EDC working with city on business district

An idea to better define Grand Coulee’s business district was well received by the city’s planning commission, and could turn out to be a partnership effort with the city and the Chamber of Commerce’s Economic Development Council (EDC).

City Councilmember Tammara Byers, who also sits on the planning commission, told fellow council members that the EDC had offered up some good ideas and that the commission would continue working with them.

The EDC has proposed signage and lighting changes on what has been described as the city’s business district, mainly Midway Avenue, Main Street, Federal Avenue and Spokane Way.

EDC spokesman Bob Valen said that if his group and the city jointly apply for grant funding he thought there would be better chance of success.

Lighting, Valen said, could be special aluminum poles with acorn-style fixtures for a 1940s look. It would take nine poles and lights for Midway Avenue alone, with the costs about $2,500 per pole.

Valen stated that the EDC would work on the Midway Avenue lights first, and eventually expand the look throughout the designated business district. “It would give the business district a unique look and better identify businesses,” Valen said.

The signage would help identify special places in the city, such as city hall, the police station, library, hospital and other places throughout Grand Coulee, and make it easier for visitors and newly arrived residents to find their way around. The special signs would be large enough for drivers to read, and may include the city logo on them.

Valen said that the planning commission was easy to work with and was receptive to new ideas.