For the last two years, I've been part of the committee that's planned and promoted the Concordia Music Fest, a downtown outdoor evening showcase for area singers and bands. Not only has this become a great new addition to our annual Fall Fest celebration, allowing current community members the chance to reconnect with area alumni while fully extending our town's biggest bash for a few more hours, but it's also afforded us a glimpse into the immense potential that exists at the Broadway Plaza. It's not a challenge to see how engaging your community and outside visitors in a large, diverse number of events can have a considerable impact on the local economy. Visitors spend money. On-site
Not so long ago, the corner at 6th and Broadway in downtown Concordia seemed destined to become a display lot for gravestone monuments. Those plans were not set in stone, and the monuments found a better resting place at another downtown location. The corner, which was laid bare by a 1999 fire that destroyed five storefront buildings, now rises again as Broadway Plaza. The philosophical underpinnings of this renewal are grounded in the concept of placemaking. Google this term, as I did in March of 2014 when I first saw the word, and you will quickly land on the site of the Project for Public spaces, where you will find this definition: “With community-based participation at its center, an ef
The wall is almost up, the bathroom and concessions building has taken shape. The Broadway Plaza is on its way to completion. As we move closer and closer to the finish line it is important to think back and remember why we started this project in the first place. We were getting closer to the end of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district lifespan. TIF was passed when I was in high school. I will admit I wasn’t paying much attention then. Those who passed it had an immediate need and a vision. The immediate need was building infrastructure to support the Super Walmart. The vision was to extend the district to include highway 81 commercial district and the downtown to do more economic dev
