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FRENCH LICK - Revitalization planned in downtown French Lick calls for a number of new buildings and reconfigured parking areas on property the town is acquiring north of Main Street.

The plan includes:

• A town hall. David Roth, of the Storrow Kinsella urban design firm, said: "We think this new town hall is really a true civic building in the broadest sense of the word. ... We want it to be part of the life of the community. It's not going to close at 5."

• A coffee shop/deli.

• Center Block (described by developers as a mixed-use facility).

• Fountain Block, with restaurant and retail space. The buildings will be separated from Ind. 56 by a new section of road that will be named Jack Carnes Way, as a tribute to the late Jack Carnes, who fought tirelessly for a casino in the valley. Fountain Block, like Center Block, is described as mixed-use facility.

• A medical clinic.

• A meeting hall. The building is the same as the existing French Lick Community Building.

• Resort parking.

Other features are:

• A fountain. Roth said the fountain calls to mind earlier days, when the community's purported healing waters attracted visitors to French Lick and West Baden Springs.

"In some ways, it (water) is to be celebrated. It is part of the heritage of the valley," Roth said.

• A traffic circle, at the northernmost entry into the downtown from Ind. 56.

• A traffic median to replace the turning lane on Ind. 56 between the French Lick Springs Resort & Casino and the downtown. Planners say a median will serve as a "pedestrian refuge" for those crossing the street.

• A town green. Planners say there are few "public spaces" in the downtown as it is currently configured.

• Towers on the northern ends of the town hall and the Center Block. The upper levels of the towers will be enclosed, likely offering space available to the public. Roth said the vision is for the towers to be "public icons" or "identity elements" for the coffee shop/deli building.

• Three-story heights for most planned buildings. In addition to the fact that the upper stories will provide the desired residential options, Roth said of the decision to design three levels:

"Otherwise it might not be significant enough. It (the area to be developed) is not a large space, and it needs to have some scale that really captures people's attention."