The intersection of Highway 20 and Glover Street offer a location where architectural or landscaping design could define the gateway.
By Ann McCreary
An economic revitalization plan for Twisp, developed last year to prescribe how the town can become more prosperous, has been approved by the Town Council.
The 79-page document won’t sit on a shelf, said Twisp Mayor Soo Ing-Moody. Town officials will analyze it to determine options for moving forward on the plan’s recommendations.
“We’ll start looking at it and figuring out what steps we can take,” Ing-Moody said. “We will try to match up different funding sources with different projects.”
The plan provides concepts and recommendations designed to make Twisp’s downtown more attractive and conducive to business. It was developed with community input gathered through surveys and public meetings.
The plan proposes a variety of enhancements that include street improvements, archways to identify the downtown area, signage for pedestrians and motorists, street lighting and landscaping.
About 20 projects — with a total price tag of almost $10 million — are outlined in the plan to correct barriers to economic vitality in Twisp.
Formally adopting the plan, as the council did last month, is the first step toward implementation and “puts the Council on record as supportive of the policies and concepts outlined in the plan,” according to consultants with SCJ Alliance, an urban planning firm that developed the revitalization plan.
In transition
“Twisp is a town in transition — and has been for some time. From mining to timber to agriculture, and now a vibrant arts community — Twisp has reinvented itself many times,” the consultants said. The town is also changing, they said, as a result of the growth of tourism and shifting demographics as people move here from outside the valley.
Improved landscaping and signage echoing the gateway and wayfinding theme could enhance this corner, provide screening and better accentuate the existing artwork.
“Twisp is crafting a community identity, and is ready for significant infrastructure improvements consistent with that identity,” the SCJ report said.
Implementing the projects proposed in the plan, the consultants said, will require two basic things — time and money.
“Major infrastructure projects in a small community like Twisp often require funding through state, county, federal or other agencies. These projects will need to meet very specific criteria and work through processes that can take years to complete,” consultants said.
The projects were intentionally designed to range from low-cost and easily accomplished projects to infrastructure improvements that would take several years and millions of dollars to complete.
A proposed traffic roundabout at the intersection of State Highway 20 and Glover Street, for example, is a major street improvement that would likely need funding through the Washington State Department of Transportation, said Ing-Moody.
“We will be prioritizing,” Ing-Moody said. “What is the low-hanging fruit? Where are there funding sources available, or collaborations with others like TwispWorks, the Chamber of Commerce or Methow Arts?”
“The main thing I try to do is leverage as much of these resources as possible … through partnerships and recognizing potential,” she said.
The town would follow up on the plan by seeking funding to implement some projects through a state Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) grant, Ing-Moody said. A $50,000 CERB grant funded development of the plan itself, and the town provided a match of $16,667.
