Waynesboro citizens, leaders envision downtown’s future
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Plenty of enthusiasm, with a couple of doses of reality. That was the downtown visioning session held in a packed City Council chambers in Waynesboro Thursday night.
The packed chambers were a sign of the enthusiasm. Sixty-seven people took part in the two-hour-plus session, which had participants breaking up into small groups to discuss their ideas for the near-term and long-term future of Downtown Waynesboro and then sharing them with the larger group in a macro-level discussion.
The goals and visions shared were themselves the signs of the enthusiasm. One hundred percent occupancy in downtown storefronts, “we want to see people,” a large commercial retail center “like an LL Bean’s,” different visions of a downtown-based higher-education center, a riverwalk with river cafes, positive leadership.
The reality checks started in one exchange during a discussion about the steps that would need to be taken to get downtown moving in that general direction. Session facilitator Becky Clay Christensen asked where a subgroup’s suggestion that “leadership” is an important element in the downtown-revitalization effort should go in the categorization of the ideas presented in the session.
“Put that down under the category ‘wishful thinking,’” a participant answered, referencing the running history of studies and attempts to jumpstart city projects that have fallen short of success.
The second came from an unlikely session participant. Vice Mayor Frank Lucente, long a critic of city efforts to involve itself in downtown revitalization, observed the meeting from the dais in the Council chambers. Prompted by Clay Christensen to share a word that he would leave with in mind from the session, as other participants had done, Lucente offered a few.
“Private investment and entrepreneurship,” he said, reciting his shorthand for his idea toward a private sector-led downtown revival.
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Like most meetings this sounds like it was a giant waste of time. It’s Downtown Waynesboro folks many before have tried to save it and failed many will keep trying and yet again fail. There is no real support for this in the big picture. The city could care less. and there is nothing to attract investors much less LL Bean or the like. Quick wake up before your life is gone and you wasted it trying to save the unsaveable. I did and I am much happier and my business is doing better. Hey here’s a novel concept focus on growing whats yours like I don’t maybe your own business and guess what the rest will take care of it self. It’s been happening that way for generations for those able to step back and see the big picture.
A couple of years ago we had another session quite similar in structure to the one which took place last night. The citizens ,once again, provided anew those ideas that had taken root from the previous efforts that had somehow lived through the poisoned atmosphere against progress the movers and shakers of the city had imposed on it ! Until the makeup of the council changes there is little hope for progress! Oh yes; I think the LL Bean idea merits investigation. It is a significant part of the digital future. If we can entice them here it will be a win-win situation !
Until there’s a large regional or national attraction in Waynesboro the downtown is going to lag behind the west end. Shopping malls killed the downtowns merchants and the newest incarnation of strip malls such as we have on the west end of the city have now killed the Malls. Annual chili cook offs and bike races are exciting, but they have a limited lasting financial growth potential in the near future for Waynesboro.