Lawrence arts officials have a big opportunity — and a big responsibility — as they move forward with the plan to create a community arts corridor along Ninth Street just east of downtown.

The successful effort led by the Lawrence Arts Center to obtain a $500,000 grant for the project from ArtPlace America is wonderful news, but it is only the beginning of a project that includes significant public and private investment and community buy-in.

According to the arts center, the ArtPlace grant money will be used for “re-imaging” the corridor that will run between Massachusetts to Delaware streets. That includes incorporating public art along the street and creating opportunities for visual and performance art.

Before that can happen, however, the city must make good on its pledge to make about $3 million in street and walkway improvements to support the project. That investment comes on top of the city’s approval to spend $75,000 a year to create a new arts and culture director, so the community has a financial, as well as a philosophical, stake in how this project turns out.

The prospect of creating an arts corridor that runs from downtown to the Cider Gallery and arts/warehouse developments in East Lawrence is exciting. Such a development could be a big attraction for visitors as well as Lawrence residents.

The idea of using the development as a tool to build a sense of community also is intriguing. The buzzword term for that process is “creative placemaking,” and the idea is to highlight the unique aspects of the community, what “makes a place distinctive,” according to Arts Center Director Susan Tate.

The proposal submitted to ArtPlace America was dubbed “Free State Connection: The 9th Street Corridor Project.” That implies that part of what makes Lawrence “distinctive” is its unique free-state history and the ongoing impact it has on the character of the community. It also suggests that, as this project goes forward, organizers need to be sensitive to what already is here, including the historical East Lawrence neighborhood.

There’s no doubt that attracting visitors to Lawrence is one goal of the development and probably was a significant part of city commissioners’ willingness to make a sizable public investment in the project. At the same time, this project needs to be something that contributes to the quality of life for a broad spectrum of Lawrence residents.

During the application process for the $500,000 grant, Tate said, “It’s very important to ArtPlace to catalyze and create community investment.” Both city taxpayers and private developers at both ends of the corridor have agreed to invest in this vision. It’s now up to organizers to make this project something of which everyone in the community can be proud.