Coming soon to Downtown Caldwell: Indian Creek Plaza

Caldwell is moving forward with creating a downtown plaza on the site of a former King’s variety store.

The $5 million to $6 million project, called Indian Creek Plaza, would be at the corner of Kimball and Arthur streets, adjacent to Indian Creek.

The city wants the square to serve as a public gathering space and to be used year-round for community festivals and events. Features could include a stage, water fountain, large movie screen, ice skating rink and garden.

The city is partnering with the Caldwell East Urban Renewal Agency to build the project. Destination Caldwell, a nonprofit that promotes the city, is helping.

The urban renewal agency owns the nearly one-acre site. City and urban renewal money will be used to build the plaza.

Once built, the plaza likely will be managed by an outside firm that will handle the programming of 150 to 200 events a year, according to Destination Caldwell Chairwoman Keri K. Smith-Sigman. The city council has appointed Destination Caldwell’s Indian Creek Plaza committee to come up with a plan on how best to manage the plaza — a task the city does not want.

“It is going to require a lot of sponsorships and a lot of donations to do this type of project,” Smith-Sigman said.

The first step is finding an architectural or design team to come up with a design. Earlier this month, the city put out a request for qualifications, called an RFQ. Proposals are due March 7.

Once a firm is selected and a concept approved by the council, the public will have be invited to offer ideas on plaza details and design.

Construction could begin late this year and be completed by September 2017, Smith-Sigman said.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 10:21 AM with the headline "Coming soon to Downtown Caldwell: Indian Creek Plaza."