Del Rio Main Street triage: Too little, too late?

May 1, 2007
By Bill Sontag
Feature Writer

Five years ago, Del Rio joined the swelling ranks of Texas towns and cities collaborating with the Texas Historical Commission to revitalize old, often deteriorating commercial cores. Support here was strong, but not overwhelming, and the jury is still out on whether the program is – or can ever become – effective.

“At the beginning, I was not for it, because we were not even a Main Street City yet, and we weren’t required to have a coordinator,” explained Del Rio Mayor Efrain Valdez. As a councilman in 2002, before the state accepted Del Rio’s application for Texas Main Street designation, Valdez opposed hiring a Main Street program director as the rules require, believing an assistant city manager had first priority.

“Now I am for it,” declared Valdez. In fact, Valdez has become an ardent supporter of thrusts taking aim at pressing infrastructure needs downtown and the municipal support to coordinate the huge task. Deteriorating pavement, uneven sidewalks 10-18 inches above the street, and years of neglect of underground utility systems now threaten not only the historic business hub, but also a fringe mix of churches, residences, law offices and museums.

City council members recently awarded a design contract to Chiang, Patel & Yerby, a

San Antonio engineering firm, represented by Senior Associate Steven P. Schoenekase. Interim City Manager Frances Rodriguez explained that, while she has the authority to sign the contract, negotiations are still underway for price and timeframes of the CP&Y tasks of preparing a scope of work, overall designs and bidding documents for actual construction.

Valdez commented, “The thing is, we need cooperation, when we do this project, from the business owners, because I know one of the things that we’re going to have to do is to reconstruct the whole Main Street infrastructure and the streets, and sidewalks with [Americans with Disabilities Act] ADA regulations [compliance]. So, we need 100 percent from the commercial people and business owners to support this.” But restoring the historic vigor among 19th century buildings and 21st century clientele and merchants requires more than bricks, mortar, asphalt and cement.

Currently, after six coordinators have come and gone in the position, the city now relies on Anne De La Rosa, director of the Paul Poag Theatre to spend 51 percent of her time as Main Street coordinator. It isn’t working. De La Rosa has her hands full now with an ambitious schedule of performances and events in the old performing arts center, and Valdez knows it.

The city workforce seems perforated with employees in positions of multiple responsibilities, interim jobs and temporary assignments, and Valdez declared to LIVE! his determination to see a full-time, trained, experienced, and passionate person hired to direct the Del Rio Main Street program.

“It’s not just putting up the monthly Saturday morning [Main Street] Market. That’s nice, and I agree with it. We’re not going to do away with it, but, we need somebody that can bridge that gap between the commercial people and the city [government],” said Valdez. “And we haven’t found that person yet.”

First, Valdez wants a city manager hired to fill the “interim” slot now performed by former City Finance Director Rodriguez. He believes the permanent incumbent in the city manager’s job should have the latitude to hire a Main Street director with whom staff can work. “Whoever we hire has the right to hire their own staff.”

“The way I see it is that the Main Street coordinator is going to be the bridge between the merchants and the city … and part of that job is going to be economic development for downtown.” Valdez hopes to see close coordination between the Main Street coordinator and the city’s current economic development specialists, Jackie Robinson and Monique Vernon, and sees them as co-equals.

Debra Farst, Texas Main Street director, Texas Historical Commission, Austin, was relieved Saturday (April 14) to learn that Valdez supports a full-time position. To illustrate the parent agency’s willingness to find proper talent, Farst said, “It’s just not something that can be done half-time,” adding that successful programs demand, at minimum, a 75 percent (30 hours-per-week) commitment of time from a good coordinator. “I think it needs to be 100 percent,” said Valdez.

“We can help out with a lot of data on who to hire with sample job descriptions, skill sets needed, knowing that every community is different. We have salary surveys, resumés, and a list-serve of job postings,” Farst said. “But one of the first things we do when someone is hired is to bring them to training sessions up here [Austin], so they can develop the skills they need.” Farst stressed “achieving sustainability in the Main Street programs.” To succeed, she said, “It’s all about economic development, it’s a long-term investment.”

Main Street Advisory Board members contacted by LIVE! were very pleased to hear of Valdez’s commitment to securing an experienced, full-time coordinator for the program that has so long languished without such credentials.

“That would be wonderful! It would really be good if it was a full-time coordinator,” said Shannon Brown, chair of the Del Rio Main Street Advisory Board, and owner of Buffalo Girls clothing and gifts and the Brown Bag café, 440 S. Main St. “Promoting our downtown businesses is so important. Jackie [Robinson] has done such a good job bringing new business people to look around and see what the downtown has to offer. We need someone who’s going to work with the city and the Main Street Advisory Board to get things going.”

Councilwoman Lisa Cadena Craig has her own ideas about what Main Street needs, but she was pleased to hear the mayor’s commitment to hiring a professional. “See, that’s news to my ears, and I’m glad he came up with that on his own, because I think it says he’s understanding the impact Main Street has.” Cadena Craig’s family has been in the Main Street district for sundry businesses for many years, including a blacksmith shop, realty sales, and now Cadena Craig’s own store, Milagros Del Rio, a high-end Mexican imports enterprise at 756 S. Main St. Open less than a week, Milagros is surprisingly unique, with an extensive inventory, not similar to any business in the district.

Cadena Craig believes the downtown area should recruit heavily for businesses seen as appropriate and necessary for Main Street revitalization and growth. “The Sanders [Jim and Betty] over there at the Emporium [800 S. Main St.] really started it all, with their restoration of an old family building and development of a business that caters to tastes of their customers. It’s going to take people like that to get things going here.”

“We need to treat this as if it’s its own little community, with services and merchandise,” Cadena Craig said. She’d like to see a dry cleaners and laundry enterprise in the district, as well as a pharmacy, another beauty shop, and more eateries. “I want that kind of small town, community feel down here,” she said. “But it would be nice to have [H-E-B] Central Market down here or a Whole Foods, because they’re both in line with that eclectic style, and it would be beautiful downtown … maybe even in the old Guarantee building …It might be idealistic, but if we don’t hope for it, then it won’t happen.”

Earlier in the day, Valdez concurred with Cadena Craig’s assessment. “I really don’t want chains, you know, commercial chains coming downtown. I would actually like to see the private businesses take over. I got this idea from Albuquerque, New Mexico. In old town Albuquerque, it’s all mom, pop shops, and I think that’s the idea of downtown, because I think that reflects the culture and the attitude of the city, to give it that local flavor … Our preference is hometown people, but let’s say that Macy’s wants to come downtown – we’re not going to say ‘No’ to them.”

“Everybody wants to come back to Americana,” Cadena Craig said. “By that I mean it’s the need to slow down, not be rushed by all the technology, and that’s funny coming from me because I love technology. But at the same time realizing you need to gather your peace of mind by returning to your basic needs. And, interestingly, because of the technology, people can come back home. They don’t have to be in the rat race anymore.”

Roxana and Fernando Granados are recent entrepreneurs, owners of Matizes, The Woman Image-Accessories, 759 S. Main St. Fernando is vitally interested in city efforts to revitalize a thriving downtown business climate. “I would like to see more promotion of historic downtown,” Fernando said. He dislikes the Del Rio Main Street program banners and logos cantilevered from light- and telephone poles in the district. “I don’t think they’re very colorful. My wife asked me if I liked them when we came here, and I had not even noticed them,” said Granados.

Granados attended a Main Street Advisory Board meeting, “And then, after that, I forgot. No one sent me any notices when they were to take place or where, but what they work on I don’t really see any changes down here. There are many good intentions and good ideas, but nothing really happens.”

Granados wants to see more youth activities scheduled and publicized downtown. His store inventory targets girls and young women, and he believes events related to the high school or college – “Pep rallies would be good” – could be planned and publicized. And Granados isn’t looking for a handout. He’d like to see the merchants downtown cooperate and share investment in commercials to publicize the advantages of downtown shopping.

Shannon Brown, Main Street Advisory Board chair, concurs. “A lot of people forget that we have a downtown. We’re not like most cities where you have to drive through downtown to get someplace. So we’re in the process of making a sign to let people know where downtown is,” Brown said.

Brown said her board is working feverishly to develop a new downtown event she hopes will appeal to all age groups. “We’re holding our first Taste of the Town on June 2,” Brown said, adding that details of time and locations will be announced soon. She anticipates at least 16 vendors, about half of whom have already committed to participate. Tickets for entry to the gastronomic extravaganza will be $15 for adults, $10 for children and kids under five-years-old, free.

“The money we’ll raise will go to buying new Christmas decorations for downtown, and we’re also creating a façade grant so businesses can apply and get financial assistance for a year to improve the appearance of the outside of their buildings,” Brown explained.

For now, City Chief Engineer Alejandro Garcia has the larger project – fixing Main Street’s structural ills – in the sights of his transits and theodolites. He estimates that the first phase – just initial planning, design and preparation of construction bidding documents – could be a $200,000 tab. Then, after tricky scheduling to improve everything from water pipes to pavement, parking to sidewalks, turnkey completion of the project may cost a total of $3 million.

But it’s got to be done, Garcia told LIVE! The project will encompass South Main Street, from Gibbs Street south to Strickland Street, and its connectors to Griner Street and Pecan Street. “We should be able to get started in November,” Garcia said, adding that the phases designed to minimize disruption to business and commerce may require a total of nine months to a year to complete.

Garcia confirmed that the project is part of the city’s budget approved by city council. “Absolutely, this is part of our Capital Improvement Plan.”