With 2014 officially in the record books, Dowagiac Mayor Don Lyons has one item at the top of his list of priorities heading into the next 12 months: to ensure the city continues to follow the path toward success.

The year 2014 was a year that saw the completion of several key projects across the city, as well as the genesis of several new ones. Bookended with the groundbreaking and opening of the James E. Snow Professional Building, the year saw the continuation of the surge in growth that the community experienced the last several years.

Just like in previous years, the city’s business and recreational growth didn’t occur in a vacuum, but as the result of years of planning and foresight of its top leadership, Lyons said. The city has followed a long-term strategic plan that has helped facilitate the rehabilitation of existing properties and the birth of new ones.

“With the right planning already in place, whenever an opportunity arises, it’s a pretty straightforward process to take advantage of it,” Lyons said.

The Snow Building, located at the intersection of Front and Main streets downtown, is one such example of this. The property has been owned by the city for 20 years, allowing it to be used for development when the local Van Buren/Cass District Health Department’s dentistry office needed additional space.

With the health department moved in upstairs, the city is now focusing its attention on building’s first floor. Though the space current sits vacant, officials are currently meeting with prospective vendors, and hope to have at least two-thirds of the lower portion filled within the next few months, Lyons said.

“I had no doubts in my mind we wouldn’t have trouble finding tenets for the building,” Lyons said.

The mayor said that space was designed to attract professionals such as doctors or lawyers, which in turn would compliment the assortment of retailers and restaurants already in place downtown in drawing additional visitors to the historic district.

“It’s your downtown that that defines the community,” Lyons said. “Everything else evolves around that. Without one, the entire health of the community is in question.”

The Lyons administration continues to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to that philosophy. In September, the city hired Smith Group JJR to consult with the development of planning for the next phase of improvements to downtown. The two will continue to work together over the next several months to hammer out the details of the plan.

As always, though, the backbone of the district will be the entrepreneurs chasing their dreams, taking the risk and opening their own business.

“We do what we can to help them realize that dream,” Lyons said. “We’d rather serve as supportive force than a counterproductive one.”

City hall will continue its investment in the community’s park system as well, on the heels of its purchase of 1.75 acres of property on Cass Avenue. This year, the city will focus on developing plans for the property, which is planned to be used to expand the city’s walk and bike trail systems. In addition, they will work to secure grant funding to pay for this and other recreational projects, Lyons said.

“We average about $1 million a year for these kinds of projects,” he said. “We know the rules of the game and how to play it.”

The leadership of the city will have a some interesting dynamics heading into 2015, as the city council is losing one its members, District 1 representative Randall Gross. With the council’s vote on his replacement right around the corner, Lyons said he is eagerly awaiting the council’s decision and the impact it will have on the governance of the city moving forward.

“I have absolute faith in our council to do the right thing for the people of the community,” Lyons said.