BANGOR – West Market Square, that little triangular plot some consider the heart of downtown, is slated for a long overdue makeover.

The square, bordered by Main and Broad streets and a row of historic commercial buildings, last was overhauled in the early 1970s, according to Sally Bates, a city development officer and liaison to Downtown Development Corp.

“West Market Square is very tired-looking. It’s the heart of the heart of the city, and it deserves an update and [residents] deserve for it to be updated,” Bates said in a recent interview.

To that end, the city tapped Steve Ribble, a landscape architect with AMES A/E, to develop a conceptual plan for the square and nearby streetscape.

That plan will be unveiled during four public meetings, the first two of which are set for 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. today at City Hall.

Two additional meetings are set for Aug. 3 at the same times and place.

The point of the sessions is to allow the public to learn more about the plan and offer comments, reactions and suggestions. Easels will be set up on the third floor so people can look at the visual aids before the meetings start.

“We want to engage people and we want people to see this as an active living space,” Ribble said Tuesday.

Ribble, whose Main Street workplace is a short walk from West Market Square, has visited the square often as part of this research.

“We’ve seen it through the seasons,” he said. “We looked at it as the core of the community.

“We want this to be our best foot forward.”

“Our charge when we looked at this was not to be extravagant, to be aware of the cost situation, but not to be a slave to it,” Ribble said, adding that the plan could be carried out in phases or scaled back.

Bates said the city is aiming for an atmosphere that is more “of this place and a plan that could be executed by our own Public Works department.”

The plan is in the early stages and has yet to be funded. Bates said that no changes are planned for this construction season.

The overhaul will involve preserving some existing elements, such as the mature trees there and nearby parking.

It will involve removing others, such as the “Continuity of Community” sculpture, which will be relocated to another prominent spot in the city yet to be determined.

Bates said she had an opportunity to discuss moving the sculpture before its maker, renowned artist Clark Fitz-Gerald, died last October, and that Fitz-Gerald had no problem with that.

The idea is that the piece would be better displayed where it won’t look as incongruous as it now does among downtown’s tall, stately brick buildings.

Finally, the plan will involve new touches, including native Maine granite from Mosquito Mountain in Frankfort and four water features – “The Source,” a cascading fountain which flows into the “Upper Stream,” a turbulent flow pool, and the “Lower Stream,” a reflecting pool connected to “The Sea,” an at-grade fountain and granite cobble splash area.

“This acts as Bangor,” Ribble said of the water elements. The source and upper stream represent how the Kenduskeag Stream comes though Bangor. The lower stream and sea symbolize the power of the Penobscot River, and the calm lower stream is meant to evoke the civilization of Bangor.

A slight elevation in the pavement between the source and the sea represents the Maine Highlands, this region, he said.

Also proposed are vegetative borders and seating between the square and the streets, and granite pavers, curbing and seat walls.

To visually tie the square into the waterfront, Ribble has proposed similar black iron amenities, such as street lamps, benches, trash cans and tree grates.

“It gives the community a very finished look,” Ribble said, adding that the iron elements easily could be incorporated elsewhere in the city, helping Bangor create “the bigger picture, so that you would know you’re in Bangor even if you’re not downtown.”