For 20 years, the Chattanooga Downtown Partnership has delivered an increasingly broad menu of festivals, concerts and a wide range of other events downtown. These events have enlivened the city and contributed enormously to a dynamic synergy -- attracting patrons to new and developing businesses, restaurants and nightlife, and influencing people to move downtown.
The cycle of renewal, growth, quality of living and downtown housing has, indeed, become a model for other mid-sized cities. So it is surprising, and somewhat troubling, that the RiverCity Company, in changing direction under a new executive, has effectively dissolved the CDP, a subsidiary it has housed and helped support since its creation.
The immediate concern is whether a new arrangement will be developed that canl sustain the animation of downtown to a degree anywhere near what CDP director Carla Pritchard and her small staff of four have managed over the years. The CDP has worked on a modest budget to organize sponsor-financed events, but in lean years the group has required a subsidy for operating expenses from RiverCity when event revenue fell short.
Alternative for animation
Mrs. Pritchard's decision to start a new venture, "Chattanooga Presents," as a free-standing business gives hope that she and long-time assistant Ann Ball will be able to continue the work that has so enriched the city. Nevertheless, that remains to be seen.
Mrs. Pritchard has worked out a contractual arrangement for organizing some of the top draws -- the Nightfall concert series, the 3 Sisters music festival -- and a new event, RiverRocks. But an adequate number of traditional sponsors may be more difficult to find for a range of popular events, such as Winter Days & Lights and the Grande Illumination at Christmas, the Talespin storytelling festival, Pops on the River, Swingfest, the 4 Bridges Arts Festival and Rhythm and Noon.
The city, county and civic-minded sponsors should be willing to commit funding to keep the vital animation of downtown on track, but whether they will do so is an open question. Gate fees are hardly an option: The mechanics are problematic, and they discourage the very sort of casual traffic that is necessary to keep attracting large numbers of people to downtown.
A shift for RiverCity
Kim White, the new RiverCity president and CEO, says she did not seek the dissolution of the CDP, but her elimination of three staff positions in that office and cuts in its operational budget apparently precipitated that result. Mrs. White, however, said the change was necessary to enable RiverCity "to return to its core mission of economic development downtown."
The CDP's work to animate and enrich the human experience of being downtown, of course, has clearly served as a critical facet of downtown development. Certainly the relatively modest RiverCity subsidy of the CDP provided a qualitative return.
Mrs. White, however, is preparing for a fundamental shift in focus for RiverCity, which has served for more than 20 years as the city's downtown development agency. She not only has separated the CDP; she also has virtually stripped the RiverCity staff she inherited when she took over. Just two key staff people remain, in addition to the agency's bookkeeper and receptionist.
She is scheduled to unveil a new strategic vision in an address later this month before the Chattanooga Rotary Club. Until that is delivered, there is mostly speculation about RiverCity's new direction, which Mrs. White has said will focus more on marketing for downtown and encouraging redevelopment than on its past emphasis of acquiring and organizing the redevelopment of tracts of land downtown. That suggests the build-out of the Riverfront, though not complete, may now become more market-driven.
Problems vs. opportunities
To be fair, there is good reason for some change at RiverCity, and -- if problems are merely potential opportunities -- there are ample opportunities at hand.
Downtown lacks a compelling range of retail shopping and the provision of some basic retail services -- for example, a grocery store and dry-cleaners -- to meet the needs of downtown's urban residents, especially between the river and the expanding Southside.
But a retail-build-out won't occur until there are more residents, and vice-versa. In truth, it will take a steady stream of new residents to grow downtown and retail development. Mrs. White has embraced that as her chief goal. And she is correct to suggest that downtown needs more housing, especially apartments, and more qualitative redevelopment of some existing buildings.
She has her marketing work cut out. While the city's office occupancy rate was relatively high before BlueCross-BlueShield consolidated its operations in its new Cameron Hill headquarters, there now is a surfeit of available office space in more than a half-dozen buildings where the insurance giant had previously scattered offices.
Credit still an issue
She must contend, in addition, with the still-existing credit crunch, which continues to stall development and purchases of available condominiums. Hotels proposed for the Maclellan Building on Broad Street, and the old Chattanooga Bank Building opposite it, are on hold due to tight credit. RiverCity also is in litigation to take back the vacant eyesore in the 700 block of Market Street, where the proposed Mayfair development cratered in the downturn. And the agency must hone a plan to redevelop the former Bijou theater property, and deal with a dearth of on-street parking.
Lastly, RiverCity's original public-private endowment has dwindled. That has forced the city's development agency to sharpen its focus and tighten its belt.
The challenges before RiverCity are substantial. The agency merits support, and particularly fresh support from City Hall. So, too, do efforts by Chattanooga Presents, and others, to sustain the vital animation of the city.