This week's personality: Arthur Schmidt leading Loudonville's plan to revitalize downtown
LOUDONVILLE − Several months ago, the Mohican Area Growth Foundation (MAGF), at the urging of village Mayor Jason VanSickle, began work to revitalize downtown.
The MAGF hired OHM Advisors, an Ohio-based architectural, engineering and planning firm with offices in Cleveland, Akron and Columbus, to develop a plan to make the downtown more appreciated by locals and more attractive to visitors.
In the center of this effort is Arthur Schmidt of Brunswick, project manager and senior planner with OHM.
Schmidt said he and fellow team members are working with a downtown task force of locals who are identifying “issues, opportunities and ideas that would contribute to the plan we are charged to develop. We will then develop a community survey where we will ask residents and others who use or enjoy the downtown whether the ideas of the steering committee are shared. At least some of these surveys will be sent home with village utility customers in their bills. We will also solicit information through flyers and other means to evaluate what others feel about the original ideas.
“Next, we’ll discuss the information taken from our surveys with members of the task force and other stakeholders in the downtown,” Schmidt said. “Depending on what sort of response we receive, we may seek more information, through perhaps another survey or other means, in late November or December.
“In January or maybe early February we will compare the priorities originally listed by the committee with the feedback received from others, and develop a plan for the downtown,” he continued. “We’ll showcase the plan in a community event when we get it together.”
Planner Arthur Schmidt: 'I think Loudonville’s downtown is fantastic'
Schmidt acknowledges it'll be a challenge to figure out ways to enhance an already attractive area.
“I think Loudonville’s downtown is fantastic," he said. "We hope the plans enhance the downtown in a positive way.”
Working with Schmidt from OHM are colleagues Jeremy Hinte and Alejandro Duque. The trio will work to disseminate the survey and analyze results.
Schmidt noted he and OHM have helped develop “plans like Loudonville’s in several communities, including nearby Ashland and Wooster, Louisville, Delaware and Newark.
“While it is a much bigger community, I see our project in Newark as very similar to what we are looking at here, a way to make the downtown more attractive to visitors.”
Schmidt described OHM as “a mission-driven community advancement team. As a planer with OHM, I look to bring a collaborative and place-based approach to this project.”
He has eight years in the community planning field, including community and transportation planning, public policy, zoning codes, economic development, and public participation.
More background on Schmidt
Prior to joining OHM, he worked as a streetscape and transportation planner with the Cleveland Planning Commission, coordinating with local design review boards, working on community and neighborhood-based plans, and managing grant programs to assist in both funding and implementing projects.
In addition to his role with OHM, he serves as director of the APA Ohio Cleveland Chapter. He is also chair of the programming committee and co-chair of the We Plan CLE committee for the Cleveland Chapter. He is a part-time instructor at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.
He holds a master's in Urban Planning, Design and Development from Cleveland State University, a master's in Urban Design from Kent State University, and a bachelor's in Architectural Studies from Kent State.
Serving on the downtown task force are Jamie Black, community resident; Miranda Burrell of the Mohican Visitor’s Bureau; Nicole Cutlip of the Black Fork Bistro; Leigh Ann Runge of the Hemlock Inn; Steve Stricklin, former mayor; Brayton Orchard of Shrock Premier Construction; Matt Young, village council president; Matt Knoble of the Loudonville Fair Board; Josh Gray of Mohican Adventures; Catherine Puster, superintendent of schools; Don Riffle of the American Legion Post 257; Garret DeWitt, village administrator; Jason VanSickle, mayor; and Jordan Lance, MAGF president.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Arthur Schmidt leading Loudonville's plan to revitalize downtown