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Downtown forum report urges better signage, inventory of vacancies and one major retail event
Summary
SEDC presented a downtown walkaround and forum summary to the council, citing strengths such as core businesses and a three-screen movie theater and recommending improved signage, a detailed inventory of vacant storefronts, tweaks to storefront loans, and one major event to drive downtown spending.
Mark, presenting for the SEDC, updated the council on a downtown walkaround and the Dec. 2 forum. He said the group distributed a packet to attendees and had a turnout of about 54 people for the forum.
"We handed out this packet then which is the what you have as a PDF," Mark said, summarizing the walkaround findings and noting downtown strengths: established core businesses, professional services, a movie theater and momentum on upper-story residential projects. He said the forum flagged signage and storefront visibility as priorities — for example, installing blade signs to help pedestrians identify storefronts — and recommended creating a full inventory of available spaces (size, conditions, square footage) to better target recruitment and grant opportunities.
Mark also urged the council to consider tweaking the city's storefront loan program to broaden its reach and suggested hosting one well-run downtown event that would reliably drive shopping and sales rather than multiple smaller events. He said the SEDC and merchants could collaborate on any such event and that the office would pursue grant-awareness and grant-writing support to leverage state programs.
Councilors thanked Mark for the presentation. No formal action or additional funding was requested during the meeting; the report was received for information and the SEDC indicated it will follow up on inventory work and potential program tweaks.
