Festus and Crystal City Announce Final Public Open House for Great Streets Initiative

Please join us for the M2M: Main to Mississippi Plan Final Public Open House and Presentation on Tues., June 14 at 5pm at the 1st Baptist Church, 107 N. Truman Blvd.          The Cities of Festus and Crystal City will be sharing the plan’s recommendation before proceeding with the approval process.  Also, we will be sharing a collective brand for the district.  

The Glass District, a name developed in partnership between businesses and stakeholders in both Festus and Crystal City, pays homage to the history of the two communities.   Crystal City was the town with the furnace and the forge that made the glass and Festus is where the factory workers sought entertainment and services. Festus and Crystal City are bound together by this history and common interests. Our futures are forever intertwined.  

The goal of this new brand is for regional marketing.  Glass is a wonderful visual and substance that can used creatively and incorporated into signage, wayfinding, websites and other media to direct visitors to the two unique and connected districts. 

Your feedback is vital to this process. Please join us on June 14th and take the branding poll. 

Did you miss the open house on May 16th? 2022 M2M Open House Displays 

(Crystal City, MO/Festus, MO) - The Cities of Festus and Crystal City are kicking off public events for the Great Streets Initiative process assisted by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. This Great Streets project, dubbed the M2M: Main to Mississippi Plan, seeks to fortify Main Street, Bailey, and Mississippi between the two city halls and improve connections among the neighborhoods. This is truly a unique opportunity to author a strategy for reimagining these downtowns for a brighter reality!  

“One of the goals of the Great Streets Initiative is to look at ways to support the long-enduring, positive relationship between Crystal City and Festus,” stated Paul Hubbman, Senior Manager of Corridor & Long-range Planning for East -West Gateway.  “The process will incorporate past comprehensive plans, focus on enhancing the quality of both downtown districts, develop branding that reinforces the identities of both cities, analyze the economic factors and market realities at play, improve mobility, better connect both downtowns to each other, assess parking, explore underused areas for development opportunities, and reconsider environmental strategies such as stormwater and planted areas.”

 Public input events will be held the weeks of February 1 and February 15 consisting of Design Studios that focus on sections of the study area from Main Street in Festus to Mississippi Avenue in Crystal City. See attached map.   These interactive design studios will be held at the First Baptist Church, 107 N. Truman Boulevard, where participants can learn about the process, share ideas and concerns, and offer feedback on emerging concepts. Participants can attend for 15 minutes, an entire session, or all sessions.  The goal of these workshops is to imagine the area’s future and steps to realizing its full potential.

The final plan will be completed by June 30, 2022.

The Great Streets Initiative challenges communities to envision streets as more than spaces for automotive travel, but as integrated conduits for moving people, improving connectivity, enhancing local economies, improving ecology, and creating attractive, interesting places – in brief, building stronger communities and rethinking the relationships between streets and their social and economic objectives.  The final Great Streets Initiative will be completed by June 30, 2022.

East-West Gateway Council of Governments fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities.  For more information, or to obtain a Title VI Nondiscrimination Complaint Form, see www.ewgateway.org/titlevi or call (314) 421-4220 or (618) 274-2750.  EWG is committed to ensuring that all meetings are both ADA and LEP accessible.  To request a reasonable accommodation for a meeting please contact EWG’s Title VI Coordinator at least 48 business hours prior to the meeting at (314) 421-4220 or titlevi@ewgateway.org.