Nearly a year ago, a team of design professionals got together with residents to discuss the future of three shuttered churches in Johns­town.

Now, organizers want to jump-start the same kind of discussion about the historic community that hosts those churches – Cambria City, which once was a bustling immigrant neighborhood of 11,000.

The idea is to develop long-term plans for the neighborhood rather than “waiting for things to happen,” said Brad Clemenson, a Lift Johns­town member and a senior project manager for Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

“We can be proactive,” Clemenson said.

“We can identify some of the buildings that probably have the greatest impact if they can be reused.”

Lift Johnstown is organizing the meetings – also called a “charrette” – along with Johnstown Area Heritage Association, Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, Art Works in Johnstown, Venue of Merging Arts, Save Our Steeples and Pennsylvania Rural Arts Alliance.

The public is invited to three sessions spread over three days. All will be held at Heritage Discovery Center:

• Oct. 20 from 7 to 9 p.m.: A presentation of the workshops’ goals; organizers also are “seeking initial feedback.”

• Oct. 21 from 1 to 4 p.m.: More-informal “drop-in” session for public input.

• Oct. 22 at 5:30 p.m.: Presentation of final concepts.

Clemenson said initial planning sessions in November yielded good ideas for reusing two of the neighborhood’s three historic churches that closed as part of a 2009 merger.

But he added that “all of the architects from the first charrette thought we should take a look at the neighborhood as a whole.”