KITCHENER - It may not look like much now, but soon there'll be music, painting, plants and people filling Goudies Lane.

The quiet lane, which runs between Ontario and Benton streets in downtown Kitchener, is the site of an experiment this summer.

When the city and the downtown Business Improvement Area surveyed residents about what they want to see happening in their downtown over the next few years, many people suggested making better use of quiet squares and laneways with temporary art exhibits or live music.

So the city is adding a bit of colour, with painted bright "bricks" on the pavement, planters full of flowers, potted trees and tables and chairs, to the section of Goudies Lane in front of the recently opened J & P grocery. The pedestrian-only patio will be generally open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until just before Labour Day.

The city is launching the experiment this Thursday with a block party between 6 and 10 p.m., with a troupe of artists painting a street-art mural, a barbecue and portable pizza oven, activities and live music. The patio will mostly be a daytime space, but the city is planning an evening event with music and activities on the first Thursday of June, July and August, said Eric Rumble, downtown program co-ordinator with the city. It could also open up for other evening events such as the King StrEATery food truck festival on June 10.

"We're doing an experiment to see how well people gravitate toward this space as a pedestrian area or as a patio," Rumble said. He's hoping people see it as a place to meet, to relax, or even to work.

"Melbourne is an often-cited example of a city that's turned its laneways into social spaces, spaces where people run pop-up businesses, where you've got patios spilling out of the backs of restaurants," Rumble says. Such spaces capitalize on the gritty urban vibe, but can bring a sense of fun and the unexpected, he said.

As well, Kitchener has plans to spend $900,000 over the next couple of years to spruce up a stretch of Queen Street between Duke and Charles Street, including Goudies Lane. If the summer patio experiment takes off, the idea could be incorporated into long-term plans to improve the area.