Downtown revitalization: think big, start small

“Bringing New Life to Old Bricks,” was the subject of the Downtown Revitalization Workshop hosted by the City of Navasota, Tuesday, Jan. 28. The workshop was designed to help communities “reimagine, repurpose and revitalize their downtown business district.” In attendance were city staff, chamber personnel, small-business owners and developers from Brenham, Caldwell, Cameron, Madisonville and Rockdale.

Common denominator

for success

Presenting was Lorie Vincent, CEcD, who shared her knowledge and practical experience based on 29 years in the field of economic development. Vincent has worked with 250-plus rural communities all over the country, encountering her fair share of challenges in bringing new life to fading downtowns amid “back in the day” sentimentality.

Recalling her own hometown of Dalhart which now boasts “an awesome” downtown, Vincent said, “It took years for them to transform their vision from what it used to be, to what it could be, and at the same time preserving history but celebrating and embracing the future. It’s kind of easy to say but really hard to do.”

During her career, Vincent has studied more than 500 communities, and drawing from those that had held their own or had grown, she said, “The common denominator was a vibrant downtown area.”

Those hard conversations

Vincent provided the audience with specific pointers for assessment and benchmarking, reimagining the future, determining a downtown’s physical attributes, and thinking out of the box when it comes to repurposing buildings and spaces.

She recommended forging ahead with those difficult conversations of “politics, policies and history,” about pop ups and food trucks, accessibility, liability, fire codes and escape plans and special events. This includes engagement with “absentee, stubborn, unwilling or unable landlords” or about preserving history versus making new history.

12-month action plan

Vincent’s recommended strategy for revitalization incorporates the creation of a “wish list” or 12-month action plan, and the recruitment of “investment groups” to take ownership of a project or projects. An appeal of this approach, according to Vincent, is that it has a beginning and an end.

She said, “This is something that has tangible results. These are actual tangible steps that will begin to make a difference in your downtown. What you want is to create that momentum and enthusiasm that change is about to take place.”

She continued, “And if you get only half of this list done, you still got a lot done. Half of this list gets you further down the road than you were yesterday. It’s designed that it’s not on the shoulders of just the city, just the chamber, just the downtown merchants… everybody can get a piece of ownership in it.”

Displaying a slide of a wild-west ghost town, Vincent said, “Outside of our world, outside in the world, sometimes this is what people still think of rural America. They don’t understand that we have communities that are filled with smart, sophisticated people with great businesses, great ideas, wonderful activities, beautiful homes, culture and art. They just don’t know it and it’s up to us to continue to tell that story.”