CEDAR FALLS -- Following the makeover of downtown Cedar Falls this summer, the College Hill business district is preparing for some renovations of its own.

The city has hired a design consultant to generate a plan to give the area a new look. The City Council is expected to make room in the budget for about $1.2 million for improvements.

On Friday, the design consultant showed off some concepts to a crowd of about 30 people at City Hall.

Geoff Martin of Dahlgren, Shardlow and Uban met in October with a group of interested parties to generate ideas for what could be done with the streetscape around the College Hill business district.

He came back with some plans to give the area a more common theme and blend it in with the University of Northern Iowa. All of those plans were very preliminary, and the city and designer will be seeking input from the public on exactly what is wanted on the

One major feature Martin pitched were gateway monuments. Such monuments would be placed along 23rd Street and at two locations on College Street to clearly define and welcome people to the business district.

"We could put in some monuments with materials that blend in with the campus -- brick," Martin said.

Part of the plan Martin proposed would include narrowing College Street and expanding the sidewalk area. Public art and display spaces could be incorporated into the expanded sidewalk areas. Banner poles would be added that could fly flags with a College Hill-inspired design.

Martin also talked about possibly adding medians to the street. Those medians could include plantings.

Some in attendance questioned the idea of adding decorative medians given the large and sometimes destructive crowds that gather on College Hill during UNI Homecoming.

"I think it's a mistake to apply what has happened in the past to what is happening with this project. This could change the character of the neighborhood and change how people treat it," said Tom Romanin, a former University of Northern Iowa administrator.

Mayor Jon Crews said the city will try to allocate some block grant money to assist College Hill business owners with facade improvements.

Unlike downtown, streets around the College Hill Business District most likely won't need to be completely reconstructed. Instead, improvements will focus more on curb and gutter work, landscaping, lighting and related items.

City staff have discussed having this project done over a longer period of time than the downtown streetscape. Many business owners downtown said they were significantly hurt by having the street shut down all summer.

"Initial discussion had this as a two-year project. It just seems to break up better in a two-year process than it did downtown," Crews said.

No time period has yet been set for construction, but city Developmental Services Director John Page said the project would probably set for construction in 2006.

Jon Ericson can be reached at (319) 291-1402 at jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.