Community efforts bring Downtown to life again

By Kendra Simpson

Empty storefronts are giving way to hot spots for entertainment, eclectic restaurants and family-friendly activities that aim to bring Downtown St. Joseph back to its past as a buzzing hub of the community.

Thanks to collaborative efforts by merchants and other interested parties, within the last decade, several boutiques, bars and restaurants have set up shop, bringing new life Downtown.

Ron Barbosa, chairman of the St. Joseph Downtown Community Improvement District, said these changes have been slowly coming to life since the 1980s thanks to work done by the Downtown Association, an organization composed of local business owners.

“The other portion of it, too, is the individual businesses that are Downtown,” Barbosa said. “These people are entrepreneurs. They have a faith in the Downtown and they want to establish their business.”

The Downtown Community Improvement District was established in 2011 as a special taxing entity to improve the area. The organization works on funding provided by a half-cent sales tax and a property tax equivalent to 50 cents per $100 of property valuation.

“We average probably $130,000 a year from that and we put that in again for economic development entertainment districts,” Barbosa said. “We also assist those folks that purchase properties Downtown or make improvements Downtown. We have a program that we give grants to supplement their investment. And even in the past three or four years, we’ve seen some improvements Downtown to that has been very, very positive.”

This is where the ball started rolling. With the funding, the Community Improvement District was able to hold events to bring people to the area, such as the Downtown Holiday Experience, Sculpture Walk and the summer concert series Sounds of Summer. The organization also actively supports cornerstones of the Downtown area such as the Missouri Theater and the recently reopened Trail Theatre.

“Incrementally over the years, I see a lot of positive things going on in Downtown,” Barbosa said. “But unless you’re really there and looking at it, it doesn’t show as much. But you have to be understanding that it’s an incremental thing.”

With the help of the Community Improvement District, Downtown was starting to see a resurgence, but it still needed help along the way. In 2021, Main Street America had arrived to provide that assistance.

The Main Street program has succeeded in helping several historic cities for over 40 years by organizing and connecting the downtown groups, but the program is only successful if the community is willing to put in the effort. Dana Ekstrum, former president of Main Street St. Joseph and current owner of the Downtown shop Manic Snail, emphasized the need for community involvement and cooperation to revitalize the area.

“Generating community support has been a huge part of it because, without volunteers and community engagement and people who love the Downtown and are willing to give their time and money to it, these efforts are not sustainable,” Ekstrum said.

With many town hall meetings, strategy sessions and several goals, Main Street St. Joseph kicked off. Dozens of new businesses opened up, bringing more foot traffic and recognition of the historic Downtown area.

“If you haven’t been Downtown in several years or even in the last year, you’d be surprised to see the fun new shops that have popped up,” Ekstrum said. “We have a new bookstore Downtown that was a big wish list item. Three years ago, feedback from the community was ‘We want a bookstore.’ The momentum and the energy that is present now is a very exciting thing. So if you haven’t been Downtown, definitely come Downtown.”

Ekstrum, who has lived in St. Joseph for the past 12 years, said there are several noticeable changes from when she moved there to today.

“I think if you were in Downtown 10 years ago and then snapped your fingers and you were in Downtown now, you would see a lot more color, you’d see more murals, you’d definitely see more businesses,” Ekstrum said. “And just this year, (there have been) several exterior improvements to some of our historic buildings through the grant programs that our city has been awarded (through) the ARPA grants. We’ve seen new awnings go up. We’ve seen new colorful signage. And it’s just been a really exciting time just in the last year, the number of improvements and energy.”

Downtown St. Joseph continues to evolve with the help of Main Street St. Joseph, the Downtown Community Improvement District and the Downtown Association. But only with community support and activism can it truly thrive.

“The community that we all want to see and that we all want to grow requires all of us to be a part of that from our elected officials to the average citizen,” Ekstrum said. “Everybody has an opinion on what they would like to see here, and it’s going to take all of us to build that together and to sustain it together for not only this generation, but the generations to come.”

The efforts aim to encourage the community to bring life to Downtown by visiting local businesses in the area. A map with all Downtown bars, restaurants and shops can be found at www.downtownstjoemo.com/directory.

To apply for a grant application through the Community Improvement District, visit its website at www.downtownstjoemo.com/community/community-improvement-district. To keep up with Main Street St. Joseph, its initiatives and input sessions, visit the organization’s blog at mainstreetstj.blogspot.com.