LEWISTON —  There’s a lot to love about Lewiston-Auburn’s riverfront downtown, according to members of an advisory group.

The biggest hurdle could be convincing the rest of Maine, and the rest of Lewiston-Auburn.

“A good part of the state already has a view of what L-A is,” said Jonathan LaBonte, executive director of the Androscoggin Land Trust and an Androscoggin County Commissioner.

“That’s a reality we have to accept,” he told consultants working on a master plan for Lewiston’s River Front Island.

LaBonte, the sole candidate for Auburn mayor in November’s municipal election, said most people he talks to outside Lewiston-Auburn don’t realize just what the cities have. They don’t realize, for example, that LaBonte can paddle his kayak from his New Auburn home to the Land Trust’s Court Street office, exploring granite canals and a brew pub along the way.

“They’re blown away,” he said.

LaBonte and other members of the 17-member advisory group urged consultants from the Boston-based urban planning and architecture company Goody Clancy to keep an open mind and help the city find the key to its future.

The consultants’ work will continue Wednesday. They’ve scheduled a walking tour of the area — between the river and the canals from Island Point to Cedar Street — from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. starting at the Bates Mill No. 5 parking lot on Main Street.

Principal consultant David Spillane said he hopes to meet with residents, property owners and others with an interest in the area on that walk.

“This is a master plan for that area, and that’s our focus,” Spillane said. “But I think it’s clearly your intention that the success of River Front Island is really the success of the cities and the region.”

Members from his team will continue their work, interviewing property owners, residents and members of the advisory team over the next few weeks. They’re planning an eight-month study of the area. The result should be a multi-dimensional report with specific goals and projects that could actually happen.

“We are looking at something that integrates a whole different set of layers of thinking — market economics, design, community planning — and puts them into a whole framework,” Spillane said.

Advisory committee members made their first recommendation Tuesday: rescheduling a public hearing to get general public input from Nov. 2 until after a statewide referendum on a Lewiston casino on Nov. 8. If voters approve, plans call for turning Bates Mill No. 5 — the sawtooth-roofed building at the center of the study area — into a downtown casino.

“I just think the public’s input could be very, very different if that passes,” Morgan said. “By Nov. 9, we’ll have a real solid idea of what happens after that.”

Committee members also urged consultants to find ways to make the area more walkable and more attractive to visitors and young adults.

Architect Thomas Platz suggested some kind of anchor could be just the thing — a greatly expanded Museum L-A, for example.

“A museum like that, it’s open every day bringing people in, if it’s done right,” Platz said. “Events and festivals are great, but they only bring people in for one day.”

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