RM 09-20-74 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7. PROGRESS REPORTS (Cont'd) 2) River Bend Plaza Schedule Report: Mr. Louis N. Wilcox, Director of the River Bend RIVER BEND PLAZA Plaza Office, advised the level of activity for SCHEDULE REPORT the Plaza remains at a real high pitch. The Chicago Free Street Theatre is coming, next Tuesday we have seven or eight craft booths, the Holiday Rambler group and currently have under consideration the plans of the Farmers Market on an experimental basis on the Plaza and hopefully we will have that status as early as next weekend. Major plans are being made for a Holloween presentation for the young people to come downtown for the contests, etc. Our Winter Wonderland, Christmas presentations, are mov- ing along very well. Mr. Wilcox also advised he has been in touch, via phone, with Phil Simonds and Ed Werley, in Pittsburgh (our joint venture designers of the mall) and verbally have given Mr. Wilcox the "go ahead" on the plans he has and that they are more concerned in the direction of the safety standpoint than of the aesthetics standpoint, and has everything resolved, at least verbally. They still plan to go ahead with the major retail presentation on November 16. The time of the street presentations tomorrow - -with open invitation to all- -are two presentations: At Noon, and at 3:00 p.m. This is a group of 27 young people from the Mishawaka area - -with everything, from puppet shows, dances, songs and they involve the audience with the things they do. They are the outstanding group in the country and Mr. Wilcox stated he considers it a real privilege to have them in town. Mr. Louis Wilcox also discussed the success of some of the vendors on the Plaza in volume, and that this demonstrates a point that there are certain kinds of services that are needed in the Plaza, and hopefully we can develop enough of these to satisfy the need on a year- around basis. The commercial and business establishments on the Plaza are not as negative as they once were on the vendor type of business and he believed it helps all the businesses. Commissioner Wiggins said that he would like to see some sidewalk cafes in operation in the area, and Mr. Wilcox believes this to be an excellent idea as there is space there for something different and he will be glad to initiate the discussion requested. - 17 -