Fundraising a priority for downtown group
TONY BROWN/DAILY FORUM
Matt Gaarder of the Maryville Downtown Improvement Organization says that “wayfinding” markers like this one, which when complete will point the way to the West Fourth Street pedestrian corridor and Northwest Missouri State University, are also needed to delineate the boundaries of the central business district. Installation of such markers is one of several MDIO goals that include organizing a series of fundraising events and hiring a full- or part-time executive director.
With their sights set on organizing a series of fundraising and awareness events and the eventual hiring of an executive director, members of the Maryville Downtown Improvement Organization plan to meet next month with Keith Winge, the state community development director for Missouri Main Street Connection.
Winge initially helped the group put together a detailed plan for revitalizing Maryville’s central business district after a group of downtown businesspeople founded MDIO two years ago
MDIO President and Rapid Elite owner Matt Gaarder said Wednesday that the March 15 session with Winge will be attended by the local organization’s board of directors and committee heads and focus on public events to be held this fall and into 2017.
One of those events, a women’s-only “Piccadilly Night,” has already been calendared for Sept. 15 at the Maryville County Club.
MDIO board member Keitha Clapp of Maryville Florists said the semi-formal evening is being modeled on similar gatherings held in St. Joseph and Lee’s Summit.
“It’s a fancy night out for the ladies,” Clapp said of the reservation-required evening, which will include a banquet, auction, and prizes.
During Piccadilly-style auctions, participants put up an ante of a quarter or so for the privilege of bidding, then raise a small sign, or paddle, to indicate their bid to the auctioneer. Women who decide not to ante up are gradually eliminated during subsequent rounds of bidding on a particular item.
The Lee’s Summit Piccadilly Night, Clapp said, has evolved into the major fundraiser of the year for Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, an organization similar to MDIO that is also associated with Missouri Main Street Connection.
Other downtown-boosting events on the drawing board, Gaarder said, include a “casino night,” a “taste of downtown” dining exposition, and a music concert planned tentatively for the amphitheater at Donaldson West Side Park sometime in 2017.
Other business during the March meeting with Winge, Gaarder said, will likely include a progress report on MDIO activities over the past year along with updates from four standing committees tasked with organization, economic restructuring, aesthetic design, and promotion.
He added that there will also be discussion with regard to MDIO’s primary near-term goal, raising enough money to hire a part-time, or even full-time, executive director, possibly by the beginning of next year.
Gaarder said getting a director on board is an important step in moving ahead with a long wish list for downtown that includes everything from architectural preservation to recruiting new businesses.
“When we get together there are always some great ideas,” he said, explaining that the problem has been translating those ideas into action.
“Getting someone to work on those everyday would really help boost our progress,” Gaarder said.
In addition to getting an annual round of special events off the ground, other MDIO objectives include installing “wayfinder” signs or markers similar to those constructed jointly by the City of Maryville and Northwest Missouri State University along Main Street.
The brick-based markers display a Northwest medallion and, when complete, will contain information pointing motorists and pedestrians toward the newly completed Fourth Street corridor, which serves as a landscaped link connecting downtown with the main entrance to campus.
Gaarder said MDIO wants to install markers that delineate the boundaries of the downtown business district, which officially runs north to south from Seventh to Jenkins streets and east to west from Vine to Fillmore.
Other goals include creation of a “pocket park” at the southwest corner of Main and Third streets just off the courthouse square. The southernmost of two narrow parcels of land needed for the park was acquired last year for $18,000 raised through private donations. Additional funds will be required to buy the remaining land from the current owner.
Finally, Gaarder said, MDIO plans to take an active role in supporting and increasing awareness about the revived Maryville Farmers Market, which is now being sponsored by the Host Lions Club.
This year’s market will be open from 6 a.m. until noon each Saturday from May 21 through Oct. 22 in the city parking lot located at the northwest corner of Fourth and Buchanan streets. A grand opening has been scheduled for June 4.
