Plans are still being made for Shoreline Place (Sears)

The Shoreline Place open house attracted a lot of attendees, but Merlone Geier Partners is far from having concrete plans to share.

They are still in the evaluation process, deciding whether the existing building can be remodeled or whether it should be torn down.

They do plan to include housing on site, with the most likely location being at the back of the building where the catalog sales were housed.

The property they purchased is 17 acres pus the 5 acre parking lot currently used by Shoreline CC. It includes the Sears building, the US bank, and the area where the farmers market sets up.

The farmers market will continue on the site. Central Market owns its own land and is not part of the reconstruction.

The city is working to redesign the street along the south perimeter, for better access and traffic flow.

Consultants hired by the city suggested over 80 names for the new site, with the final name being Shoreline Place. The signs on the site are in bad shape and will be replaced with Shoreline Place signs.

So the old names are "Sears" and "Aurora Square". The new name is "Shoreline Place."

A lot of residents in the survey asked for restaurants, so that is definitely part of their deliberations.

They are taking their time and will be communicating with citizens when they have a final design.

--Diane Hettrick