Downtown leaders talk event opportunities

Steve Cover appeared at a recent Downtown Improvement District meeting to pitch a vision: Would people be interested in a recurring event that closed Main Street to vehicular traffic, turning it into a pedestrian thoroughfare for a variety of activities and allowing businesses to expand out to the sidewalk and road?

Cover, the city’s planning director, acknowledged such an event would require coordination and community buy-in. But he believed it would create benefits, including transforming the heart of downtown into a community gathering place.

“We’ve got a terrific Main Street right now,” Cover said. “I see an opportunity to do something even greater.”

Cover’s proposal was received warmly among Downtown Improvement District board members, who asked what they could do to help make it a reality. The DID board saw it as an opportunity to compete with the events other communities, such as Lakewood Ranch, offer on the first Friday of each month.

Cover said the idea is still conceptual, but he imagined each event could have a different theme — one featuring visual artists, the next including high school bands. He suggested such an event could be held monthly or every few months, but DID board member Ron Soto advocated for an even more ambitious schedule.

“What I want to do is, instead of First Friday, do it every Friday,” Soto said.

The DID agreed that more events could be beneficial for downtown, but the group said the city’s special events fees have made it difficult. For a one-day event with street closures, the city charges between $515 and $1,660 to nonprofit sponsors.

Board members Eileen Hampshire and Ernie Ritz said the fees, which can include additional expenses for police presence or electricity, create barriers to holding smaller events.

“The only thing that can actually survive anymore is if you do a huge festival that will bring in a bunch of money so you can pay all of the fees,” Ritz said.

City auditorium and events manager Debbie Perez said the fee structure is designed to recoup the city’s expenses when someone holds a special event. She acknowledged some events have gone away because of fees, and she suggested the DID could approach city officials to discuss a tiered fee structure.

DID board members also discussed hiring a dedicated events manager to help promote downtown as a destination. DID Operations Manager John Moran said the city could follow a model used in Delray Beach, where the city, a community redevelopment agency and the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce jointly fund positions responsible for special events and marketing.

The DID was interested in exploring that option, directing Moran to reach out to the city and Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. The board will continue its discussion of an events and marketing coordinator at its Dec. 4 meeting after expressing a desire to move aggressively toward funding such a position.

“My guess is this will be on every agenda for the next several months,” Moran said.