NILES, Ohio (WKBN) – On Monday, the city of Niles got to hear from the community on its comprehensive plan. It will be done in the fall and aims to revitalize the city.

The last time the city of Niles had a comprehensive plan was in 2003. Last year, Mayor Steve Mientkiewcz started the process for a new 10-year comprehensive plan with the goal of attracting new people and businesses to the city and making the existing community want to stay.

“We want to attract people to our downtown areas. We want attractive corridors — state Route 422 near the Eastwood Mall, Robbins Avenue, 46 going through the downtown areas,” Mientkiewcz said.

A big part of the plan includes tearing down buildings, including the old theater on North Main, and creating a space for community events, food trucks and farmers markets.

“Revitalization is a big component in the plan. Talking to a lot of constituents, that is a want and a need for the city of Niles,” Mientkiewcz said.

That’s already paid for through a grant and will start this fall.

More big points include lighting and pedestrian walkway improvements downtown, renovations to Harry Stevens Alley and more space for housing and industry.

“That’s going to mean the backing of private developers and formulating public-private partnerships to allow those developments to come into fruition,” Mientkiewcz said.

After the comprehensive plan is finalized this fall, Mientkiewcz plans on starting to find grants and other funding sources to make this plan possible.

“What we have is a solid foundation of what we want to be and where we want to go in the future. A lot of it takes money and having the necessary funds or grant funding in place to pursue some of these projects,” he said.