Paula Pepin has lived in west Lawrence for years, but has always been fond of making trips to Massachusetts Street for coffee and a meal.

She’s not so sure her neighbors do the same thing.

“I hear my neighbors say, ‘I hardly ever go downtown,'” said Pepin, vice president of the West Lawrence Neighborhood Assn.

That’s why she has mixed emotions about the Bauer Farm project approved last week by the Lawrence City Commission. Developers of the 43-acre site have plans for a community theater, restaurants, shopping, apartments, homes and a hotel – a mix seen no other place in Lawrence but downtown.

Has west Lawrence matured and grown to where it’s ready to have its own cultural center?

“I’m probably torn, like many people, because I am committed to downtown,” Pepin said. “But I think there are more people out here who are ready to have another city center.”

Lawrence architect Michael Treanor's proposed Bauer Farm project was approved by the Lawrence City Commission. Treanor is shown on the east side of the site at the corner of Sixth and Wakarusa.

Mike Treanor, the architect behind Bauer Farm, said no project could ever replace downtown Lawrence’s mix of cultural attractions and history. But other parts of town, he said, may be ready for similar amenities.

“You’re going to have those activities anyway – you’re going to have people living in apartments and single-family homes, you’re going to have churches, you’re going to have shopping,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is mix it all together.”

Special status

Horizon 2020, the city-county long-term planning guide, gives downtown Lawrence special status as a retail, commercial, office and cultural center in Lawrence. It adds: “An important ingredient to ensuring the continued viability of downtown is keeping it the center of the city’s social and institutional activities.”

• New Urbanism project approved (01-11-06)
• 6News video: Development plans spark debate at City Commission (01-10-06)
• Views vary on New Urbanism proposal (01-18-06)
• Developments promoting ‘destination walking’ touted (11-8-05)
• New Urbanism subject of community meetings (11-05-05)
• Bauer Farms plans (.pdf)
• NewUrbanism.org
• More about Mapping the Future

City commissioners have taken that charge seriously, keeping that provision in mind when they refused to build a library branch in west Lawrence, and when they’ve been skeptical of plans for “big box” stores in Lawrence, including Wal-Mart.

‘Richer environment’

Lawrence Community Theatre sits outside the boundaries of downtown, at 1501 N.H. Two years ago, theater leaders began searching for a new location to accommodate their growing crowds; a recent staging of “Beauty and the Beast” drew 2,500 playgoers.

“We’ve simply outgrown the space here,” said Mary Doveton, the theater’s executive director.

City commissioners on Tuesday will consider approving The Bauer Farm project on 43 acres at the northeast corner of Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive.

Officials searched all over town for a space before joining Treanor’s project.

“It seemed like such a wonderful opportunity for the community,” Doveton said. “We wouldn’t be set off by ourselves. We’d be part of a very energetic neighborhood.”

Treanor agreed.

“It’s as if we had shopping and a coffee shop outside the Lied Center. Wouldn’t that be a richer environment?”

Every area

Mayor Boog Highberger voted for the Bauer Farm project last week. Protecting downtown is important, he said, but other areas of town also deserve places where neighbors can gather.

“I do think every area of our town needs to have its public and cultural institutions, and I think downtown should remain the center,” Highberger said. “But there’s not been much public space in west Lawrence, and this could be a start.”

City Hall will keep a close eye on the project, though, requiring construction be phased in so that homes are built simultaneously with stores, to ensure the mixed-use plan comes to fruition.

The project is also under scrutiny from Downtown Lawrence Inc. John Francis, a member of the DLI board and owner of Francis Sporting Goods, said he wasn’t so sure Lawrence was ready for a second cultural center.

“I think downtown Lawrence will always be the heart of the city,” he said. “Obviously, competition elsewhere takes away from us, but I think downtown is strong enough to handle it.”

Doveton, the community theater director, said Lawrence was now big enough to spread the wealth.

“In my own personal perspective,” Doveton said, “Lawrence has grown to the point where we’re able to support activities all over town.”