The Planning & Development Department attended the Douglass Park Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 14, 2025, to gather input on the strategies and goals of the Downtown Plan. Over the last year, the Downtown Plan update team has gathered broad feedback and ideas on Downtown Champaign’s strengths, opportunities and needs. At the event, participants talked with City staff about the project and helped to prioritize implementation strategies with a dot sticker voting exercise. Juneteenth Celebration participants come from the wider community and provide a variety of perspectives, ensuring the Downtown Plan recommendations result in the creation of a destination for all users, not just those already patronizing Downtown.
There are more summer engagement activities planned to support the Downtown Plan, including the upcoming Toast to Taylor celebration on Saturday, June 21, 2025. Look for the City’s tent to share your thoughts on the Plan and pick up a sticker to show off your Downtown pride.