Children play there sometimes. Occasionally there are empty beer bottles and other trash lying around. Other than that, the Uptown redevelopment project is just an expanse of empty field where a hospital used to be and a plan has yet to unfold.

"I don't think it's dead," said Becky Boerkircher, executive director of the St. Joseph Downtown Partnership. "I think a lot of people in the community think it is, but that board is committed to fulfilling what they promised they would do. It's just been a timing aspect."

In 2005, Heartland Health tore down its 10.4-acre Downtown hospital campus, and a group called the Uptown St. Joseph Redevelopment Corp. proceeded to look for someone to develop the land and help revitalize the surrounding neighborhood.

The plan was for Heartland to fund the private corporation and use tax abatements to encourage private owners in the area to refurbish their properties. The area is roughly bounded by Powell Street on the north, Frederick Avenue and Jules Street on the south, Fourth Street on the west and 13th Street on the east.

Ochsner Hare & Hare, a Kansas City planning consultant and architectural firm, was called upon to lead the redevelopment efforts. The firm had a similar development project on its resume, as it had restored a historic neighborhood in Independence, Mo.

In a News-Press article, Jay Leipzig, housing services administrator for Uptown, said he believed the same success would be achieved here.

"I think people will be pleasantly surprised with the area in the next couple of years," Mr. Leipzig said.

But it wasn't long afterward that the economy took a turn for the worse. As a result, the housing market started to drop.

Ochsner Hare & Hare also had begun work on a major development in Florida that turned out to be less than successful as a result of the economy. From there, the Uptown project was put on hold, said John Wilson, Heartland's chief financial officer.

But over the past four years, it's been only the development on the former campus area that's been on hold, Mr. Wilson added. The mission to develop the surrounding neighborhood is working according to plan, he said.

"The original concept was that if we could help the neighborhood out and help the neighborhood look better, people would also want to locate in the area, the old Downtown campus," Mr. Wilson said. "That plan is still alive, and that board is still alive, and what has gone on in the neighborhood has been pretty phenomenal."

Mr. Wilson said as the economy improves, the group is looking for a co-developer or another developer to complete the project. Hopefully, development on the campus will begin in a few months, he said.

"I hope in the spring we really start to see something shake up there," he added.

Currently, the Children First school uses the empty campus lot for its students' play and physical education activities.

"It's bigger than our courtyard. Otherwise, they would be stuck on our courtyard," said Lisa Olson, Children First director and teacher.

Mrs. Olson said she doesn't know if any other group uses the field. But sometimes she finds empty beer bottles and trash on the lot.

"We see the beer bottles, but we don't see the people themselves," she said.

Alonzo Weston can be reached

at alonzow@npgco.com.