Lorain Proud to hold final charrette of 2017

Lorain Proud will hold its final charrette of 2017 on Nov. 16 at the Carnegie Center, 351 W. 10th St. in Lorain.

The meeting will be 6:30 to 8 p.m., and light refreshments will be provided.

After holding a successful series of organizing sessions over the course of 2017, Lorain Proud is setting its sights on a productive 2018 and aims to develop an action plan for community initiatives to be undertaken, organizers say.

In the September charrettes, participants identified five key areas of improvement: active transportation, downtown re-development, history/ arts/culture, lakefront/waterfront and schools/youth.

Lorain Historical Society Executive Director Barb Piscopo said captains for each focus area were appointed, and Lorain Proud is hoping the meeting will enable the group to establish two or three initiatives to work on through 2018. Lorain Proud will try to establish partnerships with local organizations involved in each focus area, Piscopo said.

“I think the important thing now is yes, we are proud of Lorain, yes we’ve identified areas where we know Lorain needs to move forward if we really are going to be the jewel on the north coast,” she said. “Okay, so now what are we going to do?

“This is to me where the rubber meets the road. This is what it’s going to take. It doesn’t take people that are just willing to sit around the table and talk. It takes people who are really willing to roll up their sleeves and do a few things.”

Over the course of the charrettes process, 150 Lorain residents have taken part, either through participation in the organizing sessions, or through completing an online questionnaire with ideas on how to improve the city, Piscopo said.

“I think it’s really important before we close out 2017 to say, OK, this is our commitment for next year and maybe set even a next meeting date early in 2018 so people can make some things happen,” she said. “The thing now is we need people who are ready to make these ideas successes and are willing to stick with it until something happens.”

Following on the May 10 Lorain Proud celebration at the Lorain Palace Theater in downtown Lorain, the organization plans to hold another celebration in May 2018 at a venue to be determined to celebrate the success of this new step in the charrette process, Piscopo said.