Downtown partnership celebrates achievements

James Streit, publisher of the Newark Post and the Delaware Business Ledger and chairperson of the Downtown Newark Partnership board of directors

3:36 p.m., Jan. 15, 2004--Since its inception five years ago, the Downtown Newark Partnership has worked to achieve its vision of creating a
business-friendly climate while providing a safe and attractive downtown area for shopping, dining and family fun.

Friends and members of the Downtown Newark Partnership (DNP) gathered in the council chambers of Newark City Hall on Jan. 8, to celebrate the organization’s accomplishments and discuss future challenges and goals.

The Downtown Newark Partnership is a private-public organization dedicated to the economic enhancement of downtown Newark, with the University of Delaware, the city of Newark and the residential and business communities working together toward the ongoing revitalization of Main Street.

At the news conference, Newark Mayor Harold Godwin applauded the volunteer partnership and the transformation that has taken place along Newark’s most prominent thoroughfare since the partnership was established.

“About a decade ago, before the Downtown Newark Partnership was formed, there were 11 buildings on Main Street whose windows were boarded up with plywood,” Godwin said. “Now, Main Street is safe and full of shops.”

Godwin also credited the work of various DNP committees, including those focusing on design, economic enhancement, parking, merchants and special events, with helping to improve the climate for both merchants and shoppers.

“Newark continues to attract new businesses, and this is largely the result of the utilization of grant money,” Godwin said. “The merchants’ committee and the events committee help make possible the many holiday events, and the police foot patrols on Main Street make people feel secure when they visit downtown Newark.”

Many of the events enjoyed by residents and visitors, such as Community Day, Newark Night and the annual Memorial Day and Halloween parades, Godwin said, are the result of cooperation between the city of Newark and the University of Delaware.

“Community Day demonstrates a situation where the city and UD cooperate to make this a better city,” Godwin said. “The Downtown Newark Partnership will continue to work together to make this a better community.”

UD President David P. Roselle recalled his first impressions when coming to Newark more than a decade ago, and noted the positive changes that have since taken place.

“When I first came to Newark, I received an invitation to speak to a group of Newark businesspeople,” Roselle said. “I gave them a new person’s perspective of the city—and I told them that the downtown area was living well below its potential.”

Since that time, Roselle said, he has observed a number of changes that have enriched downtown Newark and also the UD campus community. Included in these city changes are brick walkways, new trees and plantings in the summer, as well as colorful banners to mark the changing of the seasons and the coming of special events.

“Over the last several years, the very face of downtown Newark has changed dramatically,” Roselle said. “Today, both new construction and renovation projects in the downtown district are striving for a more elegant look that is attractive to the visiting public. We are pleased to participate in this program, as well as maintaining what has been called ‘the most gorgeous campus anywhere’ by the Princeton Review.”

A key part played by UD, Roselle said, is the preservation and renovation by UD of historic University buildings on and near Main Street, as well as a maintenance program of UD’s physical plant that has garnered national recognition.

UD also has been active in providing education opportunities for downtown merchants and in cosponsoring a variety of events with the city of Newark.

“UD offers reduced course fees to merchants interested in learning about web site develop through the office of Professional and Continuing Studies,” Roselle said. “UD also promotes downtown through the Family Fest event in which we welcome freshmen and their families and in sponsoring such collaborative ventures as Community Day, which has been a staple of the Newark calendar for years.”

Local businesses also have been bolstered in recent days by the national football championship win by the Fightin’ Blue Hens, Roselle said. He also issued an invitation to the community to participate in a celebration of the championship at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 10, in the Bob Carpenter Center.

Roselle said UD remains committed to the success of the Downtown Newark Partnership in uniting the campus, the city, the merchants and the community in a collaborative effort to keep Main Street a thriving business center that benefits Newark residents, UD students, staff and visitors.

“The University of Delaware is delighted to be a partner in the Downtown Newark Partnership,” Roselle said. “We are pleased by the accomplishmentsŠover these last five years, and we look forward to a future in which University-city relationships are enhanced as the central business district continues to grow, to improve and to thrive.”

Working together to ensure the continued growth of downtown Newark also was addressed by James Streit, publisher of the Newark Post and the Delaware Business Ledger and chairperson of the Downtown Newark Partnership board of directors.

“The real work is done by hundreds of volunteers, and many of these work year-round” Streit said. “What is important is not what we have accomplished, so much, as who has been involved.”

Streit said a 1997 report by the HyettPalma consulting firm cited the potential for business development in a Main Street area featuring unique shopping venues capable of attracting local residents and visitors alike.

“We are not 100 percent there, but we are well on the way to fulfilling the potential outlined in that report,” he said. “What we have done is improve the communication among merchants, and we also have provided financial incentives, including low-interest and no-interest loans.”

Streit also talked about business recruitment and retention, off-street parking improvements, and an events calendar that helps to sustain economic growth in the downtown business area.

Future challenges for the Downtown Newark Partnership, Streit said, include retaining and supporting existing businesses, attracting new businesses and improving marketing, customer service and image, as well as continuing to work together to achieve common goals.

“When you have the mayor and the city manager and the UD president, as well as key business leaders working together, there is nothing that can’t happen,” Streit said. “The Downtown Newark Partnership has definitely achieved its vision of creating a friendly, attractive downtown Newark.”

Recognizing the efforts of merchants and property owners to make downtown Newark an attractive business area, the Downtown Newark Partnership presented its first annual Building Enhancement and Preservation Award to the Odd Fellows Oriental Lodge Number 12, located on Newark’s Main Street.

The Odd Fellows own the building and hold lodge meetings on the second floor, with the first floor occupied by the Newark Camera Shop and Scissors Palace.

The award was presented by Joseph Charma, chair of DNP’s Design Committee.

“By making the commitment to renovate and enhance an existing historic structure on Newark’s Main Street, the Odd Fellows have embodied the spirit of the partnership’s new award,” Charma said. “Our whole community benefits when building owners exercise good stewardship of the city’s historic past.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes
Photo by Kathy Atkinson

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