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Music Festival Fundraiser @ Rev Room — 09.15
Featuring music by Ben Nichols of Lucero, this festival fundraiser was held to support the Arkansas Sounds Music Festival, which will be held Sept. 28 and 29 and include a series of free concerts throughout the River Market.
Columnist David MartinLast Saturday, two very different block parties took place in Chattanooga.
The first was on Glass Street in East Chattanooga. It was an event promoted by the Glass House Collective, a nonprofit organization working to catalyze new life into that area by focusing on economic opportunities, the arts and community involvement.
Saturday's event, Glass Street LIVE, included a parade featuring local artist Wayne White's massive Civil War-themed puppets, a market full of local produce and homemade goods, pop-up art installations, music, and (of course) street chow galore. T-shirt and flip-flop clad attendees milled around in the sun, shopping, eating barbecue and dancing in the parade.
LIVE was created to celebrate the strides the community has taken to remake itself, while also attracting as many non-East Chattanoogans to the event as possible so they could see with their own eyes the incredible work that's gone into the renaissance.
So it was more than a simple block party. It was a way to appeal for broader community buy-in by showcasing the efforts of a rallying neighborhood. It was an unqualified success, and it meant the world to those who've been doing the revitalizing trench work.
After watching local kids pridefully take part in the parade, Glass House community coordinator Nikki Lewis wrote on social media, "They were the stars!!! Their smiles, their laughter - they deserve it! I couldn't hold back the tears, and even now as I write this I cry tears of joy." At the end of the day, one child proclaimed this was the "best day of my life!"
Later in the evening, a much more, how shall we say, "buttoned up" block party unfolded downtown.
To commemorate the reopening of Chestnut Street's 800 block, as well as the $88 million worth of new projects set to reignite the area, local developers, the DeFoor brothers, threw an open-air fundraiser benefiting WTCI.
None of the Glass Street grit was present on Chestnut Street that night, as guests sipped cocktails while being serenaded by Woody Guthrie's son, and crossed their fingers in hopes of winning raffle prizes like Rolex watches, trips to see Broadway shows and even a convertible Porsche 911.
The 800 block is the most notable downtown DeFoor undertaking to date. As the River City Co.'s Kim White put it, "They had been out in the suburbs. (But) when they drank the downtown Kool-Aid, they drank it big-time."
Indeed, lot of Kool-Aid.
What the DeFoors are bringing to the 800 block really is worth celebrating. A fancy Westin hotel, a steakhouse, a yogurt shop, a coffee shop, a new bank branch, some upscale condos and at least three other new retailers will be a definite upgrade for a section of downtown that has been stagnant for years, especially since BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee consolidated its workforce on Cameron Hill a few years back.
A vibrant Chestnut and Pine Street corridor will serve as a bridge helping alleviate what sometimes feels like pocket redevelopment across Chattanooga's core. And the more projects like it taking place, the better.
While Saturday's two block parties couldn't seem more different at face value, they both serve as a testament to Chattanooga's continued rejuvenation - a revival four decades in the works. Sure, we could argue over which celebration holds more worth, but the truth of the matter is that they're both extremely valuable for the future of this town.
Glitz and grassroots. For the Scenic City to reach its full potential, striking a healthy balance between the two is necessary.
Contact David Allen Martin at davidallenmartin423@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @DMart423.