HENDERSON CO., KY (WFIE) -
At Saturday's 'Engage Henderson' meeting, community leaders and residents met to further their plans for revitalizing the city's East End.
Architects were also there to start turning those plans into something real. They gathered to create master-plans, looking at and adding to maps of the East End from Second to Green Street to Sand Lane, checking out new possibilities for the future.
"More things for our young kids to do not only during school hours but after hours," says East End resident LaDawn Chambers.
East-End residents like Chambers say child safety and education are top priorities.
At Saturday's meeting, residents and leaders consolidated previous lists, this time focusing on creating an East End Arts District, community centers and technology upgrades like wi-fi.
"Encouraging use of that through computer learning opportunities," says Henderson Mayor Steve Austin.
Residents say they'd also like to focus on the academic success of South Heights Elementary, making it a center for the area, even adding more facilities such as playgrounds.
"They want everybody to come as a whole not as separate," states Chambers.
Architects from VPS Architecture held a design charette, taking residents' ideas to the next level, through sketches.
"Access to education and community gardens, we're looking, trying to identify places where those things could happen and where we could start to look at developing a prototype,"says President of VPS Architecture George Link.
Neighborhood kids were even at the meeting expressing their want to put an end to drug use in the area. All things Mayor Austin says are only possible through community support.
"It's hard to attack that unless the community just says we're not going to have that anymore. We're finished with this," states Mayor Austin.
Architects tell 14 News, they're also looking at safety aspects, like more pedestrian crossings near Green Street and creating easier access to existing buildings, like Henderson's Library.
Engage Henderson says they'll look over those designs and form community teams to put plans in action on February 25th.
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