Leaders aim to enliven town (reprinted as found in the Worcester & Gazette)
The following article - written by reporter Craig Semon - was printed in today's Worcester Telegram and Gazette and is posted here as a complimentary element to the Downtown Revitalization Summit Presentation, found in the right sidebar.
STURBRIDGE — Business leaders, residents and government officials joined this week in an effort make downtown a vibrant destination stop, not just for town folks but for visitors. Selectman Thomas R. Creamer rallied a packed ballroom in the Publick House Tuesday behind the idea of creating a Sturbridge Merchants Co-operative in an effort to spark a downtown renaissance.
“We have things in this community, but we don’t do anything communitywide to promote them. And I think that’s where we’re missing the boat,” Mr. Creamer said. “We really need to stop talking about, ‘Yeah, we’ve sure got to get our people to buy local,’ and we need to become a community that does everything local.”
Mr. Creamer said he’s hoping the co-operative will create a lively business district that the residents are proud of and people will want to visit.
"I moved here in Sturbridge six years ago. It was a much more vibrant community than it is today. I got married here 20 years ago, and 20 years ago this place was hopping,” Mr. Creamer said. “Right now, there are 32 for sale or rent or empty shops on the Route 20 portion of Main Street. … And it’s going to get worse.”
Politely chastising Sturbridge for having a “disjointed” and “disconnected” downtown that lacks a sense of place, Mr. Creamer said the community needs to cash in on visitors to Old Sturbridge Village and embrace high-profile events such as the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge.
“Why don’t we as a community do all kinds of little things that say to these three or four or five or six or 10,000 people, ‘Hey, we love having you here. We love having traffic. We love not being able to cross the street. We love the town being a mess for three or four days because that means we’re making money.’ ”
During the lengthy brainstorming session, Mr. Creamer proposed putting together guest welcome packages, event packages, destination packages, and cross-businesses promotions to “get some traffic back".
“I’m sick and tired of watching my tax bill go up every single year and watching businesses leave,” Mr. Creamer said. “I didn’t move here to be in a ghost town. None of us did. This is a beautiful community.”
The next meeting is set for 5:45 p.m. June 2 at the main ballroom in the Publick House. Mr. Creamer promised that a four-month commitment from the majority of those who showed up at the inaugural meeting will translate to noticeable and positive results.
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3 comments:
Great job Mr. Creamer. One month in office and you've already accomplished a major achievement. One that has never even been attempted by any other selectman in my 23 years living here. Wow, this is real leadership.
Ok, so tell me this, Creamer is holding summits with businesses and residents and Mary Blanchard is worried about yard sale signs. Is she kidding? Her comments in the T&G Flash section tell it all, "A lot of people expect sudden changes or miracles, but things don't work that way". They sure don't when you have that attitude. She's been a selectman a year and has accomplished nothing other than complaining about signs. She is a major disappointment.
Nice to see such positive energy. Everyone who attended (residents, businesses, town reps) are all talking about how motivated they are by this co-op. Great job Mr. Creamer.
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