From the director: Planning continues
By Joanna Brazil
PMSA Director
Peabody Main Street volunteers were kept busy with holiday events and promotions in addition to the business at home that accompanies the holidays.
We've been a bit quiet since December, so what are we doing? While the winter winds bring snow, ice, and chilly temperatures, we are inside planning. We are preparing projects and events not only for the rest of 2005, but also for 2006 and beyond.
The Main Street four-point approach to downtown revitalization requires that each of the four Main Street committees are busy with tasks that are incremental, comprehensive, purposeful, and in line with our mission to ensure that Peabody continues to grow and thrive while preserving its historic character through community involvement.
No one is going to "save" our town. We have to build our own future.
The four committees of Main Street are Promotion, Organization, Design, and Economic Restructuring. As we plan, the four committees are outlining goals that will help us reach our vision. Our vision is to have a vibrant, thriving downtown where residents and visitors enjoy the safe, comfortable, and friendly atmosphere that our town provides.
Our historic buildings are well-preserved and busy with businesses, residents, and visitors. So how can each committee help us reach our vision?
The promotions committee, whose job is to keep downtown busy with events and help people find their way into our businesses, has been planning events and shopping promotions. We have been evaluating past events and brainstorming new ones and are looking forward to more women's fairs, kite extravaganzas, and improved holiday celebrations.
Ellen Teaford and Beth Eldridge co-chair the promotions committee. We welcome ideas and more help to develop fun and creative events for our downtown.
Economic restructuring, chaired by Alan Yock, has the challenging task of looking into the future and doing what we can to strengthen it. This means knowing market trends and being creative in finding new uses for Peabody buildings.
This committee is busy planning ways the group can assist and help strengthen current businesses while finding businesses that complement the community and can thrive.
Now that the city's strategic plan is complete, the economic restructuring committee has many tasks ahead that are in line with future development and growth.
The design committee, chaired by Jeanne Strotkamp, has been keeping busy with its continued plan for more façade restorations and historic preservation. The group is currently working on its proposed façade renovation of the senior center and also is working on a grant to preserve the city shop building, a building which currently is endangered due to structural issues.
After the ice storm, the group is planning and will call upon the community to help in its cleanup of the storm's disastrous effects.
Finally, the organization committee is busy with its tasks in fund-raising, volunteer development and recruitment, and communications. The upcoming auction and this newsletter are current projects of the organization committee.
The group has successfully recruited some new board members and is excited about what Kay Liefer, Ellen Teaford, and Kris Teaford will bring to the table in creativity, experience, enthusiasm, and wisdom.
We invite you to consider how you would like to help in our revitalization efforts be it investment, volunteerism and/or contributions of time, talent, and creativity.
Steve Hamous chairs the organization committee and the Peabody Main Street board of directors is the force behind this committee's goals, objectives, and implementation of them.
Without the community support and vision, revitalization in Peabody is not possible.
We thank you for your commitment to Peabody's future. Said best by David Darling, a renowned community development specialist from Kansas State University, "Stability (in a community) is a temporary state."
It is up to us to see that it moves forward, and it is our fault if we fall behind. Let us keep the momentum moving forward.
Cheers to a new year of positive development in Peabody, Kansas America!
