La Center Mayor Thomas Strobehn, along with Bryan Kast, public works and community development director, have developed a plan to bring more commercial development and vibrance to downtown La Center.
The concept for the La Center downtown 2.0 was unveiled in front of city administrators, government officials and council members during a City Council retreat at the La Center Community Center on Saturday, Dec. 16. State government officials in attendance included Rep. Peter Abbarno, Rep. Ed Orcutt, Sen. Ann Rivers and Sen. John Braun. U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s aide Emma Montague and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell’s aide Tanisha Harris also attended.
“It’s time to think further out than 10, 20 or 30 years,” Strobehn told those in attendance. “We must plan and build La Center’s future, and I believe that starts with our own downtown expansion.”
The downtown expansion vision will be incorporated into the downtown subarea plan the City Council already approved.
“We are looking at the subarea plan to set a stage for all of this” as the downtown expansion vision is labeled to serve the community for the next century, Kast said.
Subarea plans are an optional element of comprehensive plans that focus on specific areas within a city, Kast stated in a powerpoint presentation he created for the City Council. Subarea plans also help to establish a vision and planning guidelines for specific areas within a city. With a little work, the downtown expansion proposal will tie into the city’s subarea. The subarea plan will be guided by a new community vision being developed for healthy business and neighborhood growth, according to a flier about the downtown expansion.
Strobehn added, for the plan to work, the council will need to approve adjusting the downtown subarea a few blocks west to include land that needs to be annexed. The subarea plan is slated to be completed by the end of 2024, Strobehn said.
Strobehn's vision is to strengthen the small community identity, not lose it, he said. Strobehn ensured the expansion will keep community history in mind while adding new business, recreation, especially parks and riverside trails, and living opportunities.
“Recreation needs to be highlighted. I think that people are so wound tight because of the way life is,” Strobehn said. “And so the more recreational activities that we can provide to the public, the better off the city is.”
Riverside green space and trails will help bring in more people to La Center, he said.
“If we start bringing out the trails and expanding them even further, adding those docks and some playgrounds or some parks down by the water and stuff like that, we’re going to get people in from even Amboy at that point,” Strobehn explained. “[They’ll be] coming in and want to throw their boats or kayaks down there, and then they’re going to walk up after that, grab a beer or a burger and kind of look at the town.”
Strobehn’s vision isn’t to change the identity of La Center, he said, it is to expand on it and provide more entertainment, living and business opportunities for the region’s residents.
His thoughts for what businesses he wants to bring to La Center with the downtown expansion include eateries, art galleries, a hardware store and a grocery store.
“I would like some sort of hardware store and small grocery store or something like that because I can tell you right now, as a resident up here for 20 years, when you need a nut or bolt, you’re running into Woodland right to Ace Hardware there,” Strobehn said. “So it’d be kind of nice to have something along those lines here.”
Another addition to the vision includes a European-styled plaza “but make it ours,” Strobehn added as he wants the expansion to retain the feel of La Center’s small-town identity.
“I think it’s an exciting opportunity for La Center as well as the communities around La Center to kind of fashion the community they want to live in and that they want to create,” Abbarno said after the unveiling. “A lot of that doesn’t start above ground, it starts below. And so, I think my role as the ranking member on capital budget is how I can help them with infrastructure, water, sewer, wastewater and even grid stability.”
Abbarno sees how the vision of Strobehn for La Center can be a major factor in an improvement of the quality of life for area residents.
“How do we make sure that they can grow, improve the quality of life at the same time to create economic opportunities,” Abbarno added. “And so that’s how I see my role in this. But you know, it really is a bottom up community based type of plan. I’m just excited to partner with them when they’re ready.”
Rivers, a resident of La Center, said she is looking forward to a downtown expansion, not just as a politician who can help but as a local who will get to enjoy the improved day-to-day life of the city.
“What I see is that so many communities want to grow, and there’s no thought put into how they’re gonna do that,” Rivers said. “So this, for me, is very exciting because La Center is doing it right. They’re going to engage the community. They’re developing their vision, and it’s, just from my perspective, the right way to do it.”
As a mother of two sons who went through the La Center school system, she recognizes how important La Center is in graduates’ hearts.
“That community investment is so important, and La Center is an amazing community. We raised our boys here. They both graduated, [and] one of them was married here,” Rivers said. “So, yeah, I’m just super impressed that they are being so methodical about their growth, and it’s not ‘grow at any cost' type of attitude. It’s ‘let’s measure twice and cut once,’ which I appreciate.”
Kast added that community members should visit the city website, ci.lacenter.wa.us/, for updates on community hearings or ways to comment on the downtown expansion vision.
