Watertown, a new Wisconsin Main Street community, is located at a midpoint between Madison and Milwaukee. Downtown Watertown is a diverse and historic central business district comprised of specialty shops, professional services and eating & drinking establishments. 

The Wisconsin Main Street Program, Bureau of Downtown Development, retained the Downtown Professionals Network (DPN) to provide its QuickStart Program as a means of initiating the development of goals and strategic plans that will direct the activities of Watertown’s downtown revitalization program.

Over the course of a one-week period, the DPN team facilitated a series of community forums, conducted stakeholder interviews and focus groups, and performed a conditional assessment of downtown physical conditions. Trade area information was procured and analyzed to identify business development, marketing and image enhancement opportunities. 

The resulting products included: 

• Vision Statement – The Community’s Vision for Downtown Watertown

• Downtown Watertown Vision Design Sketches

• Downtown Watertown Marketing Plan

• Watertown Main Street Program Goals

• Watertown Main Street Program 2001 Action Plan Outline

Marketing and promotion strategies developed emphasized activities to:

• Promote an image of the downtown as a lively place that offers new and changing experiences

• Expand on the downtown’s identity as a stage for community events

• Promote the downtown as an appealing shopping district

• Attract more visitors to the downtown area

Design strategies keyed on the downtown’s most distinguishable assets – the Rock River and the relatively large collection of brick buildings. Emphasis was placed on creating a “River Platz” setting and activity centers that capitalized on the downtown’s river setting.

Economic strategies focused on enhancing and maintaining the downtown district as a mixed-use center for retail, office, residential, government and dining functions.

Just off Main Street and along the Rock River, a restaurant would be created on the lowest level of a downtown department store, bringing new life to this part of the river and offering a re-use opportunity for a vacant space in a prominent downtown building.

A new City Hall would anchor the north end of the riverfront, with a parking area that could host weekly events like the Farmers Market or provide a large event space for downtown festivals.

The site of a bottling plant would be redeveloped with a History and Arts Center, overlooking the Rock River and housed in buildings that reflect historic riverfront structures.

Pedestrian ways and plaza spaces would intertwine, and buildings and the Rock River would be woven into a continuous space