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. Chapter V Implementation Strategy for the Grand Junction Riverfront Project Ann Breen Dick Rigby The Waterfront Center Washington, D.C. Implementation Suggestions The following suggestions, prepared by the Waterfront Center of Washington, D.C., are in response to a request from the Planning Department of Grand Junction, They include recommended steps ranging from the obvious and immediate to the long-range and encompassing, These recommended actions are directed specifically to the Colorado Riverfront Commission, and its staff support, as the lead agency in the prospective river rejuvenation in Grand Junction and vicinity. The Commission would carry forward the general plan developed by the team brought to Grand Junction by the City Planning Department in June. Assumptions Our implementation recommendations proceed from several assumptions. One is that a sizable portion of the population of Grand Junction has not been to the confluence of the Gunnison and Colorado Rivers. And for good reason given its general unattractiveness. Senator Timothy Wirth during a recent visit put this figure at 95 percent; we found general concurrence with this estimate, Thus there is a considerable emphasis on education, promotion, dressing up the area, clean-up and the like in our implementation suggestions. There are major public expenditures contemplated in the team's recommendations. We detected that the will is present now in Grand Junction to commit significant public sums, that current bond obligations will soon be satisfied and, thus, the timing is felt to be right to take the steps needed to transform the river frontage of Grand Junction. We found the City underselling itself, perhaps in part a reflection of the negative impression given visitors arrriving over the 5th Street Bridge. In common with many cities, what are in fact major attractions and assets, are so taken for granted as to be underappreciated by residents, This translates into a tendency to underestimate attractions. The existence of a historic river juncture, adjoining a spectacular National Monu- ment, in a city that is already the cultural and shopping center for a lO-county (and beyond) territory has, given a major marketing effort and the addition of several attractions, great potential to project Grand Junction to itself and the world as the Gateway to Unspoiled Western Colorado. The critical nature of the river corridor clean-up effort to make such a promotion viable is obvious. Dick Rigby, Ann Breen & Ron Fleming ..~. "'. \.. ' ~~.;.: ~'#;;... ;;. 'Jr"' '........ ". ~... ~ .. .\i;M ~.,,-, .,.., 27