miniddy的部落格

Source: Middletown Journal, OhioAug.迷你倉 19--MIDDLETOWN -- The Broad Street Bash wraps up its seventh year this Wednesday, but even after Governor's Square quiets down, something of the bi-weekly concert remains: a better look and feeling downtown, attendees and organizers say.When Jim Wendel founded the Bash seven years ago, it was a small downtown concert, gathering a few hundred people. But over time, the event stuck."The big difference is we're a brand name now. People know we're not just a one-time shot and they actually look forward to every other Wednesday," Wendel said at last week's show featuring The Menus, one of the most popular draws. "We've got almost 3,000 people here. I feel like the Bash has been the catalyst for a lot of the revitalization down here."He's not alone. Attendees of last week's event also said they noticed improvements downtown and said the Bash seemed to have something to do with it."The town is a lot nicer," said Melanie Cook of Franklin."The buildings are cleaned up, and it looks like they're getting businesses in and stuff like that," Mike Cook, also of Franklin, said.Adriane Scherrer, who co-organizes the Bash, said, "Our community as a whole decided we couldn't do anything right. I figured if we could get a concert in the park attitude going in downtown Middletown and get the people to come to it, we can show that we can do something right, and that we can do it in the downtown they're always trashing all the time."Patrick Kay, the executive director of Downtown Middletown Inc, credits the Bash with helping improve downtown's image."When you have 4,000 people coming in for a show, that's a huge impact for the downtown. It's one of the main reasons the Broad Street Bash and organizations like ours are here and that's to bring people downtown," he said.Jay Hatfield, of Middletown, had been living in Atlanta but is moving back home and went to his first Bash last week."I think it's great draw for people to come down and see firsthand what the city is doing in trying to revitalized downtown ... it has a tremendous chance to come back as a city to come visit," he said.But the B文件倉sh isn't the only contributor to downtown improvement. So are organizations like BeauVerre studios and the Pendleton Art Center and Cincinnati State's new campus."I wouldn't necessarily attribute one particular group or one particular event as being the catalyst that started the revitalization process or kept it moving. I think everybody works very well together," Kay said.For all its individual success, however, the Bash is having what organizer Tim Lewis called "pretty much a break-even year." And that's because for the most part, the Bash has become a family-friendly event. This year, the Bash has used more local bands, whereas in the past, organizers deliberately sought bands from out of town to draw their audiences here."We rely a lot on the beer sales, and with more families, it hasn't been as healthy. The kid zones are packed every show," said Lewis. It costs about $5,000 to put on each concert.John Haines moved back to Middletown about three years ago after some time away."I've been back in Middletown for awhile and I think this is a good thing," he said of the Bash. "It brings business down this way ... it's getting bigger every time. I was down here last week, and it's bigger this week than last week."But the summer Bash events alone cannot sustain the city's economic core.Several non-residents at last week's event, like Teresa Hubbard of Fairfield, say they have been to Middletown dozens of times over the years, but admitted "we really just come to Middletown for the Bash."Wherever attendees come from, the vendors tend to do well. Cindy Smith, who helps run BC's Concessions, selling sweet treats said the Bash was "one of the friendlier events where everybody knows each other because it's such a small town, " said Cindy Smith.It was also helping a start-up like It Ez what It Ez barbecue, a new operation based in Middletown."We do real good ... we sell out almost every time," said Ezra Heard, who runs the booth.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Middletown Journal (Middletown, Ohio) Visit the Middletown Journal (Middletown, Ohio) at .middletownjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services存倉