BLOOMINGTON - Downtown Bloomington will see a change in leadership this fall. Peggy Flynn has resigned as executive director of the Downtown Bloomington Association, an organization that advocates for the revitalization of the 40-some block business district. She will leave office at the end of the month.

Flynn moved to Bloomington more than two years ago from California to be closer to family.

She opened Thrive, a fitness studio in downtown, but her six years as the communication manager for the San Jose Redevelopment Agency in San Jose, Calif., attracted the attention of downtown association board members. That led to her taking on the association leadership role in October 2006.

Flynn, a native of Atlanta, said it is family - this time her son and his family - that is prompting her move back to California.

"Downtown has so much promise and I am proud that I could be a part of it," Flynn said.

DBA board President Greg Koos said the association is talking with a potential replacement for Flynn. If that candidate does not work out, Koos said they will conduct a search.

"Peggy elevated the notion that a good comprehensive plan is needed and that careful planning and redevelopment is key to the future of the central part of our city," Koos said.

Earlier this summer, the Bloomington City Council approved $125,000 for the downtown association to hire Farr Associates, a Chicago-based architect, to create a $200,000 revitalization plan. The remaining $75,000 to cover the cost of the plan will be paid for out of money the city gives the DBA to operate.

Koos said Flynn's departure will not jeopardize the plan.

City Manager Tom Hamilton said the DBA has a solid board of directors in place and is not worried about the downtown plan.

"The foundations are all in place for the plan to continue," Hamilton said. "Sure, we would like for her to still be here, but it's not an insurmountable problem."