MIDLAND, Texas — This past September, Midland Development Corporation was deciding between three proposals to work on the Downtown Master Plan.
On Monday, they found their match.
The MDC agreed with Parkhill, Smith and Cooper to develop the plan to fruition at Monday morning's board meeting.
Parkhill will study the economic factors that make Downtown Midland a success while helping MDC decide which plans and projects to focus on for downtown.
At the same time, they hope to build upon the improvements that have already been made to downtown.
Eric West represented Parkhill at the board meeting Monday and said the firm already has some ideas on what to bring to Midland.
“We mentioned in the presentation just some really simple things. Alley beautifications for paths where people come out of parking garages and make their way into the downtown area," West said. "Better signage, so that people know where public parking is that they can get to and access all the things that are already happening downtown.”
An increased amount of signs to indicate where the parking is would go a long way towards helping Midlander's find where the parking is in downtown.
While there are plenty of parking garages around Midland, people have trouble finding them. Brian Garcia is a manager of Little Bohemian, a restaurant downtown, and said their customers have trouble getting to the restaurant because of a lack of parking.
“It’s hard to get close to the restaurant," Garcia said. "If they’re able to develop these plans, it will definitely help the restaurant as far as our customer base.”
But, with the new plan set by MDC, the hope is that the improvements in downtown will continue to flourish.
“What’s happening already is great," West said. "What you wanna do is build on that and continue the growth and differences that are being made for people that are already down there.”
Midland City Council still has to approve the plan, but Parkhill is hoping to get approval and get to work by November.