WE WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS BELOW
Stone Mountain gets creative in attracting tourists and locals to downtown
by Gale Horton Gay
gale@dekalbchamp.com
A small town struggling with an ebbing economy and a depressed main street dreams up a plan that captures the attention of tourists and locals and transforms it into a vibrant, bustling destination.
While the scenario described above was the topic of much discussion last week in a theater in Stone Mountain, this is not a work of fiction. City leaders, business owners, civic organization representatives, educators, tourism officials and others turned out on April 2 at ART Station to discuss how to revitalize downtown Stone Mountain and their focus was on “creative economies.”
The idea is to approach owners of the 17 vacant commercial properties in downtown Stone Mountain about making space available for artists at favorable terms and also having administrative and technology support in place for the artists to help them to thrive.
Jack Sartain, who was the facilitator for the meeting, explained that they would be creating an arts incubator in the city that could help to cultivate artists and also could draw tourists and locals who have an interest in a concentrated arts community. Existing businesses and potential new businesses could also benefit. Creating a partnership with an educational institution such as Georgia Perimter College and creating jobs are also goals, according to Sartain. “We are taking about opportunity today,” said Sartain to the 25 or so attendees at the meeting.
Among those in attendance: Stone Mountain Mayor Gary Peete; Jon Manns of the DeKalb Convention and Visitors Bureau; Charles Blackmon of DEBCO; Pat Wheeler, former Stone Mountain mayor; David Thomas of Art Station; artist Marcia Watt; business owner Hilde Friese; Steve Wells of Mainstreet and Downtown Development Authority, Becky Blankenship of the DeKalb Council of the Arts and a representative from Georgia Perimeter College.
“For some reason more and more stores are becoming vacant because there’s no tourists driving through, there’s no citizen traffic,” said Sartain of the city of Stone Mountain. “We want to create a cultural magnet.”
Leslie Breland of the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Tourism Foundation noted the timeliness of the discussion and said that in September her department had talked about how creative economics could benefit local communities. Breland mentioned that tourism is the number two economic generator behind agriculture in Georgia.
In January, state tourism officials launched a Georgia Made Georgia Grown Web site (www.gamadegagrownproducts.org) to connect tourists with artists, musicians, crafters, farms, festivals, studios, restaurants, cabins and more.
Breland said that when tourists explore Georgia they want to take something back with them to continue the experience they’ve had on their visit. Establishing Stone Mountain as a place with a robust arts community would be attractive to tourists, according to Breland.
Chris Morris, director of the county’s department of community development, shared that there is $3.5 million in the county’s 2009 budget to support incubators in DeKalb.
“I am just excited about the possibility,” said Morris. “I am just ready for the process to catch on fire so we can move ahead.”
Morris said that if the ideas discussed were done right it could be a model for other cities.
However, Stone Mountain City Councilmember Sharon Frierson inquired about maintaining momentum and said she hoped that the ideas wouldn’t fall victim to inadequate follow-up.
As a next step, Sartain said he will meet soon with six building owners, and a May 6 meeting is planned to bring together artists and crafters to gauge their interest. A written plan is expected to be completed by May 31, Sartain said.
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