AU G U S T 17 , 2 0 1 7 V O L . 6 1 I S S U E 46
Your Guide to Fall Events
INSIDE
SPECIAL SECTION
FUN FOR FALL
COMMUNITY Maine Township Recovery Connection director honored SEE PAGE 3
SPORTS
First class Swan Lake a great stay and play option SEE PAGE 5
BUSINESS Dave Says Get real job before starting business SEE PAGE 7
VILLAGE NEWS >> NILES BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Board to consider arts, culture master plan Board expected to vote on Master Plan during its Aug. 22 meeting BY IGOR STUDENKOV Bugle Staff @BugleNewspapers nweditor@buglenewspapers.com
The Village of Niles Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the Niles Arts and Culture Master Plan during its Aug. 22 meeting. On Aug. 9, the Niles General Government/IT Committee voted unanimously to send the plan to
the board. Niles Public Arts and Culture Advisory Council reviewed and approved it during its July 10 meeting. It should be noted, however, that the plan the two legislative bodies approved may not be exactly the same as the one that will come before the board. According to Niles Administrative Assistant Cathy Spadoni, who serves as
the staff liaison to the the Arts and Culture Advisory Council, consultant Lakota Group was still making some tweaks to it, but it will be done by Aug. 22. As previously reported by the Bugle, on Sept 12, 2016, the Niles Village Board voted unanimously to contract the Chicago-based Lakota Group to create the village’s first Arts and Culture Master Plan. It was meant to provide a blueprint for what the village can do to support, encourage and develop more cultural amenities and events. Since
then, Lakota Group consulted with stakeholders and held several public outreach events. The preliminary version of the plan provided to the Bugle established five key planning priorities. Those include using arts and culture to enhance the Niles community identity, celebrating Niles’ diversity by leveraging local assets and institutions, creating policies that would encourage more arts and cultural amenities, using “innovative methods” to encourage residents to bring art to residents,
and using public-private partnerships to advance arts-related development. The plan then sets down strategies for achieving each priority. For the first priority, it calls for sprucing up public spaces by adding art by, for example, adding murals and painting crosswalks. It also calls for doing more to promote artistic activities and events, as well as collecting data about how such activities benefit Niles economy. SEE CULTURE PAGE 7