Bringing people to downtown Pittsburg.
That has long been the mission of the Downtown Revitalization Group — a group of city, chamber and business members. During a meeting on Thursday, discussion over that very task continued to take shape.
“We want to make downtown more of an experience,” said Blake Benson, president of the Pittsburg Area Chamber of Commerce.
The group cited events like last weekend’s Little Balkans Days and this weekend’s Paint the Town Red as different ways to drive foot traffic to the downtown area.
“It gives people the opportunity to go into a business they might not have been in before,” said Judy Westhoff, downtown development director for the City of Pittsburg.
This is the first year that the Paint the Town Red event has been centered around downtown. The event started on Thursday, with various businesses staying open to host patrons as well as Pittsburg State University student-athletes signing autographs.
Benson said that the weekend event was a “good starting off point” to bring more people to downtown.
And, with the continued growth of the event, Westhoff said that this kind of occurrence is a perfect model for what the group is trying to bring in.
“This is a new event and we have a good percentage of businesses involved,” Westhoff said.
The goal now is to find ways to keep events like Paint the Town Red and the Colonial Fox Theatre’s movie nights as regular staples to continue driving that foot traffic along Broadway.
“It’s something we’re trying to do on a more regular basis so people can come to expect it,” Westhoff said.
The group discussed events like Joplin’s Art Walk as another way of bringing the community into the downtown area.
“We’ve been there and it seems like it’s a happening place,” said Terri Steele, downtown committee member.
The main intention now is to find ways to make people experience more of the downtown area as opposed to just stopping, shopping and leaving.
“I think, by having activities on a more regular basis, we can draw more people downtown,” Westhoff said. “We want people to see what all of the stores downtown have to offer.”
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 139
