Greg Biernat, who grew up in Orange and is now an engineer for a Sydney architecture firm, said he saw great potential for a plaza at the site, between Summer and Kite streets.

The block, which is currently an Orange City Council-owned car park, is at the centre of an idea to seal off McNamara Street to the Aldi car park to become a cobblestone pedestrian mall and use the car park space for communal eating and weekend events, including music and markets. 

The idea arose during public workshops for Future City, the council's plan for the CBD, with participants eager to see more catering for families. 

Mr Biernat said he immediately thought of European-style plazas.

"There's a few architects who have launched competitions for town squares around the world where the cities are getting more congested [asking] people to reimagine urban spaces and create town squares out of car parks and industrial areas," he said.

Mr Biernat said a plaza would be ideal for al-fresco dining and also provide an incentive for building owners around the plaza to improve their facades. 

"Suddenly they've got an opportunity to create more frontage," he said.

"I don't think Summer Street is a great place for outdoor dining - it's noisy, it has parallel parking and the geometry of Summer Street being one long street means it's not well-suited."

MAP: Where would the plaza be located ...

With the car park's all-day spaces full before 8am and the remaining spaces at a premium during the day, Mr Biernat said an alternate parking location in the CBD would need to be created first.

Guy Hampton of the Grocer and Co Organics is also enthusiastic about the idea, saying the CBD was "dying for a bit of love" and it would be a unique area.

"It would lead from the library and art gallery, through the park and flow onto the new [Quest] hotel - it would be a good little corridor for the CBD," Mr Hampton said.

However, Janette Churchill of L&J Churchill Mechanical Repairs, which could lose its road access under the plan, urged the council to consider existing businesses.

"We've been here 27 years and Wrap Rite have been here 32 and we're doing well," she said. 

"If they close the street, how do we keep operating?"

Orange City Council is currently working with consultants SBJ on the Future City plans, with applications for a reference group recently called.