Virginia Elandt

Not that long ago, downtown Roseburg store owners often lived in apartments above their stores. They, and other downtown dwellers, walked to work, walked to nearby shopping and walked to nearby parks, said Community Development Director Fred Alley.

The city of Roseburg has recently received a grant it will use to help restore that way of life in its historic downtown. With the grant, the city has hired a recent college graduate to research how to better use upper stories of downtown buildings.

In its 15th year, the program matches college graduates who have an interest in community and economic development and natural resource management to small Oregon cities that need help in those areas.

This year, Roseburg was one of 25 communities, from among 44 that applied, chosen for the program. The city received a $17,000 grant, which it matched with $17,000 from its general fund.

Virginia Elandt was one of 25 students, out of 91 applicants, chosen for the program. Through an interview process, she was hired by Roseburg for the 11-month internship.

“We’re very fortunate,” Alley said. “Our No. 1 pick was Virginia and her No. 1 pick was us.”

“It was a perfect fit for me, personally and professionally,” said Elandt, 26, who recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in geography and urban planning from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.

The local project appealed to her interest in downtown revitalization, something she feels “passionate about.”

Elandt liked that many local entities, including the Roseburg Area Chamber of Commerce, the Roseburg Business Association, the Roseburg Town Center, Douglas County, Umpqua Indian Development Corporation and Umpqua Economic Development Partnership support the project she’ll work on. On a personal level, she said she enjoys Roseburg, has found locals “very warm and very receptive” and likes the area’s recreational opportunities.

As for her work here, Elandt will be inventorying all the downtown properties. She’ll collect information on building types, histories, owners and tenants. Then she’ll focus on buildings with upper-story space.

Working primarily with building owners, she will gather information on which spaces are vacant or underutilitzed, what impedes using the space, strategies to overcome those obstacles and potential funding to reach those goals.

She will focus on residential opportunities on upper floors, Alley said. “The more people that live downtown, the stronger the downtown,” he added. As part of the RARE program, the city will be sending letters about the program to downtown building owners. Elandt will be “knocking on doors and making phone calls,” Alley said. By the end of August, she will produce a document on her work.

Alley described it as “a cookbook” that business owners, real estate agents and others “can use to get the vacant, upper story used.”

“It could be used by local Realtors, if, say, they get a call from someone looking to move to Oregon who wants to open a downtown restaurant and wants to live above it,” Alley gave as an example. “Very few communities have (that),” he said.

Story by Kathy Korengel of The News Review @ www.nrtoday.com

Link to story HERE