BANGOR – In addition to their traditional checklist, city councilors meeting Monday night as the Strategic Issues Committee looked at the future in terms of making Bangor the destination of choice in five key areas.

Councilor Michael Crowley introduced the concept during the annual review of council priorities during a more than three-hour goal-setting meeting.

If the city wants to create new investment and job opportunities, he said, “It has to go beyond lip service and nicely framed works on the wall,” he said.

“It has to begin with the belief that we are the center in Maine for transportation, higher education, health care, retail, wholesale and professional services, and culture and the arts,” he said.

To that end, the council looked at what the city can do to improve its performance in each of those five areas.

Discussion ranged from relatively small initiatives, such as improved signage in the city’s neighborhoods, parks and historic districts, to larger issues, such as how the city might thrive in the “new economy.”

Councilor John Rohman, observed that the Internet and other new technology have made it possible for small businesses – an economic sector that has been growing – to conduct business from virtually anywhere in the country.

Consequently, he said, professionals now are putting a greater emphasis on quality-of-life matters, such as good schools, arts and cultural venues, and recreational opportunities.

Though opportunities might be difficult to identify and success hard to track, Rohman said the city could benefit if it could find ways to tap into the trend.

Councilor Gerry Palmer agreed, but he noted the city at the same time needed to make sure it addressed the needs of existing businesses.

Councilors also discussed but took no action on two matters expected to dominate the community in the year ahead.

One is the ongoing effort to replace the aging Bangor Auditorium and Civic Center at Bass Park.

The other, which could have a bearing on the first, is a proposal from a developer looking to turn the city’s historic harness racing track at Bass Park into a year-round entertainment complex. Last month, representatives of Capital Seven LLC, a Las Vegas real estate development company, asked the city for tentative developer status.

The company’s proposal for Bass Park includes a rebuilt track, a new grandstand, clubhouse and stables and possibly a hotel-conference center, restaurant and associated parking.

The complex, which would be known as a “racino,” would combine the existing racetrack with gambling. The idea is to bolster the sport of harness racing, which has been in decline, by combining it with gambling and year-round entertainment, such as concerts and other types of racing.

The company is lobbying for a state referendum to introduce video lottery terminals, or slot machines, into the state at Bangor and Scarborough. The machines, however, could not be installed until also approved by a local referendum.

The council’s business and economic development committee is slated to discuss tentative developer status for Capital Seven during a meeting tonight at 5 at City Hall.