The City of Clarksville hosted a successful community engagement event to gather public feedback on the Frosty Morn - Rebuilding for All project on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021.
With the support of City Mayor Joe Pitts, Mayor Pro Tem Wanda Smith led the event at the Burt-Cobb Recreation Center, where more than 100 participating members were in attendance.
The meeting provided community members, local business owners, and community advocates the opportunity to share feedback with Smith and Pitts and other participating City members on the future rebuilding of the Frosty Morn building located in the Red River Neighborhood.
Pitts said this event was unlike most traditional community meetings, which follow an agenda. The Frosty Morn - Rebuilding for All event allowed those attending to visit the proposed Frosty Morn renderings and speak one-on-one with City staff about other potential future uses. The attendees also had the opportunity to participate in a post-meeting survey to ensure the City captured their thoughts.
“This is not a City-driven project; this is a people-driven project,” Pitts said. “And this was the time for us to come together and share the information we have with the community. It’s the time to build fellowship, talk about ideas, what their vision can be because we want to hear from them.”
Prior to the community gathering, the City of Clarksville used an online platform to get community feedback on the development they would like to see from the Frosty Morn site. The City also solicited community members through targeted direct mail, social media messaging, and neighborhood walks. These were all in addition to the previous feasibility studies conducted by the City and the public meetings conducted in the Red River Neighborhood over the last five years.
Smith, who is also the Councilperson for Ward 6, thanked the community for their unwavering support and participation in the Frosty Morn pre-meeting survey. She also thanked Pitts for his professional leadership and faith in supporting her vision to “uncover and restore a diamond in the rough - Frosty Morn.”
What’s Next?
On Monday, Nov. 22, the City will release a second post-meeting survey to get one last input from the public that could not attend the event in person on Tuesday. A recording of the community meeting will accompany the survey and the images of the proposed renderings.
The City stresses that mass community participation will help ensure that the public’s recommendations are heard and understood. Not having enough respondents will leave the City unable to determine the view of different community members throughout the City. Therefore, the public’s responses are critical in ensuring that the City has the best information possible when developing the Frosty Morn project plans.
According to Dennis Newburn, the City’s Housing and Community Director, the next step to the Frosty Morn project is to conduct a market study to assess the City’s market conditions and potential for future development.
John Hilborn, the City’s Project Manager, agrees with Newburn.
“After we consolidate all the comments and recommendations from the public, the City will share that with Randall Gross, a Nashville-based economic consultant with Development Economics,” he said. “Following that, he will do a study from an economic standpoint on what the best use and highest use of the building is, and we’ll take that information and put it into programming.”
To stay up to date on the latest developments of the Frosty Morn project, visit the City’s website at: https://www.cityofclarksville.com/1129/Frosty-Morn.