The proposal was described in lectures and a slide show presented to about 70 people in an hour-long open house held in the McMaster Center at the Main Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.

The master plan would make the downtown “a place people want to work in, live in, and play in,” said Mike Higbee, president of Development Concepts, Inc.

DCI, an Indianapolis-based consulting firm, has been working on the downtown proposal with Downtown Toledo, Inc., and the Columbia, Md.-based LDR International.

For now, the downtown is mostly “dormant,” Mr. Higbee said, but the potential for revitalization is great. There are numerous historic buildings and an architectural richness that cannot be duplicated elsewhere and which other cities “would die for,” he said.

“You can't overestimate or overstate the importance of the historic fabric of the downtown” in promoting development, Mr. Higbee said.

The master plan focuses on the downtown area west of the Maumee River, bordered roughly by Cherry, Summit, Lafayette, and Michigan streets. It divides the downtown area into “sub-districts” that include Uptown, the riverfront, the central business district, the Warehouse District, and a government district.

The riverfront would include a redesigned Promenade Park that would offer an open view of the river from Summit Street to the water, perhaps with a permanently moored sailing ship that would be a tourist attraction. It includes a large fountain and an area that could be turned into an ice-skating rink in the winter.

On the south edge of the park would be new construction, with retail shops on the ground level, residences on the second and third level, and some parking spots that are out of view.

The master plan designates Huron Street as a “pedestrian spine” linking the Warehouse District on the south end of the city to the residential area north of Cherry Street. Madison Avenue would be the city's east-west spine.

Cy Paumier, an urban designer with LDR International, said that “Madison could become one of the great streets of the world” once it has the right “amenities.” He showed a slide of a “prototypical” urban street teeming with strollers, shoppers, and diners.

Current downtown projects such as the Marina District on the east side of the Maumee and the new ballpark for the Toledo Mud Hens are all important contributions, said Peter Gozza, president and chief executive officer of Downtown Toledo, Inc.

But individual projects need to be linked together in a comprehensive plan to fulfill the city's potential, he said.

The Paramount Block is a huge and unspecified concept for a multiuse building that would span the entire city block bounded by Superior, Jackson, Adams, and Huron streets, now mostly a parking lot, with a main entrance facing the Valentine Theatre.

The plan calls for the building to house a museum of some sort and a related educational facility.

For example, Mr. Gozza said, there could be a museum dedicated to Toledo and the Jeep, and a research facility that studies compounds used by the auto industry.

Last night's open house was the last of three. The final draft of the master plan is expected to be ready by Nov. 14, said Mr. Gozza, who has been working on the project for a year.

He said he hopes to have the master plan approved by city council by the end of the year.

Once the plan is in place, city officials will be better equipped to apply for state and federal funds for some of the projects, according to Mr. Gozza, and private investors will benefit by having the primary business opportunities mapped out for them.

“One of the things that has been frustrating to me was that Toledoans never seemed to believe that it could actually be done,” Mr. Gozza said.

“They've see it happen elsewhere, in Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland, even Chattanooga, Tenn.,” Mr. Gozza said.

“There's plenty of opportunity here - there's incredible opportunity. I think people are excited now. All this is real. I believe it's going to happen.”