ANN ARBOR, MI – A citizen-led task force helping the city plan a downtown central park will seek community feedback next week on preliminary recommendations.

The Center of the City Task Force is hosting a community open house 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the Ann Arbor SPARK offices at 330 E. Liberty St. The public is invited to attend.

Ahead of the open house, the task force is planning two workshops this week at the downtown library, 343 S. Fifth Ave., to develop its preliminary recommendations.

Those are scheduled for 3-5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10, on the library’s third floor and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 11, on the fourth floor.

The task force also is meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, in the city hall basement to prep for the upcoming meetings.

Task force member Norm Tyler unveiled 17 conceptual sketches last month, depicting different ideas people have floated for the “Center of the City” block, where city voters in 2018 approved the idea of an urban park and civic center commons.

The block includes the city-owned Library Lot, which is the surface of the city’s underground parking deck next to the library, and the city-owned Liberty Plaza and Kempf House Museum sites.

The proposal voters approved, blocking a 17-story high-rise development, states those properties should be retained in public ownership in perpetuity and developed as an urban central park and civic center commons known as the Center of the City.

With community input, the task force is trying to help the city decide what the park/commons could look like or what it could include, and possible next steps for implementing the vision.

The task force, formed by City Council last year, is scheduled to make recommendations to council in February.

Council already directed staff to work with the Downtown Development Authority on interim site improvements starting in July, though it’s expected to take years before the full vision is realized.

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