My idea for Battle Creek's bailout

With $85 million ready to spent in retooling downtown Battle Creek for economic revival, here's what I'd do if I had just $5 million of that:

• $3 million: Help at least six live music venues start up downtown. Venues we need: another rock venue, a semi-large venue capable of hosting bigger names, a piano-martini bar that plays jazz music, a country venue, an intimate acoustic setup. This money could go toward helping new venues open or helping existing downtown venues revamp so they could better host live bands. Like Spring into the Arts, we need a summertime pub crawl every year.

• $500,000: An outdoor sound system that pumps music happening inside the venues out onto the streets. Also, they could play Christmas music during the Festival of Lights to help add to the festivities.

• $500,000: Hardcore promotion, including TV and radio commercials, newspaper ads, billboards, Internet advertising, the sides of buses, downtown signage. Do this as a co-op with the venues that start up and existing downtown businesses. They put in some money, Battle Creek Unlimited and the Battle Creek Chamber of Commerce puts in some money, and $500,000 turns into $1 million.
• $1 million: Revamp Kellogg Arena. Big names draw big names. With an improved arena that brings in bigger acts on a regular basis (a really, really big name for the unveiling of the remodeled arena), we’ll establish ourselves as a city worth visiting, and that will bring more acts.

NOTE: See the full story Thursday in WOW.

Comments

[Tina]

Sounds good Justin.

[jhinkley]

Thanks, Tina