MOORE SQUARE REVAMP: Voice your opinions on the Moore Square redesign project at one of two public hearing sessions scheduled for Sept. 9 at Cobblestone Hall in downtown’s City Market. The first session is 1 to 4 p.m. The second is 7 to 9 p.m. The project, in its planning stages, aims to spruce up the downtown Raleigh square across the street from City Market. The city has awarded a consulting contract to an architect from Charlottesville, Va.

SPOTTED: A slogan on the side of a city recycling truck reads “Message in a bottle: Recycle.” The persuasive ad presumably targets the nonrecycling Nicholas Sparks types.

ART EVERYWHERE: Artspace, a non-profit organization on East Davie Street, has a slew of new exhibits this month, including a youth art exhibit Aug. 17 through 21.

COUNCIL: No meeting scheduled until Sept. 7.

WHERE’S MEEKER: The mayor’s schedule is clear for this week. Next week, he’s scheduled to meet with the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization on Aug. 18 and the City Council’s Budget and Economic Development Committee Aug. 24.

NO MORE LUNCH TAQUITOS: The Dos Taquitos restaurant on Creedmoor Road reportedly stopped serving lunch last week, not long after is started. The New Raleigh website reports the North Raleigh restaurant’s manager says the business isn’t there in the afternoon, and he isn’t interested in the work it would take to keep it open.

GOOD FOR SENIORS: Design is nearing completion for two new senior centers, 401 E. Whitaker Mill Road and 1905 Spring Forest Road, according to the city. Construction is expected to begin this fall and be complete by fall of 2011.

Most years, the Raleigh Downtown Live free-concert series already has a fair chunk of its schedule set by now -- dates, and at least some of the headliners. But there's been no news this year because, for all intents and purposes, there won't be a RDL series in 2010. Call it a victim of progress.

Since 2005, RDL has presented about a half-dozen free day-long concerts per summer, happening every other Saturday at Moore Square. While the lineups were mostly second- or third-tier acts long past their hitmaking prime (Candlebox, anybody?), each season offered up the occasional Joan Jett, Violent Femmes or other nod to credibility. At the very least, RDL was a cheap way to see a whole bunch of music.

Flash forward to 2010, however, and the city is building a new 5,000-capacity downtown amphitheater just west of the Raleigh Convention Center. With Live Nation commited to booking 15 to 20 shows there this year, the Saturday dates RDL used to take up are suddently much more valuable.

So look for ticketed concerts at the new amphitheater to occupy those Saturday dates RDL used to occupy. Deep South Entertainment, the company that booked and produced RDL shows for the city, has some other free shows in the works (including The NC Ag Jam on June 19 in Moore Square, with country acts). There will also be a series of free mid-week evening concerts downtown, with local and regional acts -- think the old "Alive After Five" series.

On the agenda at tomorrow’s City Council meeting is a request to jump start the redevelopment of Moore Square. The so-called “Moore Square Design and Public Process Concept” would be split into three phases. Phases one and two would cost $9,000 and would involve asking for ideas about what should be done with Moore Square. The third phase would involve a design competition costing $40,000.

This process looks a bit like the idea dump the city had a while back to come up with ideas for downtown. (Let’s build a river walk!) The request notes that any implementation won’t occur until “once the economy turns around,” meaning that in the near-term there is likely to be lots of stuff being thrown against a wall and maybe eventually some renderings.

The request says public investment will jump start private investment in Moore Square. The key component to any revitalization plan for Moore Square remains City Market. Once regarded as the jewel that would spark downtown Raleigh's urban renaissance, it has not enjoyed the investment and development that other parts of the city have. Many blame Hakan Market Partners, the owner of City Market for the last several years, for the area’s fall from grace. Hakan Market Partners announced late last year that it would renovate the 1914 farmers market building and remodel surrounding storefronts. Work has started on those renovations but is not complete.

Another boost for Moore Square could be the Edison, a proposed four-tower office-hotel-residential mix that developer Gregg Sandreuter is behind. Last year Edison Land LLC paid about $12.1 million for at least 2.68 mostly undeveloped acres on the block bounded by Martin, Blount Davie and Wilmington streets. The block is east of the 33-story RBC Plaza tower and north of Progress Energy's new headquarters. Two of the Edison towers could be 39 stories and dwarf the recently completed RBC tower.

Sandreuter had once hoped to break ground on the first Edison building by the end of 2010, though that timeline may be tough to meet given the problems in the credit markets and the wider economy. The city isn’t expecting any actual construction on Moore Square to occur until 2011 at the earliest.

The City Council meets Tuesday at 1 p.m. at City Hall, 222 West Harget Street.

See photos from "Raleigh's biggest and best Easter Egg Hunt" at Moore Square in Raleigh on Sunday, April 11, 2009.

200 people descend on Moore Square in downtown Raleigh for a pillow fight as part of World Pillow Fight Day.

See hundreds of people join in a flash-mob-style pillow fight in downtown Raleigh's Moore Square on Saturday, April 4, 2009.Staff video by Jason Arthurs