This is a more expanded description of the information on the town web site.

The Event: Sept. 30th and Oct 1st

The Town of Allenstown in cooperation with Plan NH will be conducting a "Downtown Planning Charette." This event will aid the Town in planning for the future of the downtown area. Plan NH will facilitate the event on Friday, September 30th, 2016 and Saturday, October 1st, 2016. There will be two listening sessions on Sept. 30th, the first from 3:30-5 p.m. and the second from 6:30-8 p.m. A dinner will be served from 5:15-6:15 p.m.

On Oct. 1st from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Plan NH team will meet with several groups of volunteer residents and business owners in work sessions that will develop details about the future of the downtown area and what its future should look like.

Where is the downtown area?

When this question came up at a recent budget committee meeting, the answer was as follows. Downtown is the area bounded by Hooksett on the south, Route 3 on the east, the Suncook River on the north, and the Merrimack River on the west.

The charette will not deal with existing vacant properties such as Big Jim's store, the warehouses at the corner of Route 28 and Chester Turnpike, and Allenstown Aggregate on Granite St. These properties are an unfortunate reminder that the town government still needs to bring in new businesses that will generate new jobs and local sales, and help reduce the burdensome property taxes.

Who can participate?

Volunteer residents and business owners are needed to participate in the process of developing the vision and plan for the future of the downtown area. This is your opportunity to offer your ideas about the future of this town. If you are interested in participating, please contact Town Administrator, Shaun Mulholland at 603-485-4276 x112 or by e-mail, smulholland@allenstownnh.gov."

Where will it be held?

At the new Community Center at 8 Whitten St. Sessions will be held in the cafeteria.

What is Plan NH?

Plan NH is a non-profit organization whose mission statement is "to foster excellence in planning and design and development of New Hampshire's built environment to support a vision of healthy and vibrant communities in the Granite State." To carry out this mission, Plan NH holds Community Planning and Design Charrettes that span two days.

What is a charette?

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a charette as "the intense final effort made by architectural students to complete their solutions to a given architectural problem in an allotted time or the period in which such an effort is made." For Allenstown, the residents are the students, the solution is a design for the future downtown area, and the duration is just two days.