MONTICELLO – Local business owners,
public officials and residents of the Monticello area met Monday to discuss
the future of village and “re-branding” the community as part
of the Plan B: “Rebranding Monticello and Rebuilding the Village
in the Post Jenkins Era.”
The seminar, held at Miss Monticello Diner, was organized by Steve Kurlander
of Kurlander Communications as part of a series of Plan B seminars being
held throughout Sullivan County.
Attendees of the event shared ideas on how to not only rebrand and rebuild
the community but also, how to utilize the imminent influx of visitors
that will come with the erection of the casino/resort.
During the session, Monticello was referred to as the “crossroads”
of Sullivan County. Kurlander said he hopes the event will harvest ideas
for a new brand that will peak the interest of passersby. “I’m
going to try to start branding Monticello, start trying to generating
some excitement,” said Kurlander. “I want to be able to show
that Monticello has a number of great things here to do so people from
Orange County, Ulster County and Pennsylvania come here; getting the traffic
to come in instead of going back out.” One thing Kurland is doing
to try to accomplish that goal is turning Monticello into a restaurant
cluster, one with a large selection of eateries that will make it a destination
for dining.
Village Manager David Sager says cleaning up Broadway is a priority
Robert Dadras, a former coordinator for the Downtown Revitalization Center
of the Sullivan County Planning Department and contributor to the Hyatt
Palmer Monticello Downtown Development District Study, said strategizing
a way to get casino patrons to spend money locally is an important part
of this plan. “Really, the bigger discussion is: how are you going
to bring money to Monticello,” said Dadras. “You’re
going to have people coming to this gigantic casino, entertainment, amusement
complex; how are you going to get them to leave there and come to Broadway
to spend money. That’s got to be part of the next part of the plan.”
According to Dadras, a thriving Downtown District is essential to the
success of a community.
Monticello Village Manager, David Sager, is already working on Broadway
and it is, in fact, the “next part of the plan.” Sager said
he hopes within the next month, an official think-tank for the cause will
be created and will yield some results within four to six months. In the
meantime, Sager said he is working on cleanup and property owner investment.
“From my standpoint, if you’re looking at Broadway, it’s
to have building owners reinvest in their properties and to actively market
themselves to try to attract small businesses,” he said. “I
don’t think that was always done in the past, so, I’m asking
for a much greater involvement from the current property owners to do
that. I’m doing everything I can in terms of cleaning up Broadway,
in terms of doing community policing and we’re going to make Broadway
shine and be a safe welcoming place.”
Kurlander will be hosting more Plan B events in Sullivan County and the
night of April 30, Monticello Business Association, which is also looking
to rebrand the Monticello area, will be holding a meeting at Albella’s
to continue the discussion.
