City officials said designers will work for a flexible design that emphasizes high foot traffic in plans for the future of Library Mall in a public forum hosted Wednesday.

Gary Brown, director of campus planning and landscape architecture, and Jason DiPiazza, project engineer for MSA Professional Services, detailed plans for the future construction of the area and asked for public input and questions about the plans.

DiPiazza outlined the improvements in design themes the city and university would like to focus on, including improved lighting, enhanced areas for street food vendors and additional seating throughout the area.

“The city really wanted to see a design on State Street through this portion that is timeless, flexible, durable and easy to maintain,” DiPiazza said.

Community members voiced concerns regarding what will happen with contractors who are currently in Library Mall due to Memorial Union construction.

Many community members highlighted the importance of foot traffic in the area, suggesting that the sidewalks should be widened once Library Mall is opened, Brown said.

Ken Saiki, the landscape architect for the project, who presented the concept options for Library Mall and the 700 to 800 block of State Street, said each plan contains ways to maximize the available space for pedestrians to enjoy the scenery and historical area surrounding Library Mall.

The options include a great lawn option, oval option and a historic restoration of the area, Saiki said.

Saiki added a big improvement in the future plans would be to be provide more seating throughout the 700 and 800 block areas, in the form of movable, fixed and semi-fixed seating. The idea was applauded by many of the participants in the meeting who said the lack of seating has been an issue for quite some time.

“There will be all sorts of seating for people, and it will be important to accommodate the concerns that we have heard from the public,” Brown said.

To address the lighting concerns, there will be more lights placed throughout the area to help improve the safety, security, and aesthetics of the area, Saiki said.

A citizen also raised a question about the street vendors in the area, expressing concern about their electricity sources for the future as many of them use their own generators. Brown said the increased number of light poles will allow the food carts to plug their power sources into the poles, eliminating the need for generators to run the food carts, Brown said.

The plans also include a 12-foot zone for vendors to place their food carts throughout the area, while still maintaining a 26-foot zone for pedestrians, Saiki said.

Plans for the first part of construction to the State Street corridor area will begin next spring, Brown said.