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Works in Progress
By: Stephen M Barrouk
Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber President/CEO

Diamond City Partnership
The Diamond City Partnership (DCP), an alliance of local community organizations, businesses and individuals working to ensure a vibrant future for Downtown Wilkes-Barre, recently invited interested citizens and business men and women to participate in a Downtown Wilkes-Barre Design Workshop. The objective of the Workshop was to explore new ideas for the physical development of Downtown Wilkes-Barre, based upon the market findings from the DCP's recently completed Strategic Market Development Plan.

The process began with a public input session at which more than 180 people participated. At the next meeting teams led by local architects - volunteers from the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) - used the information collected at the public session to explore new ideas for Downtown's physical development in an intensive, one-day workshop, known as a "Charrette." Some of the concepts developed during that process are pictured here. Ultimately, the results of the Design Workshop will provide the DCP and the city of Wilkes-Barre with a common basis for planning and evaluating future Downtown Wilkes-Barre development and investment.

About DCP:
The Diamond City Partnership (DCP) is a coalition of organizations, businesses and individuals specifically created to implement the six downtown revitalization strategies resulting from the 2001 Downtown Wilkes-Barre Visioning Sessions. The DCP includes representatives from over 50 city and regional stakeholders, including representatives of city government, colleges and universities, places of worship, cultural institutions, businesses, the media and individual Downtown residents and business and property owners. The partnership is supported by the administrative and financial resources of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry.

.The Diamond City Partnership would like to extend a sincere 'thank you' to the following architectural firms for providing their staff and their expertise to assist in designing the future of Downtown Wilkes-Barre:
· Bakker & Lewis Architects
· Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
· Borton-Lawson Engineering, Inc
· Eyerman Csala Hapeman &Handman Registered Architects
· Hemmler Camayd
· C. Allen Mullins
· Quad Three Group, Inc.
· Springwood Group
· Williams Kinsman Lewis Architecture