It's all about the plaza.

The Haymarket parking lot on the corner of Eau Claire and Graham Streets is a bit of an eyesore, but you may have a chance to help out with that.

The City of Eau Claire owns the property and expects to create a public plaza on the space in the future, but they're taking that "public" word to a whole 'nother level. The city, partnering with the West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (we're just gonna call that the WCWRPC from now on so I don't have to type that mouthful anymore), will be engaging in a program they're calling Placemaking The Plaza, which would bring citizens and experts into workshops together to figure out how to make the space shine.

The plaza has been (and could be, physically) at the center of the Confluence Project – the proposed arts center and multiuse building to sit long the two rivers. But even if the Confluence Project doesn't go through, the city would still own the lot and do something with it eventually.

The workshops will be based around a specific theory of placemaking from the Project for Public Spaces called the Power of 10. The basis of Power of 10 is that you need more than one reason to be at a public place. These reasons can be everything from a public sculpture to a nice bench to a flower bed. But Power of 10 goes beyond that (and this is where the 'power' comes in): Each one of these spaces with 10 attractions can contribute to a neighborhood with 10 good spaces, which could contribute to a community with 10 good neighborhoods and so on. Hopefully this placemaking exercise could be the start of something bigger.

So where do you come in? Well, the city and WCWRPC will be hosting a series of facilitated workshops where the public can work with the city and WCWRPC planners to find what 10 (or more!) attractions could make the Haymarket plaza a community-minded space. You can sign up at the WCWRPC website for updates and an invitation when the workshops get scheduled.

If you can't make a workshop or want to get even more involved, the Eau Claire City Council will also be taking public comment on the WCWRPC proposal (but not the entire Confluence Project itself) at the Aug. 12 City Council meeting.