Dear Chamber Supporters:
I ended last week with a neat experience for an upcoming Chamber project. Each year we get the opportunity to create a community guide with information about our Chamber, as well as loads of info on the whole community. Ottawa and Franklin County history and contacts are all included, as well as our members as they get added to an alphabetical and categorical directory in the back of the publication. Over the past handful of years, we’ve been able to work with Josie Alexander - North 40 Photography on ways to fill the guide with great shots of our community. She has also supplied us with standout shots for our cover (here are some of our past editions with photos from Josie). This year we decided we wanted to pair up with one of our local wonders, the longest-running movie theatre in the world, the Plaza Cinema. The grand idea was to change the verbiage on their marquee out front… easy enough. Betty Birzer, theatre supporter and current overseer of this historical landmark explained how to get it changed and I’m glad I’m not afraid of heights! A ladder climb later I was up and changing the letters for the cover photo (pictures here). I’m looking forward to seeing the end results of the effort. You can expect to see your 2024 Community Guide just after the start of the new year, keep your eyes open. If you are interested in more than just one, let us know and we'll be happy to supply you. With all that being said, I can now say I’ve changed the marquee on the longest-running movie theatre in the world.
Saluting our Heroes
Last Saturday Ottawa and Franklin County celebrated our veterans with a fantastic parade, lasting almost an hour long! Check out these great photos by Mat Simonson from the City of Ottawa of the parade, over 200 photos included. The parade really had it all, featuring marching bands, patriotic floats, and, most importantly, veterans from various branches of the military. Really a fun parade to watch move down Main Street. Before the parade starts moving, a ceremony takes place at the war memorial at 4th and Main, where community leaders, veterans, and residents gather to pay tribute. Following the parade, folks made their way through City Park to visit the war displays and field of flags set up to walk through. Great weekend put together by the Franklin County Honors group, I imagine we continue to see this celebration adapt and grow as time moves forward.
The Next Chapter - Connecting the Legacy
Here is an update on the conversations revolving around Legacy Square over the last handful of months. If you’ve been listening in to some of the recent Ottawa City Commission meetings you might be aware of some of the progress, but I want to take a step back and do a quick overview. Where it started and where it’s at now… in approximately 866 words.
(These next two paragraphs are history, the following two are current day)
In 2015 Ottawa Community Partnership Inc. (more commonly known as Onward Ottawa) was created with the purpose of finding a community project that would benefit the surrounding area, a real quality of life piece that would bring value to Ottawa. This project was not chosen lightheartedly, taking into consideration several hundred individuals’ thoughts through a charrette process. This involved bringing in all the ideas our community had in its brain trust. The result of those meetings was a desire for an outdoor space where people could gather. This idea began to get played with until an opportunity to acquire the piece of land that sits at the corner of 1st and Walnut became available. This plot of land was completely undeveloped and was sitting empty (formerly housed a building that had since been destroyed). Through a generous donation, the land was offered to the Onward Ottawa committee with the intent that the area would be transformed. The opportunities seemed endless, with a dilapidated parking lot to the south, and a great patch of grass to the north-west, ideas began to flurry. After several plans were brought forth, and the commitment from another massive donor, the makings of an outdoor event space and park could be outlined. Renderings were made showing a covered parking lot to the south, a grassy area and restrooms to the north, and a children’s playground adjacent. With plans in place, fundraising commenced.
Over a year of fundraising accumulated to over 4 million dollars worth of donations, between in-kind and cash pledges. The support was unprecedented in our community. Several hundred individuals and businesses donated goods, talent, or money to this project as they could see its potential. Over 40 individuals volunteered on varying committees to see this vision out. 2018 raised enough funds to warrant the start of the project, construction began in the spring of 2019 and finished in the fall of that same year. The space was completed, and the start of Legacy Square commenced, ripe for programming. As you know, the beginning of 2020 did not go as planned… because of the global pandemic, fundraising ceased. Programming looked sparse in 2020, picked up in 2021 and only grew in 2022. At a time when social distancing was required, this outdoor space allowed for some of these gatherings to take place that just wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Through these tough years, this space has been able to host over 50 events since its grand opening. Concerts, community movie nights, craft fairs, fall festivals, church services and candidate forums to name just a few. Though these results were stunted by the worldwide pandemic, it was always a matter of when Legacy Square would be utilized for events, not if.
(We’re all caught up now)
As we sit in 2023, we now have a space that was formerly a blighted corner at the intersection of our two state trails, which is now an aesthetically pleasing outdoor event space and park. Even with that accomplished, Onward Ottawa still sees a need that was not originally tackled in the first phase of construction. A connection piece that ties into our downtown shopping district. This idea was originally in the plans back in 2018, but for several reasons, it was not able to move forward. As time has passed, the opportunity has now become a possibility again today. With this idea in mind, OCPI presented a proposition to the City of Ottawa’s City Commission back in October, a month or so ago. This entailed a matching challenge, where if the City of Ottawa were to acquire the property currently owned by the Onward Ottawa committee (grassy space, bathroom, and playground adjacent), they in turn would use that challenge and begin another campaign in an attempt to connect Legacy Square through the plot at 124 S Main. This purchase price offered to the City Commission for the properties is lower than the appraised value, but only a fraction of the fundraised 4+ million. After several study sessions discussing this topic, the City Commission voted 3-2 to accept this proposal with the use of federal dollars that were awarded during the pandemic meant for one-time purchases. These dollars need to be spent in a timely manner, sunsetting in 2026. This portion of the City of Ottawa’s ARPA funds allows them to now own the parks, much like all the other parks in the Ottawa community. In the meantime, if you’re looking to reserve Legacy Square, you’ll still reach out to the Chamber to reserve this original space for now. Conversations with the City will continue about how reservations look down the road.
This acquisition allows for a clear understanding of responsibility and ownership. it also allows for the start of the campaign to connect Legacy Square (aka Connect the Legacy) to the downtown. This portion of the project hopes to merit a significant benefit to our downtown business community. Part of this plan includes the addition of a speaker system that would stretch down Main. It also acts as an expansion of this quality-of-life project that is Legacy Square. I look forward to sharing more about what the Onward Ottawa committee has planned as we move through this final campaigning process. Much more excitement to come!
Members Speak, Chamber Listens
I want to thank all of our members who participated in our membership survey this past October. The purpose of this survey was to gain a comprehensive understanding of the needs, thoughts, and sentiments of our membership. We aimed to accomplish this by gathering feedback from businesses of all sizes. We had 83 individuals participate, a great sample size to take into consideration. If you’re interested in the raw data, click here to see the results. Given the anonymity that was accompanied through the survey, we feel as though members were able to give their honest opinions about their local Chamber. Topics of questions included the different benefits being used by the member, knowledge about our organization, and what they want to see changed moving forward. One of the results that stood out to me the most was spurred from the question asking what the member would like to see more of (networking, educational resources, community involvement, etc.). Almost every option was chosen, leaving me with the sentiment that we have reason to grow because there is an appetite by our members. Sherri and I both are excited to see what that growth looks like, something we’re both interested in exploring with our board. 2024 has the potential to be a fantastic year, I look forward to considering these survey answers when we look at elevating our organization!
Ottawa Arts
Last night the Ottawa Community Arts Council put on their annual Art Gala (pictures here). This year’s gala was bigger than ever with the help of Ottawa University, being hosted in their conference rooms in the student union on campus. This event is put on to support the arts classes run by the United Way of Franklin County, a portion of their afterschool program that is held in the Carnegie Library. This arts program has had over 500 kids participate over the last decade or so, many having worked with local United Way director Leigh Hanson. The evening consisted of a silent auction, live auction, and a fabulous meal and drinks. Items were all donated by OCAC supporters, several of the artists present in the room that evening. The event was able to raise a significant amount of dollars over the course of the evening, all benefiting the youth here in Franklin County. The OCAC is always looking for art enthusiasts who want to be involved, check out the page here to get plugged in.
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With the holidays coming quickly, Christmas shopping will begin to ramp up. Gift giving in my family is quite to occasion, usually lasting several hours through what some would think is monotonous, but what we find a great part of the tradition. Good luck to those that start shopping this weekend, lots of goodies around town with your name written on them. Talk to you soon!
Ryland Miller
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
ryland@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
