Coeur d’Alene’s partnerships, which have
created and continue to sustain the Education Corridor project, were honored
with a City Achievement Award at the 2012 Association of Idaho Cities (AIC)
Annual Conference in Boise.
In
2002, Coeur d’Alene leaders believed that the area’s evolving population would
need living wage jobs that would be best supported by a strong educational
infrastructure. This belief was shared
by leaders of local higher education institutions. In May 2002, a Memorandum of Understanding
was signed by the City of Coeur d’Alene (CdA), North Idaho College (NIC), the
University of Idaho (U of I), and the Lake City Development Corporation (LCDC)
to develop a master plan for an education corridor along the Spokane
River. Lewis-Clark State College later
joined this planning effort. After years
of collaborative work, a Master Plan was created with this collective vision:
“To establish a
multi-institution campus that is built on strong partnerships and provides high
quality academic opportunities, joint student services, and shared facilities
and management responsibilities for the residents of Northern Idaho by
capitalizing upon pooled demand and opportunities for synergy and
efficiency. Future development will
improve multi-modal access, circulation, and parking for the Coeur d’Alene
Education Corridor, adjacent neighborhoods, and the waterfront.”
On Wednesday, June 27, 2012, at 3:00 p.m.,
a ribbon cutting ceremony for Phase 1-B of the Education Corridor Project will
take place at the intersection of Military Drive and River Avenue. The completion of this phase includes the
extension of River Avenue through to Northwest Boulevard and will include a new
signal at that intersection.
There has been over a decade of
cooperation and collaboration between the original partners (CdA, U of I, NIC,
and LCDC). Another partner, The Mayors’
Institute on City Design (MICD), awarded CdA a grant to further study the
project through the MICD Alumni Technical Assistance Program in 2009. After
listening to a broad spectrum of community members and stakeholders, urban
planning experts with the MICD unveiled a comprehensive design of the education
corridor, linking it with CdA’s downtown (http://lcdc.org/ePage/MICD/MICD.html).
During the 2009 Mayors’ Institute on City
Design, collaborators included representatives from the Museum of North Idaho,
Fort Ground Homeowners Association, Kootenai Metropolitan Planning
Organization, the Governor’s Office, CdA Downtown Association, Jobs Plus, Inc.,
Kootenai Health, the Idaho State Legislature, and the Idaho State Board of
Education.
The AIC City Achievement Award Program
selects winners for its competition based on whether the nominated program
improves quality of life, if it reduces the costs of resources, or solves a
community problem. For more information,
please call 769-2204.
