City supports historic district nomination

Last Tuesday, as I sat nervously in front of the City Commission, I was thinking about all of the work and experiences that had led us to this moment.  For the last several years, many property owners, volunteers, and El Dorado Main Street staff have been making small steps towards applying for historic district designation.  Each step forward was considered a big success and kept us looking towards the next step.  Two years ago we were able to start talking about building codes and how historic buildings codes should not be seen as black-and-white, but that there are some grey areas.  This conversation led us to successfully recommend the City adopt the International Existing Building Codes, which allow for those grey areas in our historic buildings.  We knew that we were on the right track when the HOPE VI Main Street grant was applied for and awarded to two historic and very deserving properties, which has already spurred additional renovations to neighboring properties. When a generous donor invested the seed money to complete a survey regarding the eligibility of historic district status and then many others stepped up to help because they knew that El Dorado Main Street did not have the budget to be able to take on such a task, I knew we were again moving towards our goal.  Then when that research came back with the professional explaining to us that she had not worked with another community who possessed as high of a percentage of qualified properties as we do, we rejoiced and knew that we were getting closer to this moment.  Through countless public meetings, conversations, and presentations; we have tried our best to educate the community on what historic preservation is and how to continue the progress that has already been started.  It has been our belief for several years now that we would not be fully equipped with all of the tools needed, unless we were named a designated historic district, which is what led me to the City Commission room last Tuesday evening. 

On the same day and at the same time that I was sitting there anxiously, a group gathered in Columbia, Missouri where the City Manager gave the results of a study that researched the economic impact of historic preservation in their community over the last ten years.  What makes this study so important to us in El Dorado and communities all over the country, is that this is the first study conducted by a local government on this subject, and the results were outstanding.  In Columbia, Missouri, renovated downtown historic buildings saw a 117% increase in property value and the property tax revenue on those properties increased 104%. Comparing to the 19% property value and 12% property tax increases in new construction in the community.  Also documented was that the number of jobs created per $1 million spent in historic preservation projects was higher than highway projects and new construction.  Finally, every $1 in public funds leveraged an additional $4.40 in private funds.  As communities now begin to document the progress made by historic preservation, studies like the one in Columbia, Missouri will become more common.  There is no question that historic preservation increases economic development. 

After hundreds of hours of work and preparation, the City Commission in our community supported the application for historic designation with a 5-0 vote.  As we keep taking these steps forward, with one goal in mind, the dedicated volunteers achieved another success in preserving downtown El Dorado.   While we are not done yet, I want to thank everyone who has been involved in this process, especially our Mayor and City Commissioners who see the vision for a better downtown. 

Downtown Window Displays

Summer is here and the downtown business owners are wanting to show off their fun summer fashions and products!  Over the years, Walter's Flowers and Interiors has made a reputation for themselves and their beautiful display windows.  They never let s down, check out their summer display. 

Because of the sun shining in the windows, I could not get a frontal picture, I will get one this evening.  It is amazing!

Here are some other great downtown display windows.


Robin's



Friendship Star Quilt Company's collection of
 Department 56 collectibles





Friendship Star Quilt Company





Posh, cute fashions and flamingos!



Location, Location, Location ...part one



Architect, Bruce McMillan ealizing that the
drop ceiling cannot be raised. 

Last Friday and Saturday afternoons I spent time with two different business owners looking to purchase properties in downtown El Dorado.  Currently, there are some great properties for sale.  With a little lovin' and creativity, the possibilities are endless.  On Friday, through the Kansas Main Street Program, El Dorado Main Street was able to secure design assistance for a prospective buyer of 101 S. Main.  Kansas Main Street Director, Mary Helmer and architect Bruce McMillan traveled to Kansas to inspect the property and look at the possibilities that could be achieved by taking the building back to many of the original characteristics.  This building, while being one of the best locations downtown and is in very good condition compared to others, it still could use some improvements and updating.   As we were going through the building, the architect suggested taking out the drop ceiling and going to the original ceiling heights.  What we quickly found out is that would not be possible. 



In December of 1973, the building went through a fire.  When the owners went in to correct the fire damage, they added the drop ceiling and lowered the floor about 3 feet on the second story.  By doing this, the windows and closet doors on the second floor are in very interesting locations.  We all laughed about this revelation.  The second floor, which has been used as storage since the fire almost 40 years ago, has so many possibilites...even with the unusal window heights. 




Upper floor of 101 S. Main

 As you can see in this picture, it is a very large space that, with the right vision, could be amazing as an apartment or even a business.  In the next month, we will receive Mr. McMillan's recommendations for the building and those will be submitted to the prospective buyer.  We hope that by being proactive in regards to our downtown building sales, we will find quality owners.  For more pictures and newspaper articles from the fire in the building, check out the facebook page HERE

A Unique Downtown Dining Experience

Recently I had the privilege of planning a dinner for a group of people who were in town for a conference.  Since I do not usually do things the conventional way, I planned a “progressive dinner” through the downtown for this group of about 25 people.  The diners were from all over the state of Kansas, so I thought that this would give them a great opportunity to experience downtown El Dorado and the many locations that make it unique. 

The group began their journey at Robin’s where they shopped and dined on spinach artichoke dip and hummus from Jacob’s Well.  Always the perfect host, Robin provided wine and other drinks.  From there, they traveled up Main Street to the Art Room 114.  This is one of my favorite locations in downtown because Brenda has designed this gallery so simple, but elegant with open space to hold a group of people.  Soup and salad was served while they browsed the most recent gallery show that the Art Room has on display. 

Further up Main Street, the group was greeted in front of Walter’s Flowers and Interiors with a rose petal-scattered entryway into the beautiful store where they snacked on sandwich wraps made across the street at Willie’s.  They were in awe at the beautiful displays and items in this downtown jewel.  Many left Walter’s with treasures that they purchased.   

As the evening continued, Alfredo and his staff at Fiesta Mexicana provided great ambiance and even better food as they dined on tacos and burritos.  With the large space in this restaurant, the group was able to all sit together at one large table and enjoy each other’s company.  They were finally lured away from the margaritas and queso by the sound of a live band and the smell of amazing pie in Jacob’s Well.  Here they finished off the night socializing and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere that Jacob’s Well has captured. 

While this was a very involved dinner which took over two hours to complete, this group of people will never forget their dinner in downtown El Dorado.  While this is only the second time downtown businesses have hosted a dinner such as this, we would sure like to do it more often.  If you have a reunion, office party, or a large group of friends who would like to experience a downtown progressive dinner, please call the El Dorado Main Street office. 

Spring is in the air!

Have you noticed the hanging flowers are being placed back on the light poles in downtown?  Last year ws the first time the City of El Dorado hung the hanging pots that overflow with pretty flowers.  After speaking to City Manager, Herb Llewellyn, he told me that they are doing them a bit different this year.  Last year, full size plants were purchased and planted in the pots.  This year, the city employees planted starter plants months ago and had been growing them in one of the public works buildings.  This has greatly reduced the cost of the plants, with the same end result.  The flowers sure are nice hanging throughout the downtown and we are so thankful for City employees who care for them.  After talking about the labor involved in watering, Herb told me that they are placing irrigation systems in many more places throughout the community to reduce the labor costs.  For example, the beautiful flower beds in front of the City Building had always been watered by employees.  They now have placed sprinklers in that area to reduce the employee costs.  All of this results in positive improvements in the community and shows that we are proud of our community and how it looks to residents and visitors.

Pinterest...isn't that just for recipes and fashion?

Last week at the National Main Street conference, a topic that kept being discussed was the new craze in social media, called Pintrest.  Many Main Street directors had still never been on the site, but the speakers all instructed us to start learning about it.  Recently ranked as third in the social media websites (behind Facebook and Twitter), Pinterest has shocked all of the marketing experts and it has grown faster than anyone could have imagined.  If you are not familiar with the site, here is a brief summary of what it can do.  Pinterest is a virtual pin board.  You create your board topics such as recipes, places that I would like to travel, craft projects and etc.  The pictures that you "pin" then lead back to blogs which show tutorials/recipes or the websites that they were originally found on. 


Latte Art which can be found on
ilovethewell.com and also on Pinterest.

 So how does this apply to small businesses?  Well, if done correctly you can lead more people to your blog or website by pinning pictures that are interesting to people.  For example:  There is a trend called Latte' Art.  If you search on Pinterest using those words, you find hundreds of pictures of designs made into coffee drinks.  Jacob's Well has a post on their blog where they show some of their latte art creations.  By pinning one of the pictures and labeling it "latte art" it pulls up anytime anyone searches for it.  If they click on the picture, it will take them to the Jacob's Well website.  Clear as mud??  You really have to play around with it to understand how to make it work. 

El Dorado Main Street now has a Pinterest account.  While we just started it today and are learning how to make it work for us, we will be helping other businesses do the same...when we figure it out.  Believe it or not we are getting help from high school students on how to do all of this stuff.  Find our Pinterest boards HERE

Business in Baltimore



Kansas Main Street group in Baltimore



Last week an

El Dorado Main Street

volunteer and I attended the National Main Street Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.  While this is the third National Main Street Conference that I have attended, this one was very different than the past two years.  Location, Location, Location!  The past two years have been in the Midwest.  With Des Moines and Oklahoma City as host cities, the experience itself was very similar to if it had been held in Wichita.  I love living in the Midwest, but being in Baltimore was a completely different world for me.  I was able to see the resources that they have on the east coast, the differences in architecture (oh my, lots of different architecture), and how they behave differently than most cities in the Midwest.  What I learned and observed made me think about some of our assets, behaviors and architecture in a slightly different way. 

If you have traveled to the East Coast (or many other places in the country), you are familiar with row houses.  These narrow, but tall structures are everywhere in the Baltimore area.  What was very interesting to me was the use of these spaces for commercial retail and dining.  Here in Kansas, when I talk to new business owners, they usually want large open spaces and have troubles considering small spaces because of the inability to have more floor space as well as storage.  I visited so many shops that were less than 1,000 square feet in size (which is very small compared to most retail shops around here).  The way that they used every space for the optimum use and tied in with the characteristics of the building made the stores very charming.  The best use of space that I visited was a small restaurant named the Blue Moon Café.  This place was recommended to us by a couple locals to check out.  If you are a fan of the Travel Channel TV show “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain, you may have seen their “Captain Crunch Stuffed French Toast” featured on the show.  We were told to go early to get a seat.  We walk in at about 7:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning and grabbed the last available table.  The place seated about 40 and was a bit smaller than our Jacob’s Well here in El Dorado.  On the walls were large, loud paintings by local artists.  The walls had blue retro wallpaper, the ceiling was wooden as well as the flooring and there was a stone fireplace right near our table.  We quickly realized that this was an old home that was transformed into a restaurant.  Within 15 minutes there was a crowd of about 25 people outside in the 40 degree weather waiting for tables.  When one was available, a waiter would open the door and call “NEXT!”  The vibe of the place was so neat, but also very comfortable.  Our waitress explained to us that they were open 7 days a week and 365 days a year.  Even more impressive was that the hours of operation were 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.  This place, even though it was so small and quaint, had gained the reputation of being the place to get a good breakfast. The use of space was brilliant and had I not been there myself, I would have not have understood why the Blue Moon Café was so successful. 

Finally, an observation during my week in Baltimore was the importance of appealing to pedestrians.  Everyone walks or rides bikes all over the city there.  Because of this, merchandise is moved outside, musicians are outside, and artwork is outside.  Here in El Dorado and many areas across Kansas, signs are meant to attract the drivers in their cars as they pass by.  In areas such as Baltimore, the signage is lower and much more detailed.  It almost seems more personal as you walk by a business.  They make an effort to invite you into their store with displays and other attractions. 

While we are very different in many ways, I think that we could learn a lot here in Kansas from the way that those on the East Coast do business.  It was refreshing to see a completely different approach to success and it gave me many ideas to share with our downtown businesses.