Project leaders met Monday night with members of the community to show them a few plans they have in mind.

Right now, the project is designed in two phases. Phase one is to make improvements along the Chippewa River on River Bank Street from Highway 10 to 3rd Avenue.

Phase two is to expand it by another block to 4th avenue.

But as Mayor Bauer told me, the road to making this design a reality, still has a long way to go.

Community members say the City of Durand doesn't have the same feel it used to have years ago.

"We used to always gather together on a Saturday night. The streets were so full you couldn't hardly walk," says 72-year-old Gerald Weissinger, who has lived in Durand his entire life.

But city leaders are trying to bring more people back by beautifying the waterfront.

"What we're going to do is put in a new street and we're going to build the wall out a little farther," Bauer says.

The Mayor says the city wants to expand River Bank Street by four feet, add a bike trail and rebuild the bank.

But he says there are two concerns, the first is making the road a one way street.

"People have to get used to that," Bauer says.

And he says the flooding is always a concern, though he thinks they have that problem solved.

The Mayor says they want to raise the road about a foot so that it's level with the buildings and hopefully it will keep some of the flood waters at bay.

"That will reduce some of the minor flooding,” Bauer says. “When we get the big ones, there's no stopping that, but we can eliminate some of the small ones with the new wall.”

And a new look, that they say will hopefully bring more tourists and spenders to the area.

"They come from all around. And once they've come here, a lot of them will come back again," Bauer says.

Bauer says the city got a $781,000 grant from the state Department of Transportation to do the project.

So once the city decides on the appropriate design, the plans head to Madison for approval.