Editorial: Solution: Downtown must be the place
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, May 1, 2007
In the Monday edition, Tribune writer Sarah Light examined how to keep doors open on downtown businesses.
Today, we ask: How do we get a successful downtown?
It&8217;s been proven time and again in cities across America, and we&8217;ve said it here many times before: Make your downtown the cultural center of your community.
Have events. Have more events. Then have even more events. Make them all as fun as can be.
Make it so people can&8217;t wake up on a Saturday morning without being curious about what is happening downtown right this minute. Make it so people who stay home Friday night think they are missing out.
Court establishments that bring people downtown. That includes restaurants and clean, quality taverns that tourists would feel safe inside. It&8217;s good to have sidewalk seating, too.
Save your old buildings. Treasure all things cultural &8212; food, beverage, art, architecture, dialogue, performances, intellectual achievements, customs and diversity.
Albert Lea has a good start. We have the farmers market, the American Legion (which holds event after event), fraternal organizations, the civic theater, the art center, Crescendo, Lakeside Creamery, Jake&8217;s, Taco King and other restaurants, impressive buildings, the refurbished Freeborn National Bank building and of course the speciality merchants.
And there are city plans to take greater advantage of downtown&8217;s view of Fountain Lake.
Good things are going on. But there could be more. This editorial serves merely as a reminder.
Looking for ideas? Here&8217;s one: Hold a First Friday Art Walk. The art center and businesses could update their art on the first Friday of the month and invite people to come see the array of galleries between 5 and 7 p.m. The art would be for sale or for pure enjoyment. Other businesses could build off the event, holding events that night to cater to the crowds.
Make downtown the place to see and be seen.