Housing, motel study to survey community

Posted 11/02/11 (Wed)

By Erica Kingston, BHG News Service

Doug McDonald and Matthew Leiphon of Praxis Strategy Group led the second housing study and motel feasibility study meeting at the Memorial Building last week. With the initial information already gathered, the men focused on possible growth areas for Washburn, those being senior living, more housing options and rental apartments and the possibility of another hotel. “What are you capable of?” McDonald asked. “We want to make it attainable, what can happen in three to five years?” Karen Hansen, director of the Washburn Area Economic Development Association, said that the community has to know what its neighbors have to offer that it doesn’t. “We want to keep the best of the old,” Hansen said. “We don’t want to throw away what is good about Washburn. We just want to keep moving forward.”