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D owntown Lafayette found itself square in the spotlight in 2011, as a team of consultants worked with stakeholders, visitors and Lafayette’s elected officials to craft a Downtown Vision for the Old Town business corridor. The process to identify a retail niche for Lafayette confirmed what we in Lafayette already knew: Our community is creative, diverse and eclectic. Building on those will be the cornerstone of future efforts to enliven the Heart of Lafayette. Implementing recommendations from the Vision will begin in earnest in 2012 with the help of a $250,000 grant to the Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority’s budget from the city's general fund. Lafayette’s downtown also hosted a number of new events in 2011 to complement our well‐established signature events. These new events included a heart‐ healthy, technologically‐savvy scavenger hunt called the HeartChase and a Halloween window painting contest inspired by the childhood memories of an Old Town resident. Thousands of people attended the annual Oatmeal Festival and Peach Festival, and the Lafayette Old Town Association helped raise money for the Centaurus High School Band’s trip to New York City to play on Veterans Day. Old Town Lafayette Annual Report 2011 DAC Mission Statement Adopted March 9, 2010 The Downtown Action Committee advises the Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority on downtown issues, initiatives and redevelopment; implements plans to enhance the pedestrian-friendly gathering place in the heart of Lafayette; and supports economic revitalization of downtown. DAC’s ultimate goal is to create a self-sufficient downtown organization. Downtown Action Committee Carolyn Culter Pete d’Oronzio Bob Rosenthal Ted Lupberger, chairman Lisa Varga, vice chairwoman Bill Hopkins Connie Ruel John Weise Kennedy ---PAGE BREAK--- Festival Plaza Home to the Lafayette Farmer’s Market, the Picnic on the Plaza music lunch hour, free yoga practice and other events, Festival Plaza in 2011 continued to be a core gathering place in the downtown corridor. The Downtown Action Committee expanded its popular Picnic on the Plaza music series to 14 weeks at the Plaza and again held the popular annual Fashion Show on the Starkey Building lawn. This year, the Fashion Show was part of Art Night Out. During the summer months, the Plaza fountain provided hours of entertainment for children as they splashed in the water. In December, Santa visited with local children twice at the Plaza; several groups of carolers sang holiday favorites; and local residents lit a holiday tree in the center of the performance structure. Picnic on the Plaza The Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority in September 2011 adopted the Vision Plan that sets forth policies for the future of downtown. The document, created with the help of stakeholder input, identifies a retail niche for the downtown corridor, catalyst sites for redevelopment and strategies for small investments that can be made in the corridor in the short‐term. To read the Vision, please visit: www.cityoflafayette.com/downtownvision Downtown Vision 2011 ---PAGE BREAK--- Photo courtesy C. Alan Crandall Enhancing Downtown Through the Arts In 2011, the arts continued to be an integral part of Old Town’s revitalization. For the third year, the Lafayette Cultural Arts Commission partnered with businesses to produce Art Night Out from May through September. The city’s rotating sculpture exhibit, Art on the Street, was expanded to include 16 public art pieces in 2011. In December, the Recreation Department teamed up with Channel 4’s “Fit 4 Colorado” program to launch the newly branded, self-guided heART Walk route through Old Town and introduced participants to the array of art installations along South Public Road. The first annual Halloween window painting contest, sponsored by the Lafayette Old Town Association, took place in Old Town in October. Merchant windows along Public Road were transformed into canvases for kids to paint themes of Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, and Harvest Fest. Art work in several age categories were graded in four categories, Presentation of Theme/Ideas, Creativity/Originality of Display, Composition/Design and Overall Artistic Impression. By the Numbers In 2010, the City of Lafayette began tracking sales tax receipts by square footage in individual commercial areas. Based on those figures, the downtown urban renewal authority area produced 94 cents per square foot in sales tax in 2009 and 99 cents per square foot in 2010. Over time, the city will be able to compare the commercial districts across the city. Zero Waste Thanks to the Lafayette Waste Reduction Advisory Committee, two of Lafayette’s downtown festivals are zero-waste events. This year’s Peach Festival had a trash diversion rate of 84%, meaning that 3,983 pounds were kept from the landfill. At the 2011 Oatmeal Festival, 1,820 pounds of compostables, cardboard and comingled containers were diverted from the landfill. The overall diversion rate for the Oatmeal Festival was 97%! ---PAGE BREAK--- For more information about downtown, check out www.oldtownlafayette.com or www.facebook.com/Lafayette.FestPlaza. For more information about the Downtown Action Committee, contact Downtown Coordinator Jenn Ooton at [PHONE REDACTED], ext. 3337 Easter In 2011, the Recreation Department again divvied up the annual egg hunt between Festival Plaza and Waneka Lake. Festival Plaza hosted the youngest egg hunters — children 2 and under. After the older kids collected goodies at the Recreation Department’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Waneka Lake, parents and their toddler egg hunters headed to Festival Plaza for a continuation of the fun and photos with the Easter Bunny. Summer Concert Series For the 5th consecutive year, the Recreation Department hosted their Summer Concert finale event at Festival Plaza. 2011 featured a disco dance-off and ’70s costume contest with prizes provided by downtown businesses. HeartChase In September, the Recreation Center partnered for the first time with the American Heart Association on a smart-phone led game in Old Town. The adventure led teams through Old Town Lafayette where they solved clues and completed checkpoints to beat the other teams and be named as the HeartChase champion and win great prizes. Think Minute-to-Win-It meets The Amazing Race. Lafayette Old Town Association (LOTA) LOTA is a nonprofit business and community organization dedicated to Old Town. In 2011, the organization continued to work jointly with the Downtown Action Committee on advertising to promote the downtown business area and promote a comprehensive website for downtown: www.oldtownlafayette.com. Promotions included the new “Taste the World in Old Town” campaign and the Spot the Elf contest in December. LOTA’s residents committee also held a Homegrown Food Exchange at the Lafayette Days celebration to benefit the Centaurus High School Marching Band and spearheaded the grassroots Alley Art Amazin’ project. As of November 2011, 11 alley mural projects had been completed. LOTA’s second annual Holiday Home Tour drew more than 100 people and raised more than $1,000.