The city commission voted to issue the first industrial revenue bonds for a downtown renovation and construction project. The action was termed by one commissioner “a significant turning point” for the downtown while another said the decision killed “once and for all” a developer’s plan to build a large, enclosed mall in the central business district. The discussion revolved around a request from Bob Gould, Design Build Architects, for $750,000 in IRBs to renovate buildings in the 700 block of Massachusetts Street.