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 The shows typically start in May and run through September and
are held on the fourth Saturday of the month. For that one night,
the Club lines cars along Kickapoo Street on the downtown Courthouse
Square. This causes a street closure, usually for about 3 hours.
This year, as Loeffler issued his request, it was learned that not
all the merchants along Kickapoo are happy about the car show being
there. Mayor Keith Snyder, naming no one specifically, said that
merchants reported their business drops substantially on a car show
night. The merchants said the reason, they believe, is because
patrons are not able to park in front of the business they wish to
visit, and they don’t want to walk from the end of the block to the
business.
The downtown merchants had suggested that the car show be moved one
block north, on Kickapoo between Pekin and Broadway Streets.
Loeffler expressed confusion about the concerns of the merchants,
saying that the club participants loved the downtown businesses and
paid visits to many of them during the shows each month. He noted
that club members eat at Hallie’s and Sorrento’s, and they very much
enjoy going to By the Bean.
He also noted that moving the show one block north would be putting
the cars on a narrower street than they normally have.
During that discussion, some of the comments from aldermen included
that moving the show would give the club the impression that it is
no longer wanted in the downtown area, and that was not true.
It was also noted by aldermen that their purpose should be to bring
visitors to the square, not direct them away from it.
Jeff Hoinacki suggested that the cars could go on the courthouse
side of the street and leave the merchant side open for traffic.
Jeff Cooper added to the suggestion saying that the city could also
make that street one-way only for show night for safety purposes.
Loeffler thought both suggestions were good.
At the end of that discussion, Marty Neitzel said she felt like this
required further discussion. She noted to the council that this is
going to be the year of change for the city, so why not try to make
changes that would accommodate everyone in this situation.
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This week at the Tuesday night meeting, the topic returned to
the forefront. Snyder said there had been a collaborative
meeting that involved aldermen Todd Mourning and Marty Neitzel,
along with Clay Johnson for the city, Andi Hake for the Logan
County Alliance, and David Lanterman as a downtown merchant and
Loeffler.
The result was that this year the car show will rotate around
the square. In May, the main body of cars will be parked on
Broadway Street. In June, they will be on Kickapoo, in July on
Pulaski, back to Broadway in August, and they will end the
season on Kickapoo in September.
It was also reported that the club will do more to promote the
local merchants. There will be sheets available at the sign in
of the cars telling what is available, and there will be a punch
card where that attendees will have the card punched in the
local businesses. They may then enter their cards for prizes at
the show.
Hake had also told the club that there was funding available
from the Tourism Bureau, to help in advertising and promoting
the shows so as to bring in more people.
Snyder said it had also been discussed to incorporate other
activities with the car shows to create more of a “festival”
event in the downtown area. At that comment, Michelle Bauer
suggested they look into showing outdoor movies downtown on a
car show night.
As the discussion came to a close, Mourning commented that he
had a very positive feeling about the outcome of the situation.
He noted that it was good to see the LCA, City, the car club,
and downtown business owners all working together to resolve the
issues.
[Nila Smith]
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