DARIN EPPERLY/DAILY NEWS
JODY CALDWELL of Stanton (left) talks to Laura Thiesen, owner of the Health Works store in downtown Norfolk, earlier this week while shopping there. The key to future growth of downtown Norfolk was the topic of a question posed to participants in the Daily News’ reader feedback program.
The Rev. Greg Lawhorn of Norfolk used to live in Monterey, Calif.
Former Norfolkan Roger Fritz now lives in the Dallas area.
Mary Zachmeyer of Norfolk has been a frequent traveler.
All three drew upon their experiences outside of Norfolk to offer suggestions about how best to boost the downtown Norfolk area.
Here's what they had to say:
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Rev. Greg Lawhorn
People need reasons to go downtown. Given the presence of stores like Target and Wal-Mart in our community, shopping alone probably isn't enough of a reason. Restaurants and coffee houses are a good draw.
Stores that have shoddy or offensive displays and unappealing entrances and interiors sour the whole downtown experience. Stores that are closing will quite often use the cheapest possible messaging on windows, and that messaging remains after the store is gone.
Norfolk could take a lesson from Monterey, Calif. When my wife and I were first married, Monterey's Cannery Row (made famous by John Steinbeck) was run down and actually felt unsafe at times, primarily because of vacant buildings that looked as though they were occupied by unsavory types.
Just a few years later, those buildings looked much better. They were still empty, but someone had taken the time to paint historical scenes on windows and, in general, spruce the area up without spending a lot of money. It was bright and clean, and that attracted greater numbers of people. The presence of those people made the area more valuable for merchants, and now the entire area is appealing and attractive.
Empty stores should have windows that contribute to the downtown environment. Existing merchants should recognize that a busy, popular downtown is in everyone's best interests, and remove offensive materials and tacky displays. I believe that if downtown merchants give the people of Norfolk a reason to be downtown, the people will come.
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Roger Fritz
It is very strange that downtowns in Nebraska are dying and that in Texas they are being re-created.
Shopping centers are being built with the old downtown feel. Buildings that are being put up are designed to look older and different than the building next door. They are doing this to re-create the downtown atmosphere.
I would think that you would want to create some energy downtown to attract shoppers. I think Norfolk needs to rethink its whole retail plan and offer business owners incentives to locate downtown instead of the outlying areas.
Omaha has the stockyards area. Fort Worth has the same idea. Dallas has the west end area. I think the leaders in Norfolk need to open their perspectives on what they perceive as downtown Norfolk. Maybe a new mindset needs to be opened up. Maybe downtown Norfolk needs to become some sort of regional entertainment area instead of only retail.
Quit being so conservative and open your eyes to the future. Just imagine the possibilities.
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Mary Zachmeyer
I was recalling some of our travels around the world. Here are ideas and highlights that might spark some ideas for Norfolk:
1. In Mexico, we had a friendly pizza restaurant that we walked to every Friday night. As soon as we walked in the door, they knew what kind of pizza and beer we wanted. It was a wonderful "date" for us and not expensive.
2. We drove to some restaurant in Texas named Hackemack's where they were only open a couple nights in the middle of nowhere. They always had the same band. They would invite a person each night to come and sit on a bench, hold a rake in their hands and "play" it on the bench - rub in rhythm to the music. Then you got a button that said, "I played the rake at Hackemack's."
3. In York, England, the shopping area is just like it was in the 1800s. Some of the shops have mannequins with the old-style long dresses in them. They piped in old music and everything was old-fashioned in the cafes.
4. In Ireland, we kissed the blarney stone. What could we do here in Norfolk?
5. In Atlanta, a Methodist church was changed into a restaurant. We ate in one of the Sunday school rooms. It was called the Abbey. The waiters wore Franciscan habits. The menu was huge and on onion skin-like paper.
6. In Windsor, England, we walked through a beautiful garden that had manicured flowering trees, gorgeous flower beds and peacocks strolling among the visitors.
7. In Iowa, we ate in a restaurant that once was a flour mill.
8. In Cologne, Germany, the riverwalk was filled with bicyclists, pedestrians, shops and buildings with flower boxes and cafes. In front of the cathedral, there were always artists drawing chalk pictures.
9. Disneyland has its lights parade every evening.
What do we have that others don't have?
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, March 09, 2007
Article comment by:
James Kerber
Take a good look into the skies above Norfolk, vultures are circling everywhere. If your going to revive downtown start at the job level first. Little downtown communites exist because people have money to spend there. Norfolk's ability to generate jobs that pay anything is history, stop all the old family greed and search for new resources including federal grants and keep the old money finger's out of it and maybe people like me could afford to move back and make a living not just minimum wage.
