BEDFORD, Va. – Florence Younger and Ella Witt-Medows live in Bedford County. They sometimes come into town to shop for groceries. They say they love the area so much they want to see it become better than what it is.
“They do need a little bit more development, up-to-date; I think they need a nice clothing store,” Witt-Medows said.
“I think Bedford is losing money because people have to leave the area to shop to buy clothes (in) either Charlottesville, Lynchburg or Roanoke,” Younger said.
In a May meeting, about 30 community members told town officials they want an interactive playground, an outdoor classroom area and a multipurpose park or square.
“So the concepts that we have today are basically what we've heard from the public and we just want to ask the public again. Did we get it right? Did we hear you correctly? And what's that going to look like for the future?” said Mary Zirkle, the economic development coordinator for the Town of Bedford
For the next two weeks, a proposed board will be posted near businesses and buildings showing more community members the potential changes and community connections that could happen from north bridge to south bridge streets and beyond.
Town officials say there's no telling how much these ideas could cost, but having neighbors complete an online survey is a step in the right direction.
"One of the guiding principles, and we want to ask people, is, 'Is it a priority of people to make Bedford a regional destination? And then the question we have to answer is, how do we do that?’ So that's one of the principles we're asking people to react to,” Zirkle said.
July 20 is the last day for the survey. Town officials say a steering committee will take the results and form a plan with two to three projects.
The Town of Bedford is collecting opinions by a hard copy survey that you can get at each location below, as well as at the Town Municipal Building, and from the online survey link on the School-to-School Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/School2SchoolBedford/
Tuesday – Cop Camp at the Bedford Middle School
Wednesday, – Library
Thursday – Bower Center for the Arts
Friday – Second Friday – Goose Creek Studio
Saturday July 14 – Bedford Welcome Center
From July 16, the concept can be found at the Town Municipal Building when walking in to the left.