The recent announcement that Groves Pharmacy is closing this Thursday is, admittedly, a bit of a downer for those who have been hopeful that things are picking up in downtown Sweet Home.
Part of the reason for that is the string of businesses that have closed in the last six months in the downtown area – Hometown Drug, Mollies, McCammons Furniture, The Potter’s House, the Coffee Bean and possibly one or two others that have slipped my mind.
It’s easy to lose sight of reality when this is happening, but the reality is that there are almost an equal number of pluses – businesses that have opened and are holding on. During the same period that we just mentioned, Subway, Hummingbird Gift Baskets and the Shell station across from our own office here at The New Era have opened. One more that isn’t in the downtown is Sweet Home Choppers, which is apparently gaining quite a rep among area bikers. Several other businesses, including a couple of restaurants, are preparing to open in the downtown and the midway area, including the Cedar Shack, which is being rebuilt after it was burned down by an arsonist right before my family arrived.
So things may not be booming in Sweet Home, but we’re not circling the drain either.
In fact, if you factor in that government manipulation of the Medicare drug system basically is to blame for closing down our two independent pharmacies, maybe our economic climate isn’t so bad after all. But it could be a lot better.
Several months ago I asked readers to submit ideas for the downtown – a little brainstorming. A number responded, mostly verbally and I noted their comments. A few more wrote and then my computer melted down, causing the loss of all those responses (as well as their names). So that’s why you didn’t get the report back from me that I was planning.
A very common theme in those responses, though, was that local businesses need to be multi-faceted to the point that they could serve needs of the local population as well as those of tourists. Everyone seemed to agree that when the visitors roll by all summer long, there’s not much to make them stop. But we all know that unless a business owner wants to head south for the winter and simply close up shop for six or seven months, he or she has to have something to offer the local folks to keep the ship afloat till the outside money starts rolling in again.
Clearly, there are many people out there who are interested in seeing Sweet Home prosper. The trick is to get them to share a common vision. It can be done, as I’ve pointed out in the past – look no further than the Oregon Jamboree. But it takes time and it is not always easy.
But an opportunity is coming for those who are interested in seeing a revival of some kind in Sweet Home.
The Oregon Downtown Development Association, Oregon Cascade West Council of Governments and the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration are holding a Revitalization Workshop and Roundtable from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at the Venetian Theater in Albany. Cost is $35 but here’s the good news: A certain number of “scholarships” are available to local business people or other community leaders who are interested in going.
The workshop will identify the top five obstacles to downtown revitalization and will help identify the types of people necessary to get redevelopment going and make it work.
These people are experts and they’ve done this before. I’m a big believer in not re-inventing the wheel, so I’m planning to have someone from our office attend this, not necessarily just in a journalist’s role, but also to learn some things that could help our community grow in a positive way.
What “positive” means is something we all need to figure out. But it sure isn’t one thing: shabby, empty storefronts.
If you’re interested in that seminar, contact City Manager Craig Martin at 367-8969. Deadline is Oct. 1 and entries are limited, so start moving now.