La Center Mayor Tom Strobehn first unveiled his dream of Downtown 2.0 in front of city administrators, government officials and council members in December 2023.
Now, he says the phased project will soon become a reality.
Strobehn said on Wednesday, April 16, that the project will get started with a plaza that overlooks the East Fork Lewis River. He estimated the plaza will break ground west of current downtown La Center by the end of 2025 or early to mid-2026.
The downtown expansion has been incorporated into the downtown subarea plan and has been a focal point of meetings and public discussion, Strobehn said.
“We’ve taken public comments. We’ve had five meetings on such. We’ve got the plans of how the roads will end up going,” he said. “We’ve actually got it staked out at the property. The downtown expansion will exist west of Northwest Pacific Highway."
Subarea plans are an optional element of comprehensive plans that focus on specific areas within a city, in which cities across the county are actively working on comprehensive growth management plans. Subarea plans also help to establish a vision and planning guidelines for specific areas within a city. The downtown expansion would include a handful of mixed-use buildings with apartment units on upper floors, Strobehn envisions.
One new concept for the entire region: pedestrian-only spaces.
“I wanted people to get out of their cars, right?” Strobehn said. “You’ve got to experience what La Center actually has to offer. So you’re going to see all the natural beauty. You’re going to hang out in the plaza.”
He hopes the plaza construction will help spur the development of the immediate surrounding properties, which will include retail and living opportunities.
To start, Strobehn said the plan is to utilize lot parking. As the project area advances through phases, the city will likely add a multi-level parking garage. Most of the downtown expansion won’t be on a vehicle-oriented street, Strobehn said, so the pedestrian lifestyle that has been desired by younger generations as of late is taking front and center in La Center.
Strobehn added that he doesn’t want to bring in million-dollar housing for the downtown corridor either. He wants people who will be invested in the experience.
“I want people to be able to afford to live here and enjoy it because those are the people that are going to bring more to the community,” he said, adding his vision of future resident demographics. “I’m going to get the artists. I’m going to get the programmers. I’m going to get a wider range of people that are still up and coming. They’re going to be invested in the city from a younger age.”
With the downtown expansion slated to bring a number of retail opportunities from local artisans, Strobehn looked at the current revenue stream for the city and said it is not enough to survive with.
“That’s not enough to sustain what we need to do in order to survive or even live the same quality of life that all the residents are used to with the same amenities,” he said. “But with this, this is going to help us grow or afford those extra amenities. My whole goal is to take these card rooms and the revenue streams that we get from them, and that’s the money that we’re sticking away for a rainy day.”
Strobehn ensured that no houses in the area will be removed, which art renderings have shown and has confused residents, he said. The overall vision is likely to be completed in 75 to 100 years when downtown subarea properties might become available. With the target area of development currently a blank slate and smaller than what renderings have shown the overall vision to be, Strobehn said the project will not overpopulate the city.
“I think this will take La Center into the future for the next 100 to 150 years,” he said. “The city can decide how it wants to go from there. For me, I don’t want to go monstrous. I don’t want to be at 20,000 people. You know, I personally don’t. Some other mayor or city staff and residents may want that in the next five, 10, 15 years or whatever, but at this point I’m not building it out for that, right?”
