Reviving Rural Downtowns Workshop draws 130 attendees

Ritzville hosted a large group of individuals who shared a common goal and interest: working to help their communities thrive and grow.

In its second year, the Reviving Rural Downtowns Workshop attracted 130 people to Ritzville to participate in two days of workshop courses to strengthen their skills as leaders and volunteers in their communities.

The conference added another day of workshops for this year’s event, allowing participants to attend pre-conference workshops on Wednesday afternoon.

After the workshops and the keynote address for the conference, attendees were able to participate in a historic walking tour of downtown, visit local businesses or attend the business after hours event.

Another addition to the event this year came in the form of a phone app, used to promote area businesses and encourage workshop participants to visit local businesses. 468 Insider highlighted local businesses participating in the afternoon and evening events, and showed the potential benefits of what an app could potentially do for a community.

One of the Wednesday workshops focused on what communities can do in the case of a disaster. Presenter Terry Lawhead discussed potential ideas to help towns prepare for the worst, and asked questions of the audience to create awareness of different preparedness method.

Lawhead explained disasters are not as threatening anymore, and when one does occur, it truly makes the area stronger because of the bond it creates with the people who live there. Unfortunately, 70 percent of small businesses close after a disaster, Lawhead said, and it is important to have plans in place prior to the disaster to reduce the chances of the business not reopening.

Across the country and throughout the state of Washington, poor infrastructure is affecting residents..

In order to prepare for a disaster, Lawhead said business owners need to work on developing relationships in order to have people there to help during the emergency, or assist in preparation for the event. He noted homeowners should do the same thing, and always make sure an exit plan is in place.

Lawhead said the fundamentals for preparing for disasters are mindset, partnerships, tools, trust and living with risk.

The first steps to take for emergency preparedness are developing relationships, knowing code compliance issues, storing data elsewhere, having emergency information readily available and making connections with valuable people.

These steps can assist an individual during the disaster, as well as help them rebuild their life after the event has occurred, Lawhead said.

All workshop participants met in the Ritz Theatre on Wednesday afternoon to listen to the keynote address by Tripp Muldrow. The presentation “Small Towns, Big Ideas” looked at ways that small communities across the United States managed to attract visitors back to Main Street in their town.

Muldrow explained the common theme for success in each city he highlighted revolved around downtown planning, community planning and economic development.

He presented the stories of five cities of various sizes from across the country to help provide potential ideas of growth for other communities.

The towns used in the presentation faced similar challenges to Ritzville, where the downtown portion of the town is offset from the main highways through the city. The towns faced challenges of how to draw visitors off of the highway and back into the downtown.

Muldrow said in his experience, improvements such as way-finding signs and creating uniform signage are enjoyed the most by the residents of the community. Simple improvements help improve the appeal of the community and allow the residents to take pride in the place they live.

Each town faces a unique challenge, Muldrow said, and residents have to work to determine where the issue lies and how to make improvements to make the town more enticing to visitors. Muldrow emphasized the importance of cities working with their local business owners to create the most successful environment possible.

Muldrow also encouraged communities to find what makes them unique and create a brand. Branding assists in creating a successful marketing campaign, and will drive the design of signage, promotional materials and the overall character of the town.

Thursday morning started with a panel discussion revolving around the success stories of small communities within the state.

City of Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove began his presentation emphasizing the importance of infrastructure and partnerships. With those in place, projects can begin to occur and funding options can be researched to determine the best course of action for the town, Echanove said.

Echanove explained Palouse suffered from aging and poor infrastructure, and the city, led by the elected leaders, began work to improve the quality of life for the residents. Their projects included a new town well, public safety building and a major downtown revitalization project, which cost $2.5 million.

With the first projects complete, the city moved on to work with property owners to improve the downtown area. Echanove said “success breeds success” as the community united to assist with the projects, which included the construction of a community center.

Through private enterprise, donations and state funding, Palouse continued to make improvements throughout the city. Echanove said all of the projects were driven by the city council, but the residents united to help in any way they could to beautify and improve the community.

Betty Lou Crothers, a dedicated volunteer for the City of Dayton, spoke about the changes the city faced with a decline in population and alterations made in agriculture. The chamber held a town meeting and the residents worked together to select the five ideas and projects they valued as the most important.

Crothers explained the initial meeting helped spark a newfound passion with the residents and the community banded together to create a new town park, all of which was completed in a single day.

She emphasized one of the most important things to remember for a town looking to start their own projects is to always have a long-term plan in place. Crothers said in Dayton, they worked to create partnerships and started a nonprofit for the improvement of the community.

The city council received a grant for planning proposals to be completed for the town, and they city partnered with the development task force to see the project through. Crothers said now the city makes at least one improvement to an area or a building each year to keep moving forward.

Crothers said the keys to success are implementing the steps of the Main Street Program, finding passionate leaders and citizens, and partnering with community groups.

Raymond Gravelle, Mayor of Soap Lake, presented last and echoed the same issues Crothers discussed with the decline in population. After a town meeting, the city council and community groups worked to earned over $4 million in grants, which allowed the city to complete a downtown renovation, update the downtown master plan and give the community a makeover.

Gravelle said the community efforts paid off, and the city increased its tourism tax and also began hosting a wide array of events. He said the community knew what could be achieved and committed to the vision, which eventually became a reality.

The projects reaching completion took the work of a planning, streetscape, parks and recreation, and dedication and celebration committees. From there, Gravelle said, Soap Lake is continuing to move forward with the updating of its five-year plan.

In the Planning Your Project session, Kathleen Ryan presented about her work with the Washington State University Rural Communities Design Institute and what resources the group has to offer.

The group works with college students, allowing them to travel to rural communities, meet with residents and help design potential projects in the community.

Ryan said is crucial to have collaboration from all residents with different viewpoints to ensure the projects being conducted fit the needs of the community. By hosting a town hall meeting, the public has an opportunity to express their opinions and the town has the chance to move forward with a project selected by the residents.

The group has completed work across the state, and has recently worked with LaCrosse residents on a pop up community center. Ryan said the group travels to the communities and help establish a plan, as well as leave ideas of what the community can do.

After lunch, the Main Street Approach discussion took center stage with a panel talking about how the program worked in their individual communities. The Main Street Approach follows four steps: design, organization, promotion and economic vitality.

When implemented properly into a community, the Main Street Approach provides a long-term positive effect for the community. Members of the panel discussed on they implemented each step in their community, and provided ideas of how to improve the downtown district of a town.

The panel agreed one of the hardest challenges they faced was finding volunteers to assist with projects. Community engagement and communication play key roles in the success of projects.

Ritzville native Amy McGuffin presented about useful ways for communities to promote their towns. McGuffin stressed technology needs to be on the forefront of promotion, as an estimated 94 percent of people use the Internet to determine where they will stop.

The first step is to find what the town is selling, McGuffin said, and then work together with the businesses to promote the best features of the town. McGuffin said marketing promotions must also be a focus in order to help associate the town with a positive image.

Perception and reviews drive the decision for travelers to pick a location to visit, McGuffin said, and towns should monitor online mentions to the community to ensure accurate information is available along with positive feedback.

McGuffin said the promotion must start with partnerships and needs to be a unified effort from the community.

The final presentation of the day focused on Demolition by Neglect, where Ritzville resident Ann Olson spoke about the loss of historic buildings.

Olson began her presentation emphasizing intentional neglect is not the same as having a lack of resources. In rural communities, it is common for there to be absentee landlords, Olson said.

Overall, the result is the same in either situation and it causes the loss of a community aspect. The local examples from Ritzville Olson referenced were the Lincoln School, Central School, Ritzville High School, Adams Hotel/House and the Northern Pacific Depot.

The neglect of the buildings becomes a community problem, Olson said, causing fire hazards, a decrease in property values, health and safety issues, vandalism and overall deterioration.

Olson said the way to prevent neglect of historic buildings is to adopt and utilize a process at all levels, and establish minimum maintenance requirements. There should also be a good monitoring system in place, as well as a commitment to a course of action.

The starting point for ending the neglect of historic buildings, Olson said, is community acknowledgement, meaningful engagement and working together.

Nicholas Vann from the Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation discussed the use of the mothballing technique on historic buildings, which allows the owner to document and stabilize the building without doing any harm.

The technique is considered a temporary fix while a long-term plan is established, but allows the building to remain secure and ventilated during the interim period. Vann emphasized once deterioration begins, the process escalates quickly and taking precautions early can help owners avoid those situations.

All of the presentations provided during the two-day event are currently available for viewing at http://growadamscounty.com. With the success of this year’s event, plans are in place to host the event again next year.