Unless Renaissance Square leaders are willing to compromise, they'll have a hard time getting City Council to approve legislation to let the project move ahead.

Mayor Bob Duffy and members of City Council reached unanimous agreement on their position on Ren Square this morning, and they plan to present that position to County Executive Maggie Brooks and transit authority head Mark Aesch next week. Council members say that the meeting will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, and that it will be open to the public.

Duffy and Council members agreed this morning not to disclose their position until they meet with Brooks and Aesch, Council members say.

Will city officials insist on changes to the plan?

"I can tell you that as we've said consistently, the current plan is not something that we can fully support," Council member Dana Miller said this morning.

Is the project in jeopardy if Ren Square officials aren't willing to compromise?

"I certainly hope that they would come to the table with an open mind and a willingness to work with us," Miller said. "We're interested in what's best for downtown, and I think they are, too."

Over the past few weeks, Duffy and most of the members of City Council have expressed concern about Ren Square:

• That the bus station component is too large, and that its location and design will hurt adjacent housing development.
• That Ren Square leaders will never be able to raise enough money to build the theater component. Some city officials don't want the buildings at the corner of Main and Clinton - the theater site - torn down until other uses can be explored. They also don't want an empty lot at that corner if the theater doesn't materialize.
• That the city should keep a city-owned empty lot on Mortimer Street, which was to be part of Ren Square, because it might be needed for parking downtown as development continues.

Ren Square officials have asked that Council approve two aspects of the project by the end of July: giving them permission to initiate eminent-domain proceedings to acquire the private properties on the theater site, and transferring the city-owned lot on Mortimer Street to Ren Square.

Ren Square officials have been stepping up the pressure on City Council to approve the project, as have construction-union members. Ren Square leaders say that unless Council approves the eminent-domain proceedings and the transfer of the Mortimer Street lot by the end of July, the project will lose its federal funding and can't be built.

Next Wednesday's meeting was originally to be held at transit-authority offices, but at this morning's meeting, Duffy and Council members agreed that it should be held at City Hall. And while some officials have suggested that the meeting would be held as an "executive session," closed to the public because property acquisition might be discussed, Duffy and Council agreed that it should be open.

Because the meeting is called by City Council, said Miller, "it's our decision whether to go into executive session."

UPDATE 2:25 p.m.

By Jeremy Moule

Renaissance Square spokesman Mike Power says that Brooks and Aesch are receptive to a public meeting on Wednesday.

But will project planners be open to discussing changes to the plan? It depends.

"If there's any modest changes that are reasonable, we're certainly willing to listen to them and proceed from there," Power says. "Everybody's got to be reasonable and realize this is the end of the process, not the beginning."

There have been multiple opportunities over the years to provide input on the project, Power says. But that time has now passed, he says.

"It is time to make sure our community doesn't lose $24 million and 3,700 jobs," Power says.