Downtown Tuesday Nights to return in May
By: Graham Womack, Staff Writer
Downtown Tuesday Nights, a weekly showcase for downtown shops and eateries that operated for 13 years through 2015 but didn’t run last year, is being revived. The rebooted event, operated by Downtown Roseville Merchants, Inc., will launch May 2.
Downtown Tuesday Nights was shuttered in 2016 for lack of funds, said Darlene Lyons, owner of the event’s sponsor, EZ Events.
“It had support,” Lyons said of the 2015 event. “But we struggled with getting the support in time to roll over to 2016.”
This time, support is coming from the Downtown Roseville Partnership, a property business improvement district that encompasses the event. DRP President Doug Wagemann delivered a $25,000 check on Tuesday to Rob Dick, president of Downtown Roseville Merchants, Inc., solidifying DRP as the event’s title sponsor.
Wagemann said his group voted unanimously to serve as title sponsor for the revived event.
“Part of the mandate of (a property business improvement district) is to support events that will bring people down to the district,” Wagemann said.
He noted that the board had declined to invest following the 2015 series of Downtown Tuesday Nights, when Lyons made a presentation requesting $50,000.
“We didn’t feel that comfortable to invest that much as a board for something we didn’t know that much about at the time,” Wagemann said.
Wagemann’s check, a little more than 10 percent of DRP’s annual budget of $240,000, makes a difference in being able to produce Downtown Tuesday Nights, Lyons said.
“It’s a substantial investment in the event,” Lyons said.
She noted that the free event costs at least $100,000 to put on. It includes three stages of entertainment, food trucks and live music. Lyons said that soft-rock group Pablo Cruise, known for their 1978 hit “Love Will Find a Way,” will be among the musical acts.
Wagemann was hopeful that there would be fewer displays for corporations like DirecTV and more family-friendly exhibits and displays.
“The more we can concentrate on local, the happier everyone is,” Wagemann said.
Dick met with Wagemann and Roseville Assistant City Manager Dominick Casey before securing the DRP’s financial support. The city doesn’t contribute money since Downtown Tuesday Nights isn’t the city’s event, Dick said. But the city offers other support, such as arranging road closures.
At a time where so much of the emphasis from city and business leaders downtown revolves around revitalization, the rebooted Downtown Tuesday Nights could be a good gauge of the effectiveness of their combined efforts.
Dick said he was optimistic. He said that while the 2015 event didn’t generate enough support to continue, Lyons did good work recovering from past years.
“This year, it’s going to be even bigger,” Dick said.
Wagemann was optimistic as well.
“I see Downtown Tuesday Nights as just the beginning of a great partnership together,” Wagemann said.
http://www.thepresstribune.com/article/1/20/17/downtown-tuesday-nights-return-may#