A mockup of the mural.
Photo courtesy City of Monroe
MONROE — This week, Monroe will be discussing its festival lot project at an open house Wednesday, June 18 from 1-2 p.m. at the site of the former Union Bank Building, 201 W. Main St., and 3-7 p.m. at this week’s Monroe Farmers Market.
Residents can share their thoughts about the four options for the property, which are not final designs.
The proposed project is located on the northwest corner of West Main Street and North Blakeley Street.
The first option is to revamp the Union Bank building and add a “visitor center, potential retail use and public restrooms,” as the Festival Lot Presentation slides at a May City Council meeting mentioned.
Additionally, landscaping and 29 parking spots will be added. The proposed project will have four Electric Vehicle parking spots in the alley. The current parking lot will be used for events.
For the second option, the changes to the Union Bank property will be the same as option one, along with an event plaza. Option two will have 24 parking spots with an additional six parking spots for EVs near the alley.
The third option will consist of a plaza near the corner and a parking lot with 35 parking spots, with six EV parking spots. Along with the plaza, the property will have a “visitor center building with retail/restrooms at NW Corner,” the Festival Lot Presentation slides for a May city council meeting mentioned.
Unlike the third option, the fourth option will include a visitor center that is on the eastern part of the property. Just like the third option, there will be altered pedestrian paths. Also, there will be nine parking spots and six EV parking spots.
City staff also were at the June 4 Farmers Market.
“Most people wanted information from us,” Monroe’s economic development coordinator, Patrick Doherty, said. What was made clear was that residents want parking.
The idea of this project has been “in the community wheelhouse since the ‘70s,” Monroe’s Management Analyst, Liam McKorkle, said. Monroe residents have seen this site, since then, “as a place to host community gatherings, festivals, and cultural events,” the project’s webpage states.
A 2008 Downtown Master Plan focused on Monroe’s desire to transform the site into “a flexible space that would help activate downtown and provide a space for special events,” the project’s webpage mentions. The “Festival Lot” was put forth at “focus group discussions for the 2008 Downtown Plan to host community gatherings, festivals, and cultural events,” the Festival Lot Presentation slides from a May city council meeting stated.
Prior to seeking feedback from Monroe residents, Monroe bought the current property, Union Bank, in 2023, which is a half-acre site, the project webpage stated.
So far, the city of Monroe has funded “ $475,000 in the 2025-26 biennial budget for this project,” as mentioned on the project’s webpage.
Residents can fill out the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/MonroeFestivalLot. The survey is available until the end of June. Answers from the surveys will be presented to the City Council in summer 2025, the project’s webpage states.
This project, if it happens, will give “people more reason to visit downtown,” McKorkle said.
