Politics & Government

DDA Pushes More Parking Downtown

Friday Night Live proved to be the most popular downtown event in Main Street Woodstock's survey.

Downtown Woodstock can expect 54 more parking spots by the Christmas holiday season. The Downtown Development Authority was the driving force behind the Mill Street Parking Lot that will not only add parking to help congestion downtown, but will also add streetlights and a sidewalk.

Perry Tanner, board member, said he was pleased with the progress and believes the lights will be positive and safe addition behind the Johnson building at the at the Chambers at City Center.

Pedestrians will enjoy the sidewalk that will line Mill Street before the completion of the gravel parking lot that corners the parking lot and the back of the building that houses .

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The building at 8654 Main St., most commonly known as , is getting an uplift. Since the closing of Val’s Oct. 31, the property owners have been busy making plans to remodel the exterior. Helen and Dave Bartlett’s façade improvement application was approved unanimously for a grant request of $5,000 from the board contingent on the approval of city permits. The total project is expected to be $26,330. Board Member Kim Sellers was removed from the vote because her husband is a contractor for the Bartlett’s.

Bartlett, of Kansas, said they want to begin on the project immediately and wish to have it completed by the end of the year. While there isn’t a tenant in place, Bartlett said he would like some type of retail to fill his building.

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“We would prefer something that would have foot traffic downtown. An office space wouldn’t provide that.”

The remodeling includes heavier stucco on the exterior, two false transform windows above the existing ones, a larger door, replacing and reshaping the awning and painting.

“This is the best looking grant application I’ve seen since I’ve been on the board,” said Board Member .

The Bartlett’s are hosting an open house in the building tonight during .

This once monthly event made an impact on the that was administered last month. With the 333 people that took part in the online survey, Friday Night Live was the most popular downtown event with the summer concert series in a close second and the farmer’s market trailing in third, said Board Member Billy Peppers.

The board questioned if the popularity was because of the consistency of the event—attendees may not know they are at FNL, but they know there is this event the first Friday of every month, with the exception of December and January, said Board Member Kyle Bennett.

FNL is funded by the DDA and costs roughly $1,000 per event. Bennett said the October FNL brought approximately 3,000 visitors downtown.

“It really is an event about the businesses,” Peppers said.

The five most visited businesses on the survey were, in descending order, Morgan’s Ace Hardware, , , and . The two most wanted areas of businesses downtown both dealt with food.

In 2009, only 30 percent of people said they visited downtown at least once a week when this survey was conducted, Peppers said. This time around, that percentage rose by 48.5 percent.

The DDA will be presenting comprehensive graphs and information for the businesses and public at the Nov. 18 Morning Buzz.

The was popular by the numbers this month as well. Bennett said not only did downtown host the largest crowd for FNL Oct. 7 with the Visitor’s Center seeing 313 people, they set a record of 1,180 people for the month. In turn, Bennett said the Center also set a calendar year record with more than 7,000 visitors.


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