About a year ago, the City of Eugene hired a consultant to look at how to revitalize downtown. City leaders realized many entities had similar visions, but were siloed. Katie Wilgus at the Eugene Chamber of Commerce took the lead to build a coalition.
“What I found when I arrived is, events were being marketed one at a time, events were getting scheduled over the top of each other,” Wilgus told KLCC. “And so how do we come together, figure out what each other are doing and then collectively use our resources to tell the story to the community?”
Wilgus, whose title is Downtown Solutions Strategist, said she feels tremendous momentum from everyone involved. She said more than 100 people attended a recent coalition meeting: leaders of arts organizations, LTD, Downtown Eugene Inc., merchants and more.
One of the new events that came out of the partnership is a holiday window decorating contest. Ethan Clevenger, President of Downtown Eugene Merchants, said looking at all of the window art will take people across downtown, from the 5th Street Public Market to the Kiva.
“We’ve had a really great response from businesses,” Clevenger said. “We’ve got a dozen or so that are participating. I just saw some window paint going up this morning, it looks incredible.”
Clevenger said celebrity judges have already voted, but anyone can vote for the Community Choice Award, and enjoy the displays, through Dec. 25.
Another addition this winter is a guide to dozens of holiday events, from the Hult Center to the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House, to the Shedd, and many other locations. The collaborators hope the year end is just the beginning of a more dynamic downtown Eugene.
