen. These are things that we feel could very well happen in the future.”
Other cities throughout the country like Natchitoches, La., Fairhope, Ala., Charleston, S.C., Grapevine, Texas and Galveston have participated in revitalization efforts similar to the firm’s proposal and have been met with great success, Carbo said.
Common threads between all of these revitalized cities included hotels, bed and breakfast establishments, event venues, generous green spaces and reconnections with natural features like rivers. Carbo said Orange has the ability to possess — if not already — all of these qualities.
“I think that a lot of wheels are already in motion. There’s already a lot of positive momentum in Orange, the first being the imminent opening of Shangri La,” he said. “There are lots of things that are in place that are building blocks.”
In his presentation, Carbo listed assets that downtown Orange already has. Some of these include its accessibility, large churches with dedicated congregations, thriving cultural, governmental and educational components as well as its proximity to the Sabine River — all important features in make the masterplan work.
The next phase of planning for phase one will begin in about four to six weeks, Carbo said. The first project that will be tackled is the construction of the pavilion, a venue that the Stark Foundation will manage through the Lutcher Theater Advisory Board.
“We’re hoping that in 2008 you’re going to start seeing the plan to be developed for the pavilion and the street closures in the downtown area,” Claybar said. “We’re also talking with developers presently at the old hotel site. It’s hopeful we’ll see the start of something in 2008.”
Claybar said the masterplan has given the city a framework to begin the revitalization efforts, but decisions will be made on construction based on the market and what is best for Orange residents.
“We want to enhance the quality of life for our existing residents. My goal is that Orange becomes the community of choice to live in the Golden Triangle, that we have the aesthetics, the cultural attractions and the businesses that bring a very high quality of life and makes Orange the city of choice,” Claybar said. “If that happens, the entire economic pie grows and we have more opportunities for everyone.”
SIDEBAR INFORMATION:
Phase I Projects (to be completed in about three years):
-New city administration building
-New central green and performance pavilion
*includes removal of Coburn building, closing portions of 7th Street and Main Avenue and removing shed near the old jailhouse
-New public park at Green Street and 5th Street
-New hotel at old Jack Tar Hotel site
-New mixed use development with office, retail and residential components
* includes removal of the old Orange Newstand building
Phase II Projects (to be completed in about three to six years):
-New boardwalk and erosion control project
-New mixed use development and waterfront plaza with office, retail and residential components and interactive fountain
-New residential development and bank at the corner of Green Street and 4th Street
Phase III Projects (to be completed in about six to 10 years):
-New street front mixed use development with retail, office and restaurant components
-Renovated riverfront park
-Possible Lamar expansion
-Possible retail development
-Possible office development
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