Henderson looking at downtown redevelopment

Residents and business owners in and around downtown Henderson will get a look at the city's future plans for the historic district at a meeting Tuesday.

Officials from the Henderson Redevelopment Agency will be on hand to discuss the city's downtown investment strategy during the meeting, which starts at 5:30 p.m. at the Henderson Convention Center, 200 S. Water St.

"We'll discuss our goals on strategy and our refined vision," redevelopment planner Jason Rogers said. "We used to say these meetings were to provide a road map, but these days we see it as a GPS navigation system."

Rogers said the meeting will focus on the future -- 2025 to be precise -- and the tactics the agency will employ to draw more businesses, jobs and visitors downtown.

The city already has spent more than $165 million transforming its oldest neighborhood, but that work was paid for and completed during the building boom, which occurred throughout most of Nevada until the bubble burst in 2008.

The redevelopment effort came to a screeching halt that year, and the new economic realities compelled city leaders, redevelopment experts such as Rogers and the business community to revise their plans.

Rogers said typical comprehensive redevelopment plans cover 30 years and involve a range of improvements, from upgrading streets and sidewalks to spiffing up local businesses and residential areas.

He said residents have told the city they don't want downtown to become a homogenized version of every other main street in America, with national fast food chains on every corner.

What they said they want instead, Rogers said, are a grocery store, deli, dry cleaner, shoe repair and ice cream parlor, the kind of businesses that lined the downtown streets of small towns in a bygone era.

"We want to create a sense of place."