The Des Moines "Storefront Studio" Project, which is producing a series of "picture postcards" that depict a revitalized downtown and waterfront, concludes with a free open house on Friday, June 6.

These visual concepts will be on display at the public event from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Storefront Studio in Des Moines Square, 22007 Marine View Drive, Suite 202.

A group of 11 University of Washington senior architectural students, working under the direction of Professor James Nicholls has spent spring quarter creating the series of before-and-after views of what the "Waterland community" might look like in the future.

Nicholls compares his students' work through the project to a series of "picture postcards" that present a unique look at downtown Des Moines and the Puget Sound shoreline.

"The cards begin with a photograph of something that exists now, and then a Photoshop-enhanced view of the same location," he said. "It's almost like before-and after-pictures. These were not created out of thin air.

"After" views depict "a livable, walkable downtown community that opens up the waterfront, which is somewhat disconnected from downtown now.

"If a picture is worth a thousand words, it is easy to convey ideas through these 'picture postcards' of something community residents know and understand."

Des Moines recreation director Patrice Thorell, who has been coordinating the project for the city, says the open house presentation will be "more visual than descriptive. People need to come and see for themselves what these students are recommending."

The project encompasses what is called the Marina District, which extends west from Marine View Drive South to the marina, between South 216th Street and South 227th Street.

Local business owners and residents long have recognized the need for a better connection between downtown Des Moines and the city's waterfront, according to Thorell.

"The marina is just two blocks from downtown," noted Thorell, who wants to see park-and-walk links between businesses along Marine View Drive and Puget Sound.

"An interesting, walkable downtown that conveys a sense of place, a feeling that 'I've arrived,' needs to be created," Thorell said.

As a first step toward realizing these objectives, she urged city council members last year to invite the UW's Department of Architecture's "Storefront Studio" Project to study the downtown core and recommend improvements.

When the $12,000 project got underway in March, "stakeholders met with the students and their professor and the students listened, then they started work to find creative ways to meet these concerns," Thorell said. "I think they've done just a phenomenal job."

During the past few years, Nicholls has taken groups of students off campus to establish studio space that is open to the public and help smaller main streets and local landlords create new visions of community.

The program, which provided a "catalyst for positive change" in downtown Kent before the Des Moines project, has a "record of success," Nicholls said.

After an initial meeting with city and business leaders and a walking tour of downtown and the waterfront, the students began coming up with a series of goals and strategies for enhancements.

The students currently are building on their preliminary research by developing a variety of recommendations for enhancements, both large- and small-scale.

This is not an exercise in 'our vision' so much as a discovery of the assets of the community in our focus area and ways to enhance them," he noted.

Goals include identifying and developing proposals for enhancements that will improve community identity, the existing natural waterfront and waterfront amenities," Main Street" commercial and retail activities, downtown mixed-use "urban village" developments, and pedestrian-generating amenities.

A broad set of suggestions for a revitalized Marina District, based on these goals and illustrated by the UW students, will be illustrated for the public at the final open house.

"One thing the Storefront Project has always been is a tool for more discussion about what the community wants to look like," Nicholls adds. "These are digital proposals of things that all can be implemented over time."

The "picture postcard" concepts also will be on display Saturday, June 7, during the season-opening Des Moines Farmers Market at the marina from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.