I think it would be great to take a few blocks downtown and turn them into public plazas with sculptures, statues, fountains and green areas for citizens to congregate and really feel that they OWN a part of downtown! :)

Here's a few ideas:

A small plaza with a large statue of Teddy Roosevelt... call it Roughrider Square!
A small plaza with a water feature similar to the digital spitting faces or Buckingham Fountain in Chicago.
A midsize green area with benches and columns.

Yeah, I realize it gets cold here, you can empty the water out before the winter freeze sets in like they do in Chicago...