Imagine a small Florida city with fewer than 16,000 residents, sitting on a picturesque river. The river runs right next to the downtown. A fair amount of the traffic crossing the bridge goes right through town on the way to places on the other side of the city, without stopping to shop.
There is a three story building right by the bridge. An out of town developer wants to sell condos upstairs above retail shops. It is a bit of an eyesore at the moment.
There are quite a few older wood frame houses in town with white asbestos slate tiles for siding. Many of these homes date back to the first half of the 20th century. There are some efforts being made to assist older homeowners needing help to clean up their yards and fix up their homes. The city is currently cracking down on homes in violation of city codes.
There are also some very nice houses on the river, many with boat docks and boats.
The city has a boat ramp that could use some work to meet the local demand for boat launching and the waterfront has a city park sitting between the downtown and the river.
The city saw growth when the railroad came to town a hundred years or so ago. In addition to passenger traffic, the railroad helped carry out the timber that was clear cut in the areas surrounding the city.
The area went thorough a bit of a boom in the 60’s. The future looked pretty bright back then.
Back in the Jimmy Carter era, a big mall was built a few miles away from the downtown. Businesses started moving out of the downtown and the city has struggled ever since to fill empty storefronts downtown. The aging mall now has issues of its own.
The city is a “Main Street City” and the Main Street organization throws special events to draw folks downtown and to raise money. Other non profit groups claiming to promote the city hold festivals in the park and even get permission to sell alcoholic beverages. “No alcohol beyond this point” signs are posted during the events.
Does all this sound familiar? It should, because it sounds an awful lot like New Port Richey but that is not the city I’m referring to here. The railroad tracks still run through town I’m describing. My wife and I drove under car carriers on Amtrak’s Auto-Train as we drove into town Friday afternoon.
The major business boom locals hoped for back in the 60’s evaporated when President Richard Nixon killed the Cross Florida Barge Canal.
Still wondering where I’m talking about?
Palatka, Florida. It sits right where college students from Gainesville cross the St. Johns River on their way to the beaches. The bridge is high enough so that the barges that will never come can clear the span.
The parallels between Palatka and New Port Richey are amazing. We’ve got just over 15,000 residents. Palatka has about 10,500. Both cities serve as the downtown for a larger unincorporated area.
The condo / retail development is called “Riverfront Square” instead of “Main Street Landing”, but the idea is the same. Main Street Landing is actually a bit more presentable.
There are some other differences. Palatka Main Street spends most of its special event efforts on small events, including a monthly “Third Friday Street Party” and a “Dancin’ in the Streets Downtown Cruise-in” every fourth Saturday.
New Port Richey spent a million dollars fixing up Railroad Square so that it could be easily closed off to motor vehicle traffic. Why we don’t have monthly street parties and monthly car shows downtown is a mystery to me.
Palatka Main Street, Downtown Palatka (the merchants association), and the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce (based in Palatka) all have redevelopment as a cornerstone of their activities.
Palatka Main Street’s slogan is: “Revitalization – It’s Our Nature” as their tag line. Palatka Main Street gets it.
It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I’d like to suggest that the powers that be around here ought to be swiping ideas wholesale off the websites from these organizations. Things like a list of vacant space downtown, complete with square footage figures, prices and contact numbers that you can find on the Palatka Main Street website should be on the Greater New Port Richey Main Street and City of New Port Richey websites too.
Take a look at the following links and think about how we could do something similar:
http://palatkamainstreet.com/economics/
http://palatkamainstreet.com/business/
http://palatkamainstreet.com/business/commmercial-vacancies/
http://palatkamainstreet.com/leisure/
Downtown Palatka, Inc. isn’t far off. Their website is also full of ideas we ought to be copying wholesale: http://www.palatkadowntown.com. They have a “treasure hunt” each month. Details are on their website. They even have a calendar that includes a bunch of the events that the Main Street group hosts, including a First Friday coffee with city officials. Everybody is working TOGETHER to build up their city.
Downtown Palatka was the group who organized the fireworks for the 4th of July. Our Business Owners Association is moribund. Maybe it is time to get it restarted.
For good measure, the Putnam County Chamber website is loaded with information for businesses thinking about relocating to Putnam County.
All three of these organizations understand that while throwing special events is a part of enhancing the quality of life for local residents, nurturing existing businesses and recruiting new ones into the area are vital to the long term health of the community.
So, for the second time in as many Fridays and with a nod to Willie Nelson, I found myself “on the road again” and I figured I’d make the most of it by looking for ideas we could use. We can do better than we have done in the past and now is an excellent time to start. We shouldn’t be shy about looking around the state for things that have worked elsewhere and bringing those ideas back to New Port Richey.
Our river is quite a bit smaller than the St. Johns, but that gives us some advantages. We need to promote the scenic beauty that is the Cotee River as it meanders through New Port Richey. Canoes, kayaks, paddle boats, and pontoon tour boats are all perfect for our river. If you’ve never checked out the river from Sims Park up to Rowan Road, you don’t know what you are missing. Pontoon boats can easily get to the Grey Preserve and smaller craft can usually get to Rowan Road and even beyond.
As for those homes on the St. Johns River, we watched the 4th of July fireworks from the flying bridge of my father-in-law’s boat. Both New Port Richey and Palatka had very nice fireworks displays to celebrate our nation’s birth.
We came back to New Port Richey Saturday afternoon and our first stop was at our favorite Italian restaurant… Some things are worth the three hour drive to get to New Port Richey, including arriving in time for supper at the Mezzaluna Restaurante.
Rob Marlowe, Mayor
New Port Richey
A noticeable start would be the former service station at Main and Grand. Perhaps some municipal financial help would put this primary spot on the map . At the present time its appearance is demoralizing to Main Street.
The ongoing loss of new shops laced with vacancies on Main Street will require more than wishful thinking. Financial subsistence funding might support new quality shops to obtain a foothold
This might be combined with the plans to activate the “Old Hotel,”. .
The old gas station is an opportunity for the right company.
The Business Incubator is full in the one month since it opened. The excitement generated by that initiative is going to spill over to the rest of the downtown.
I suspect we are going to see a video at next week’s city council meeting about the Hacienda that was created by one of the talented companies in the Incubator.
While you’re looking at what we’ve been doing right – check out Putnam Blueways & Trails, Citizen Support Organization, http://www.putnambluewaysandtrails.org
The Tuesday Bike and Eat sounds like my type of bike ride. Road/Trail or off-road?
I may have to pack my bike and come up some Tuesday when I don’t have a council meeting.
Thanks, Rob, for all the accolades about Palatka, my home city for fourteen years. I do have to say a couple of things. Through grants, the City of Palatka has spent millions to create a revitalized waterfront. I think this is a worthy effort. The south end of the park is now being newly landscaped. Years ago, we had a planning initiative with Michael Redd leading charettes on designing the St. Johns Riverfront. That was a good start. In a more recent development, we will have a new environmental center behind Riverfront Square. The saving of those historic buildings was not easy. There are still projects to complete along the river. They take grants, mitigation money and private funding, along with Tax Increment and Better Place funding. All these sources have contributed to revitalization. Palatka Main Street doesn’t have primary responsibility for large-scale infrastructure and building projects. Under Charles Rudd, Main Street has become a solid contributor to downtown vitality. The City has excellent professional administration now. Downtown Palatka Inc., a merchants group, works well with other groups and promotional campaigns and leads in new and yearly events. We have problems, but I thought I’d send along some ideas for you to consider. Tap all the funding sources you can. Best wishes, Christy
Thanks much Christy. I first discovered Palatka some 40 years ago when I started dating a young lady who grew up there. We got married at First Presbyterian. Two children and five grandkids later and I’m still visiting Palatka from time to time to visit my in-laws.
As I mentioned in my note, Palatka and New Port Richey share a lot in common. We can definitely learn from each other.