February 12, 2024
The City of South Bend, in partnership with DTSB, invites the public to attend events to kick off the Downtown 2045 Plan process.
The first event will take place on Tuesday, February 20 at 6pm at the Leighton Auditorium in the St. Joseph County Public Library’s Community Learning Center, where guest speaker Casey Steinbacher will present “Hey Downtown … Are You Surviving or Thriving?” Steinbacher, Founder of Finding Next, is a national expert in urban innovation strategies and will tell the story of how Durham, North Carolina’s downtown was revived through placed-based efforts. A question-and-answer period will follow the presentation.
“We are thrilled to have Casey Steinbacher speak at the kick-off event for the Downtown 2045 Plan,” said Caleb Bauer, Director of Community Investment. “She brings valuable experience with urban innovation strategies to help downtowns realize their full potential and can bring us valuable insights from her work in Durham, North Carolina.”
The second event, Envision Downtown 2045 workshop, will take place on Thursday, February 22 at Beutter-Kernan Hall at the St. Joseph County Public Library’s Community Learning Center. A brief presentation and visioning workshop exercise will occur at 12pm and will be repeated at 6pm. Community members may also stop in at any point between those times to learn more about the plan and offer thoughts on what a successful downtown would look like in 20 years. This same workshop will happen again on Tuesday, March 5 at Ballroom A at the St. Joseph County Public Library’s Community Learning Center.
For more information on the Downtown 2045 Plan process, including dates for future planning workshops, visit the Together South Bend website.