BY CHRISTOPHER BOYCE
Staff Writer

Though the crowd was small at the third and final meeting to discuss the riverfront redevelopment in Phenix City, organizers felt they received encouraging momentum as they will soon take their plan to the City Council.

About 50 people attended Thursday's meeting at the Central Activities Center. Representatives from the Boulevard Group, a consulting firm, and Wallace and Perdomo, an urban planning and architectural firm, gave a presentation on the plans for about 45 minutes and took questions from the audience.

The questions centered on continued public use of the river, what types of business can be expected to enter the development area and how the new look of the river might be controlled.

Douglas Faust, vice president of the Boulevard Group, assured residents that the river's public use would continue and that as a part of adopting the development program, controls can be required for the type of businesses and the overall look of the area.

"I felt excitement," Faust said of his impression of the audience. "There was a desire to move forward on the redevelopment."

Faust also introduced market analyst Bill Owen of Real Estate Research Consultants in Orlando, Fla. Faust said this was the first meeting Owen had attended. Grace Perdomo, of Wallace and Perdomo, said Owen was brought in to look at the area's development and investment opportunities.

Owen told residents he has seen similar projects near whitewater rivers succeed in Denver, Reno, Nev., and Minneapolis.