City supports downtown master plan

The Madison City Commission is supporting a master plan being done for downtown Madison. Lake Area Improvement Corporation Executive Director Eric Fosheim told commissioners during their meeting this week that the plan will be focused on not just downtown Madison on Egan Avenue from 2nd Street to 2nd Street, but will expand to include all the way north to 9th Street in order to encompass a portion of Dakota State University.

Fosheim said that ISG, an architectural engineering company from Mankato, will put the master plan together. He said that the total cost is 30-thousand dollars, plus an additional five-thousand to add in the additional seven blocks north to 9th Street. Because of the additional blocks that will include DSU, Fosheim said the university is contributing five-thousand dollars to the project. He said that the LAIC and the Greater Madison Area Chamber of Commerce are each contributing ten-thousand dollars, and that is also what the city commission agreed to contribute to the plan.

Fosheim said that the master plan will be a guide for them to use for the future of the downtown area.

Chamber Executive Director Eric Hortness told commissioners that a lot goes into putting this plan together, and it should give them some ideas of how to make the downtown area attractive to residents and visitors as well.