Main Street Thermopolis discusses splash park

Thursday evening held the first Main Street Thermopolis meeting in the new office at Central Bank and Trust and proved to be very productive. The meeting started with a review of pending bills which included an invoice of $70.69 from Print Zone for Art Stroll maps and Oktobrewfest posters, an invoice of $400 from Tegeler and Associates for liability insurance for the upcoming brewfest, and various receipts for the set-up of the Central Bank and Trust office. The board approved the payment of all invoices.

Event ideas for Small Town Saturday in conjunction with American Express were bounced around by all in attendance. Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, Meri Ann Rush discussed the idea of creating a large puzzle decorated by school kids and dispersing the puzzle pieces around town for shoppers to collect and return to a central location for chamber bucks. It was suggested that instead of having the downtown Christmas tree lit up in advance, use the tree as a reveal event in itself and invite citizens to decorate it. How ornaments could be made and exactly what tree to decorate was discussed in some detail. All ideas were tabled for the time being to continue discussion at a later date, but board president Stefanie Gilbert stated that with more than 10 businesses participating, Main Street Manager Lea Schoenewald would fill out the appropriate forms online to finish signing up.

Town Council board member Dusty Lewis made contact with Gilbert regarding their involvement with the town “splash park.” Not all members were aware of the water feature the town had been planning but, after some discussion of their upcoming plans, the majority of Main Street members felt that a splash park was not the best investment to beautify downtown Thermopolis. Gilbert compiled a list of other ideas for town beautification (including tree maintenance and watering, down town lighting, new holiday lights, and the addition of benches and trash cans). Director of Tourism, Amanda Moeller commented, “We should build upon what we have instead of adding another feature that will need even more maintenance.”

Downtown business, Needful Things, was announced as the newest recipient of the Historic Architecture Assistance Fund (HAAF) grant. Being awarded this grant means that Main Street will hire and architect and provide the business with an assessment and feasibility study for the building. The business owners will then be able to make an informed decision about how to improve their historic building. Needful Things is not the only Thermopolis downtown business to receive this grant – owners of the Klink building received the HAAF grant in 2014.

Gilbert updated the group on her workings with the Senior Center to get more involvement for downtown events. Chanda Waddell, Director at the Hot Springs County Senior Citizens Center, recommended making a presentation to the projects council as well as a lunch presentation to attendees. The board concluded this would be a good effort and made plans to present on September 15 for the project council and September 29 for a general lunch presentation.

Wyoming Main Street will be holding a Best Practices Workshop October 8 and 9 in Laramie and Rawlins for Main Street participants to visit successful downtown communities. Gilbert commented that the effort was similar to the National workshop she and Schoenewald had attended earlier in the year, but that this workshop would offer a closer look at efforts done more locally. The state committee asked for at least three members of the community to attend. Gilbert recommended that the board request town council presence for an “eye opener” on what other Wyoming communities – such as National Main Street winner Rawlins - are doing with their downtowns. Several board members volunteered to attend and Gilbert agreed to contact town council members.

Before closing the meeting, the board agreed to submit the $85 payment to become a Chamber of Commerce member and scheduled the next meeting one week late on October 1 for a post-Oktobrewfest review. An Oktobrewfest committee meeting was held at the close of the Main Street Thermopolis meeting.