"New Visions for Downtown" symposium an unqualified success

It was not the Boston Tea Party, the Bastille, or the Battleship Potemkin.

However, by any reckoning, it was an impressive overall turnout for last evening’s “New Visions for Downtown” public affairs symposium at Destinations Booksellers.

Including hosts, panel members and presenters, between 50 and 60 people attended the symposium.

Contrary to the overwrought fears expressed by some local movers and shakers (most of whom predictably did not attend; see below) to the effect that the symposium would constitute a non-constructive “bitch” session, the atmosphere was one of civility, courtesy, and excitement of the sort generated by the transformational power of fresh ideas.

Before summarizing the evening’s vast inventory of themes, NA Confidential wishes to recognize and commend those local leaders who took the time to attend the symposium.

From the New Albany City Council, Jack Messer.
From the Floyd County Council, Dana Fendley.
New Albany Township Trustee Tom Cannon.
Building Commission President Steve LaDuke.
Develop New Albany’s Nick Cortolillo and Jane Alcorn.

(Of course, Democratic Party stalwart and longtime Council member Maury Goldberg was a member of the panel).

Several citizens serving on various boards and commissions also were in attendance.

As for local media, County Editor Kyle Lowry of the New Albany Tribune reports on the symposium in her article today, entitled "Public gathers to discuss the future of NA downtown."

Conversely, let’s look at who was not in attendance.

Mayor James Garner could not make the symposium, and although there exists a perfectly valid argument that his presence was unnecessary, this is not an excuse for failing to dispatch an emissary from City Hall.

As noted above, out of nine elected City Council members, only Jack Messer stopped by to listen. NA Confidential will be contacting Steve Price, our district’s elected council representative, to express disappointment at his absence. You are invited to do the same with your councilperson.

The city’s freshly minted economic development director, Paul Wheatley, did not attend. In our view, this was the most disappointing absence.

As for the media, neither the Louisville Courier-Journal nor Jeff Roudenbush of the locally edited “The Forum” covered the symposium.

The panel consisted of the following people, with our brief assessment of their comments following:

Jean Caesar (J.O. Endris Jewelers)
As owner of a downtown anchor business that has been in operation for more than a century, Jean remains optimistic about her own store’s future prospects and those of downtown.

Maury Goldberg (former City Council member, DNA board member)
According to Maury, New Albany’s future will be determined by qualities like vision, the will to act, and the willingness to accept risks – and these factors apply New Albany’s citizens as well as its leaders.

Jeff Gillenwater (IT professional at Indiana University Southeast)
Downtown is a “wonderful skeleton waiting for the flesh to appear,” but this is dependent on what amounts to a reverse sales pitch during which people at the grassroots level educate the traditional leadership/business/real estate class as to what type of atmosphere the future resident and worker in New Albany will need.

Brandon W. Smith (student at Brandeis School of Law)
The work of contemporary economists like Richard Florida (“The Rise of the Creative Class”) provides clues for a new model of economic development that focuses on the presence of a specific type of worker rather than a specific type of industrial park architecture.

The moderator was Ann M. Baumgartle (Destinations Booksellers and a community investor and volunteer). Ann kept control of the program and brought the symposium in on time. For a comprehensive record of Ann’s thoughts on downtown revitalization, many of which she referenced last night, read her Blog, New Albany Renewal.

The format of the symposium called for the panel to make opening statements, followed by comments from successive, pre-selected “presenters.”

The themes offered by the presenters were subject to brief analysis by the panel, with limited audience participation also permitted.

Greg Roberts (East Spring Street Neighborhood Association)
Greg discussed the role and accomplishments of the neighborhood association. Seeing “what it can be” is motivation for tackling the problems found in New Albany’s inner city neighborhoods, which in the final analysis should compete on the same playing field as the suburbs and exurbs.

Susan Kaempfer (AAA Plumbing Doctor)
Susan proposed a conceptual upgrade for the farmer’s market (Market Street), a theme echoed later by Bonnie Thrasher, among others. According to moderator Ann Baumgartle, a model for such a project is to be found in Bloomington, Indiana.

During Susan’s comments, a side discussion arose pertaining to the old Reisz furniture building on Main Street, used by Schmitt Furniture for many years as a warehouse, but supposedly considered by the family at various junctures as an art colony or a condo development. According to Jean Caesar, the Schmitt family is ready to reconsider ideas such as these – and this is good news, indeed.

Brent Cox (PC Building Supply)
In the absence of Al Goodman, Brent offered an overview of the Loop Island Wetlands and noted potential changes in the Greenway project that might better complement Al’s ambitious efforts to open the wetlands to the public.

This led to one of the more spirited discussions of the evening, and the presence in the listening audience of tireless regional transportation advocate David Coyte accordingly was invaluable.

The overarching conclusion of Brent’s segment was that the Greenway should be redesigned for pedestrians and bicycles only, with Indianapolis’s Monon Trail serving as a template, and that increased public participation in Greenway commission meetings is essential in getting this point across.

Bonnie Thrasher (The Art Store)
Ably pinch-hitting for hubby Dave Thrasher, Bonnie enthusiastically gave a detailed perspective on downtown revitalization from the art community’s point of view. Among the many worthy notions embraced by the Thrashers is the necessarily radical view that the city should undertake an aggressive program of buying underused buildings from owners who have permitted the building to sit vacant for too long.

Allen Howie (Idealogy Design + Advertising)
Allen made several solid suggestions, including the common-sense approach of looking at existing models of revitalization and asking questions of the people who’ve successfully done it. Also, from an ad agency perspective, Allen notes an imperative for community advocates to “outshout the naysayers.”

This sentiment was encapsulated perfectly by downtown businessman Rick Carmickle, who in response to “nothing’s downtown,” proudly responds: “I’m downtown, and I’m someone!”

The panel made closing comments summarizing the evening’s thoughts, but NA Confidential will remember these primarily for Maury Goldberg’s humorous suggestion that for New Albany to inaugurate a springtime event and draw attention to the downtown area, an upscale “meatloaf festival” would be the perfect vehicle for self-deprecating but potentially newsworthy fun.

We couldn’t agree more. Jeff Gillenwater probably wasn’t considering meatloaf as a means of adding flesh to the skeleton of downtown, but the city streets could be the venue, and preliminary Googling has not uncovered anything like it on the web.

Standard meatloaf … veggie meatloaf … meatloaf made with game … ethnic meatloaf … the categories are endless.

Readers, what was the main theme to emerge from the symposium?