Project Name: 3D Downtown Location: Downtown McMinnville, TN Project Dates: November 2, 2007

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1 Project Name: 3D Downtown Location: Downtown McMinnville, TN Project Dates: November 2, 2007 Project Description: Downtown McMinnville is becoming a thriving city center with its new streets and sidewalks, new businesses popping up to compliment the existing mix and new events to entertain the masses. To effectively plan for future development, Main Street McMinnville is in the midst of a comprehensive market analysis that is expected to yield information about downtown s business mix, customers, business and residential opportunities and marketing downtown as a destination. As a part of the market analysis, mapping the downtown is an important tool that can tell much about current business uses and how customers use the downtown. Good design is also of utmost importance to the further development of Downtown McMinnville. Without good design combined with historic preservation, downtown cannot be a unique destination. 3D Downtown is a partnership that includes Main Street McMinnville, City of McMinnville, Warren County, Google, Inc., Warren County 911, and McMinnville- Warren County Chamber of Commerce, to create a 3D model of downtown McMinnville. It will be the first of its kind in the State of Tennessee and when successfully completed, the only full downtown in the country. The 3D model, created with the use of software Google SketchUp and Google Earth, will be a PILOT project for downtown and urban development in the state of Tennessee. It will also be the first project in the National Main Street Network to totally create a 3D Downtown. What is a 3D model and how will it be implemented? Similar to the early hard models created for conceptual and finished projects by architects and engineers using cardboard that could be viewed at all angles, new 3D Models are created with the use of computer graphics. What once was a practice used exclusively by large architectural firms who could afford the high price of the software and hardware, 3D modeling is now affordable to the masses because of faster computer technology and refined software. 3D Downtown uses two software programs for its initial development for the conceptual stages of design, Google SketchUp is a powerful yet easy-to-learn 3D software tool that combines a simple, yet robust tool-set with an intelligent drawing system that streamlines and simplifies 3D design. From simple to complex, conceptual to realistic, Google SketchUp enables you to build and modify 3D models quickly and easily. Google Earth, allows you to place your models using real-world coordinates and share them with the world free. For presentation purposes associated with the project 3D Downtown will also utilize Adobe Creative Suite 2.3 Web Bundle, Microsoft Office 2004 or 2007 and hardware such as a laptop computer, color laser printer/scanner and a digital 1

2 LCD projector. Each will be needed to present this project to a wide audience who can effectively use 3D Downtown in their own programs. Only the free software that is needed to model. The 3D Downtown project has already identified a source for high-resolution aerial imagery that will be donated for the base maps and uploaded free of charge to Google Earth. This will afford greater development opportunities for all of McMinnville and Warren County. What can the 3D Downtown be used for? Once the 3D Downtown is in place, the model can be viewed from every conceivable angle, whether it be from the street level, looking out an upper-story window across the street, or a view from the building looking outside. Design changes can therefore be well planned to increase it function and relationship to the environment around it. Unlike aerial maps and satellite imagery that provides a view straight down, the 3D Downtown can be viewed from all angles including a fly over or at ground level. The model can be turned in all directions and seen from all sides. In general, a 3D Downtown can be most useful to Main Street Programs and their potential investors, developers, preservationist, property owners, businesses, and public officials because it offers a unique real-world view of the property. Below are more specific uses for 3D Downtown: Design Uses: o Building Renovation Design o New Construction Design and Planning o Urban Planning o Public Improvement Planning o Placement of Signs and Awnings o Placement of Banners on Light Poles o Historic Preservation Planning o Traffic Design o Parking Layouts Economic Development Uses: o Business Recruitment o Business Site Location Planning o Business Clustering o Commercial Real Estate Development Projects Promotional Uses: o Event Planning o Festival Planning o Activity Location Planning o Downtown Business Directory 3D Downtown gives a revitalization program new opportunities never afforded because of budget and technology restraints. 2

3 What other projects can use 3D Models? McMinnville Downtown Revenue Finance Corporation - to manage new opportunities created by a real estate tax freeze. Historic Zoning Commission - to see building renovations and new construction projects in from all angles in meetings, not just a paper photograph or a one dimensional drawing. Industrial development and real estate development - Imagine being able to sell a project based on a proposed model of an industrial building or a real estate development on a vacant site. How will 3D Downtown Be Achieved? The use of new technology allows the inexpensive 3D Modeling to take place. Using the design tool Google SketchUp and the satellite image mapping tool Google Earth, students and professionals will combine talents to create the model. Extensive training modules are available from Google to teach the novice how to accomplish a 3D world. What is more, both Google products are free to use by the general public for both a Mac and PC. McMinnville s downtown is about 15 square blocks. The process begins by obtaining a color or black and white aerial photograph of downtown through a free source such as Google Earth or a public source. Next, with the use of a free software called Google SketchUp, an outline of each building is produced from the rooftops, then extruded out of the aerial view using Google SketchUp s unique 3D tools. A photograph of the faces of each building is taken and placed on each face of the building as a texture. The individual buildings are connected in each block and finally as the full downtown. Each individual building can also include awnings, signage and landscaping, if desired. The 3D Downtown is uploaded to Google s 3D Warehouse and Google Earth which can be viewed free in the public domain by anyone anywhere. For those who would like to do more extensive mapping and planning, 3D Downtown can be imported into traditional architectural and planning software programs such as CAD, ArcSoft and many other programs. Once the model is complete, a person can navigate through the model at any angle. One can walk down the street, fly through or drive down the street and look at the downtown. One can only imagine the uses. 3

4 What will be Needed to Effectively Present 3D Downtown to the General Public and as a part of this Demonstration Project? The use of 3D Downtown is most effective with presentation tools such as a color printer, a LCD projector, and software for manipulation such as Adobe CS 2.3 Web Bundle to publish it on a website and create professional presentations. A laptop computer also allows the Main Street program to take 3D Downtown anywhere to use on site with a property owner, business owner, developer, or public official. To further its use, a demonstration of the design potential is included in the grant. Frazier Associates of Staunton, VA will use 3D Downtown to produce building renovation designs using 3D Downtown as the base. The demonstration will focus on achieving good design using professional architects without the cost of on-site visits. All costs are noted in the budget. How will 3D Downtown be used immediately? 3D Downtown will be shown in many ways: 1) Published on the Main Street McMinnville web site with various functions: a) a link to a Google Earth so it can be manipulated free of charge. b) as a business directory that can be viewed 2) Published on Google 3D Warehouse and Google Earth as a 3D Downtown with additional information about downtown McMinnville and the businesses in McMinnville. 3) Presented to the City and County for use by the Planning and Public Works Departments. 4) Presented to Warren County 911 and City of McMinnville Fire and Rescue for their use to save lives. 5) Used by Architecture / Design professionals to help McMinnville with Building Renovation Projects. 6) 2008 Presentation to Tennessee Main Street Programs and if possible, the 2009 National Main Street Conference. How quickly will Tennessee Main Street Programs be able to take advantage of this project once complete? One of the most important pieces of this project is to document how the project proceeds and the outcomes. In this manner, the project will be evaluated as to the simplicity of the process and use of the final product in programs with minimal access to technology. The goal is to create a 3D Downtown that is easy to create and easy to use; one that can involve any volunteer with minimal computer skills. 4

5 How long will it take to complete 3D Downtown? The project is expected to start in July 2007 and end by December The actual modeling project will take approximately 3 months mostly taking photos and optimizing them for modeling. Modeling itself could take a day if there are enough volunteers involved. Downtown McMinnville is approximately 15 square blocks. Each block will be modeled separately. The more volunteer modelers, the fewer hours and days it takes. The final published product with the evaluation will take the additional 3 months. Who will be the key people involved: Chris Wilson - Project Manager and Modeler Main Street McMinnville Mark Gribble Photographer - Volunteer James McBride Chief Modeler - Tennessee Technology Center Mason Thrall Technical Assistance - Google, Inc. Bruce Polderman Technical Assistance - Google, Inc. John Nyberg Architect / Designer Nashville, TN Neal Cox McMinnville Electric System Huel Martin McMinnville Electric System Who are the key partners in 3D Downtown? Warren County 911 Donating up-to-date (3/2006) Aerial Mosaics of Downtown McMinnville and Warren County. Also providing one volunteer modeler. Google, Inc. Donating SketchUp Pro software and Google Earth pro software for the project: $ retail value. Google will upload the aerial imagery to Google Earth and SketchUp 3D Warehouse. Google will supply on-site trainers, technical assistance and support. Tennessee Technology Center providing three students to model the downtown. Motlow Community College providing three students to model downtown. Tennessee Tech University providing two students to model downtown. McMinnville - Warren County Chamber of Commerce Providing support for the project. Main Street McMinnville Providing coordination of volunteers to model the downtown. Greg Rains Photography and Video Production Donating the time to firm the process and produce the 3D Downtown on a demonstration video that can be shown for presentations. McMinnville Electric System Providing the training site, lunch, and five modeling volunteers. 5

6 Ben Lomand Communications Providing Broadband Wireless Internet to the training site and four modeling volunteers. Caney Fork Electric Cooperative Providing 2 modeling volunteers. Charter Communications providing three volunteer modelers. City of McMinnville providing their city planner for modeling. Warren County providing additional support and volunteers. State of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development providing two volunteer modelers and oversight. Tennessee Main Street Program Granting Agency for the Innovation Grant and providing one volunteer modeler. Magness Community Library providing overflow capacity for modelers through the use of the public computers. Community Volunteers - Five individual volunteer modelers from the McMinnville-Warren County community. 6

7 What costs are involved in creating and presenting 3D Downtown? Volunteer Modelers: 10 or more Volunteer time Equipment: 10 or more PC or Mac Laptops with good graphics and video cards, RAM and processors. Professional Design Assistance: 1 architect/designer producing 2 design assistance projects = $2,500 1 PC Laptop or MacBook Pro Laptop $2,600 Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.33 ghz or better 15 Screen or better 2 GB 667 DDR2 SDRM or more 160 GB Serial ATA 5400 rpm or more 256 MB 8400 G-Force Graphics or better 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW ) or better 1 Color Laser Printer $1,000 1 Digital LCD Projector $1,600 Software: Adobe Design Create Suite 3.0 $1,800 Abobe PhotoShop Adobe Acrobat Adobe Illustrator Adobe In-Design Adobe Dreamweaver Microsoft Office 2004 or 2007 $ 500 Word Excel PowerPoint Outlook/Entorage Access TOTAL: $10,000 Software: Google SketchUp Pro (Donated by Google)* $ 495 Google Earth Pro (Donated by Google)** $ 495 Innovation Grant: $10,000 Cash Google, Inc. Grants $ 990 Donated Software Google Training $ 2,000 Donated time/travel Warren County 911 $ 1,000 Donated Imagery Main Street McMinnville Training: $ 1,000 In-Kind Training Costs * Google SketchUp Pro will be made available for one year through a Google Outreach Grant for the production of this project. ** Google Earth Pro will be made available for one year through a Google Outreach Grant for the production of this project. 7

8 Needed Information to submit the Grant: A Letter of Intent submitted by March 1 a brief description of the project. Grant Application Due March 15 include the following: o One page description o Outline of project budget o Cover letter with signature of the Board Chairman o Letters of Support 3 Maximum o W-9 o ACH Form o Our organization must be listed on the Tennessee Service Provider Registry. Unofficial Grant Announcement: March 29, 2007 Official Grant Announcement: April 15, 2007 Grant Contract Packets Due May 1, 2007 o Signed Contract o W-9 o ACH Form o Proof of listing on Tennessee Service Provider Registry Completed Project Report Due December 31, 2007 include the following: o One page recap of the project o Documentation of completed project (attach all appropriate materials) o One copy of the project (reports, plans, presentations, photographs, print materials, newspaper articles, and media) 8