MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake residents will get a chance to discuss their ideas – their affordable and practical ideas – for enhancing Third Avenue and adjoining streets in a pair of community workshops Thursday. Consultants and architects hired by the city will be presenting what they’ve learned so far from 2:30 to 4 p.m. and 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the council chambers at the Moses Lake Civic Center, 401 S. Balsam St. 

The consultants and architects are focusing on Third Avenue from Alder to Beech streets, Sinkuse Square, the block of East Fourth Avenue between Balsam and Alder streets and Civic Center Park. 

Moses Lake City Council members made improving the reputation and image of Moses Lake a priority and allocated about $150,000 to the project for 2026. So far, the consultant and architect team have spent time talking to city officials, council members, business owners and tenants in the target area.  

In a release announcing the workshop, city officials emphasized the project was focusing on changes that can be done economically and in a reasonable time frame. It’s not a master plan for the area or a revisioning project, the announcement said. 

“What incremental, realistic, and affordable enhancements can we make that will help our downtown businesses thrive and make downtown Moses Lake even more of an attractive destination for locals and visitors?” the announcement said. 

It also asked people to think about what could be done in the near term, a year to two years, and the longer term. 

The consultant and architect team asked council members for some of their ideas at a July workshop, and council member Mark Fancher said Moses Lake has had other priorities, but now it’s time to do some additional work along the downtown streets. 

“Unfortunately, the quality of life downtown, those areas probably weren't focused on enough,” he said. “Our core downtown has some nice features, including the way the community is designed with the shape of the lake – there are lots of opportunities. I have raised three daughters here and have five grandkids. I want them to have a desire to make this at home, and so that we’ve got to go to the next step.” 

Both council members David Skaug and Jeremy Davis, Moses Lake natives, said whatever is done would have to take affordability into account. 

“It really boils down to numbers. What kind of volume can I do, what kind of margin, and what can I pay for rent,” Skaug said. “Typically, the rents of downtown Third Avenue might maintain the roof. It's a stretch to get a new HVAC system, and, and if you do all those things, you have to raise the rent.” 

Improvements run the risk of pricing out small businesses, he said. 

Davis added that along with considering affordability for businesses, he would focus on cohesiveness. 

“I would categorize (downtown) as what my wife would call hodgepodge, or very eclectic; nothing really kind of goes together, nothing matches,” he said.