URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — University of Illinois students have been working on a plan to transform a space over at Rose Bowl Tavern in Urbana. Tuesday night, the students will present that plan to the Urbana officials.

“We like to think of ourselves as, like a community space. A town square of sorts,” Rose Bowl Co-owner Charlie Harris said.

Grad students at the U of I agree — and have come up with ideas to make that space even better. The Rose Bowl in Urbana invites live bands and DJs to their temporary stage which sits on a city-owned parking lot. But the students don’t think it should stop there.

After months of work — they want to take this lot and turn it into a permanent plaza for events. They’ve talked to the Rose Bowl, council members, and others to come up with recommendations. Now, they have a chance to show the city council why a plaza would offer more for Urbana.

Professor Joseph Altshuler and 10 students got together in January. He was looking for a way to incorporate real world experience into the class.

“And I was thrilled when I learned that the City of Urbana commissioned a public realm study in 2022-2023,” Altshuler said.

Altshuler said the study focuses on public spaces where people hang out. He said there’s a great example of that in Urbana.

“How much people love gathering at the parking lot, just north of the Rose Bowl Tavern,” Altshuler said.

The bar has been hosting concerts outdoors in half of one of the city’s lots since the pandemic.

“The other half is still for cars. What if we transformed the entire space to be for people? And what would that look like?” Harris asked.

So, they got to work analyzing the city’s study, coming up with their own ideas and bringing them to life.

“If there was a version, of this in the future where it was permanently here, that would be amazing,” Harris said.

Altshuler said this space could also be used for other events besides just the concerts. And the loss of parking spaces shouldn’t cause issues.

“There are about 4,500 parking spots available in downtown Urbana. And according to a 2008 parking study, at least 1,300 of those, are not actively being used,” Altshuler said.

Now, Altshuler and one of his students will get to present their findings at Urbana’s City Council meeting. And even though the project is just in the idea phase — he’s excited for the opportunity.

“It’s supposed to be a really informed conversation starter and a way to, we hope, build excitement in the public imagination to build the political will, to make, I think, a really important and substantial improvement to downtown Urbana as public realm,” Altshuler said.

He said this will be a great opportunity for students to practice communicating their expertise. Altshuler said not everyone has architectural experience — so they’ll have to present these ideas in a way everyone can grasp.

The Urbana Committee of the Whole meets Tuesday night at 7 p.m.