CLEVELAND, Ohio--Imagine spending next New Year's Eve at Public Square.

Picture thousands of people wearing paper hats, holding foil horns and glow sticks, waiting for a mechanical ball to rise. Next to the square, a hodgepodge of local food trucks cook up gourmet goodies and a few vendors pour out libations.

As 2014 rolls in, a fireworks display blasts into the sky and a live musical performance caps off the night.

That could be the scene in downtown Cleveland on Dec. 31 if city officials approve plans from a young, grass-roots group.

The Movement/Ohio Homecoming, a young-professionals organization that hosts parties, concerts and charitable events, has asked the city's Department of Public Works for a permit to host a large-scale New Year's Eve party downtown. The group hopes the event will draw more than 20,000 people.

The group is an ethnically diverse mix of young bankers, small-business owners, lawyers, Web developers, artists, and communications and marketing professionals, who are Ohio natives and transplants, between the ages of 21 and 35.

Members from the grass-roots collective say they envision the New Year's Eve party as a way to bring together residents of Cleveland's East and West sides, along with those from the inner-ring suburbs, said Alonzo Mitchell III, who created the group three years ago.

Mitchell said the group will meet with Cleveland's special events committee, part of the Public Works Department, later this month to discuss plans.

Though the Movement has organized several successful concerts, volunteer drives and job fairs in Cleveland, Mitchell said the New Year's Eve party is something that can bring everyone together.

"In Cleveland, we are going to raise the ball because we are going onward and upward," Mitchell said. "We are looking for the community of young professionals here to move and have a great impact. We think New Year's Eve is a great way to unite everyone."

Kathleen Dorsey of the city's Public Works Department confirmed that the group has submitted a request to host the celebration on Public Square and said the timeframe for a decision depends on the complexity of the event. The group has submitted previous proposals that have been approved, city officials said.

Mitchell, 31, is a Cleveland State University graduate who operates his own marketing firm. He started the group shortly after he returned to the area in 2009 after working in Washington, D.C.

"I missed home," he said. "After traveling around and working in other cities, I said, ' Why can't we do those things here?' "

Cleveland, with a population just under 400,000, does not have a formal New Year's Eve celebration for the public outside of nightclubs, restaurants and bars that host various events.

Cities in Ohio with annual New Year's Eve celebrations for the public include Columbus, Akron, Youngstown and Canfield, according to firstnight.com, a website that organizes arts and community festivals on the last day of each year in 75 U.S. cities.

Mitchell said the Movement has about 20 members who have worked together for the past three years. They meet once or twice a month to organize, socialize and strategize about projects and philanthropic efforts they can participate in and around the city.

The group creates partnerships with local companies, and every spring members work to organize a citywide event. The group combines members' own individual resources to promote events and charges fees for events like concerts and step-shows.

In the past three years, the Movement has organized concerts in Cleveland that featured Grammy Award-winning hip-hop artist Drake, hosted an entrepreneurial fair at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, rehabbed a section of Martin Luther King Jr. High School and donated $60,000 to local efforts that included a drive to help members of East Cleveland's Shaw High School band get new uniforms.

But group members don't want to be regarded as glorified party planners. They want to use their influence to attract young talent to the area, retain young professionals who live and work in the city, and also participate in philanthropic efforts.

Five years ago, Jamila Chambers, 27, moved to Cleveland from the Washington, D.C., area to pursue a marketing job. She liked the city, but wanted to be more involved. She says the group helped her to feel a part of the community.

"We want to highlight the things that are cool about the city," Chambers said. "It's beyond race or what side of town you live on. We want to bring everyone together to be apart of the melting pot of good ideas, good people and to celebrate Cleveland."

Keeping local talent Mitchell said the Movement's overall goal is to create a development center for young professionals in Cleveland. Members want to eventually purchase land in the city and build a facility that would have temporary housing for job candidates and new hires, meeting rooms, a career center, fitness center and other amenities.

Mitchell will provide more details about the development center and other events in which the Movement will participate when he delivers the group's "State of Young Cleveland" address May 11 at 6 p.m. The location is being determined.

Earlier this year, Mitchell drafted a viral note, called "Letter from an Unbowed Clevelander," that has circulated among local politicians and community leaders. In the letter, he shared his frustrations as a young professional in Cleveland and urged young people to bring their talents together to make change. He also chided leaders and those with resources and influence for not embracing new ideas. Members of the Movement said it is crucial they work to keep more young talent in the state.

Dar Caldwell, 31, who works with the group, said the plans are in the preliminary stages but he believes that in time the Movement can help slow down the brain drain in Northeast Ohio.

"When you have a friend or relative leave town not because they want to, but because they have to, you feel that more deeply than just reading a headline," Caldwell said.

Caldwell, who is co-founder of the Shaker LaunchHouse, a business accelerator that provides funding and work space for startup businesses, said the overall goal of the Movement is to find ways to keep young professionals in Greater Cleveland and to also attract more young people to the state.

He says the region's affordability, access to entertainment and the arts, restaurants and millions of dollars in active investment make it a place where people can live and thrive.

"This is absolutely a city of opportunity," Caldwell said. "This is a renaissance in the early stages."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:sdonaldson@plaind.com, 216-999-4885