Stage One highlights
"Scrub Rotorua Day" on November 23.
Retailers and landlords in the inner city were encouraged to walk across the road and look back at their shops with fresh eyes. November 23 has been put aside for each to clean, paint, spruce and make their businesses "sparkle".
Mr Steiner asked for a show of hands as to who would join in. Almost all raised their hands.
Lighting up the city.
Mr Steiner said there had been a huge investment about five years ago to install under veranda lighting throughout the CBD. Yet a month ago about half the lights were not working and the city was dark and dismal at night, he said.
However most lights had now been fixed and the city was already looking much brighter.
Gardens and Christmas tree.
Rotorua District Council has committed to replanting gardens in the CBD and new flower boxes have already been installed.
This year's Christmas tree in the City Focus will be 2m higher than last year, with Mr Steiner suggesting public donations to light it up. Christmas decorations will go up after Scrub Rotorua Day.
Safety and security.
Brett Wilson, managing director of Rotorua's Watchdog Security Group, has been tasked with improving safety in the inner city.
"The idle, intimidating, embarrassing behaviour of those that gather and loiter in the streets is being addressed," he told Thursday's meeting.
He said Rotorua police were about to appoint a new CBD-based community constable.
Security cameras around the city were currently underutilised and it was hoped there would soon be a City Guardian manning the cameras during the day - currently they are unmanned, he said.
He said the role of the City Guardians would be redefined, that may include changing their hours of operation.
Mr Wilson said retailers all needed to be more "situationally aware", observe what was happening on the streets and not turn a blind eye or be intimidated by youths. He reminded them of the Guardian's hotline to report non-criminal undesirable behaviour.
Mr Wilson accepted these actions may simply move the problem elsewhere and he stressed the wider social issues needed to be addressed.
"But we have to draw a line in the sand."
Next steps
On Tuesday, Beca will present to the group and council its vision for the inner city over the next six to 18 months.
When ready, that will be taken to the public for feedback. Mr Steiner said the intention was to set up in one of the CBD's empty shops, displaying photos and options of what the city could look like. He said a scale model of the CBD was being prepared, complete with moveable parts.
Mr Steiner, who started the Inner City Focus Group about six months ago, is confident changes will happen.
"There's been a talk-fest for the last 10 years. It [CBD revitalisation] just gets talked about. Enough's enough," he said. "It's going to happen."
He said new council chief executive Geoff Williams and mayor Steve Chadwick shared his passion and had made the plight of the inner city their first order of business.
What might the inner city look like?
Retailer and Inner City Focus Group member Ron Finn said in 10 years the Rotorua inner city would be a different place.
Mr Finn and Mr Steiner agreed the 98 empty shops would never be filled so it was about creating vibrancy to attract people into the area.
They talked about adding cycleways, inner-city residential zones, more green spaces and redesigning the City Focus to get traffic flowing again.
Mr Steiner said the love story of Hinemoa and Tutanekai could even be celebrated with a "30ft high statue" of the pair where their streets meet.
Other possibilities included an art trail, while Mr Steiner said he would love to see the old Westpac building become an art gallery.
"There's all sorts of things we would like to do."
Mr Steiner said the revitalisation project needed all of Rotorua to do their bit.
"Don't ask what your council can do, ask what you can do for your city," he said, with a nod to the famous John F. Kennedy quote.
