The City of Brownwood issued the following press release Thursday afternoon:

The City of Brownwood has partnered with Freese and Nichols, Inc., an engineering and planning firm to develop a new Master Downtown Plan. The purpose of a new Downtown Master Plan is to develop strategies, guiding principles, and action plans that will assist the City of Brownwood to further enhance the revitalization efforts in the downtown district.

The City of Brownwood’s last Downtown Plan was completed in 2002/2003 by Freese & Nichols, which contained a 20-year action plan that expired in 2022. At that time, the City sent request for proposals to over eight firms to meet federal procurement standards. The Brownwood City Council voted to approve a resolution awarding the professional contract to Freese and Nichols, Inc., and to be funded through the American Rescue Plan on Tuesday, November 8, 2022.

The Master Downtown Plan will establish a guiding vision for the downtown district; provide ample opportunities for stakeholder engagement; analyze the commercial, retail, and residential markets and identify needs and opportunities; analyze zoning and land use needs. Analysis findings would offer a site-specific development opportunity analysis for the most impactful opportunities; recommend and prioritize strategies and projects for place-making and public spaces; and provide a plan for implementing recommendations. Included in the deliverables of the plan would be an assessment of current infrastructure and future infrastructure needs of downtown Brownwood, action-oriented recommendations to implement that vision, and identification of a series of near and longer-term public sector catalyst projects to help keep private sector momentum moving in the right direction.

Freese and Nichols, Inc. values community engagement and is currently in the analysis and visioning phase. During this phase of the process, the team will be analyzing the existing context and conditions and aligning stakeholders around a unifying vision, set of goals, and guiding principles. As part of their project initiation and analysis phase, representatives spent two days holding stakeholder meetings, launching their first community visioning survey, and directly soliciting feedback during the Cinco De Mayo Celebration this past weekend: one of our largest Downtown events.

Freese and Nichols, Inc. is an engineering, urban planning, and architecture firm offering a wide range of services to public sector clients for more than 125 years. FNI focuses on providing its clients with innovative approaches, practical results, and outstanding services. As a full-service consulting firm, they offer hundreds of specialty services and take a holistic view of their client’s challenges, providing tailored, advanced solutions and delivering exemplary plans, designs, and codes. To learn more about the City of Brownwood Downtown Master Plan’s ongoing progress, and how to provide your feedback throughout the process please visit btxgov.info/downtownplan.