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GREENSBORO - A consultant's report recommends that the city spend $14 million during the next decade to create an expanded cultural district downtown.

The report, which will be unveiled at a City Council briefing today, calls the area east of Elm Street "the logical next area of focus" for center city investment.

The recommendations focus on an area along and near Church Street , which passes some of downtown's key development sites, including the Weaver Foundation property at Church Street and Friendly Avenue and the News & Record parking lot at Church and Washington streets .

The report says the city's investment would spur private development throughout the cultural district, although it did not estimate what that total might be.

"The bottom line is the opportunity to increase the tax base and expand the footprint of downtown," said April Harris , executive director of Action Greensboro , a community development organization. "Those are the two key points."

Added City Manager Mitchell Johnson , "We need downtown to be more than Elm Street. That was the goal."

Though the report does not call for specific attractions at any particular site, it mentions an IMAX theater, a science/technology museum and a performing arts space as possibilities.

It also called for increased residential and commercial development in the area.

"We propose an investment strategy that does for Church Street what has been done so successfully for Elm," says the report, written by HR&A Advisors of New York . "The aim should be that in five to 10 years, the name Church Street should be synonymous with 'arts, culture and entertainment.'"

The report added, "Assuming Church Street could achieve the status of Elm, there is opportunity for ... $10-13 million in additional property taxes along Church Street over the next 30 years ."

The report, prepared at the request of the city, Action Greensboro and Downtown Greensboro Inc. , called the center city's current cultural assets "real, but disconnected, with no critical mass in any one location."

The consultants call for a three-step approach to tying the district together:

• Finishing what the report calls major investments on South Elm, including the International Civil Rights Center and Museum .

"It is critical that the civil rights museum, downtown's most important new cultural asset, be completed," the report says. "Making public funds available to accomplish this merits very serious consideration."

The report also says sidewalk, intersection and streetlight improvements to East Lewis Street , which should be complete this fall, will connect the Southside neighborhood to South Elm.

• Investing in Church Street through streetscape improvements, including wide sidewalks, trees and street furniture; updated zoning; a marketing program; and private development.

The report also calls for "a cultural anchor" at the News & Record parking lot, a 3.6-acre site that is on the market for $5.8 million . It recommends that the city do a study to identify private sector interest in "a cultural amenity" on the site.

The report says the Greensboro Transit Authority property bordered by Friendly Avenue to the north, Market Street to the south and the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks to the east should be prepared for a development that includes a mix of residential and commercial uses.

The city recently purchased a new site to relocate the maintenance facility, which will open the 1.8-acre downtown property for future development.

• Connecting Church Street to South Elm by improving the streetscape on East Washington Street .

The report calls for the creation of a Church Street Investment Council made up of representatives from area cultural institutions, the city, local foundations and community organizations to act as a board to direct implementation of the plan.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don. patterson@news-record.com