North Park Main Street 1997-1998 Annual Report 

July
1997

A unique streetscaping project began along two blocks of University Avenue east of 30th Street.

North Park Main Street took an active role to ensure that construction would be positive for businesses in the district. We met weekly as a partnership with the Project Manager, contractor, Office of Small Business, and impacted merchants. Ads, flyers, and posters were designed specifically for the project.

Our privately-funded banner program got a jump-start with a generous $2,000 sponsorship by San Diego National Bank.

North Park Main Street attended Focus on Main Street, a training by Kennedy Smith of the National Main Street Center.

We had our July Merchant Mixer at ZenKura Futons. Merchant Mixers, hosted by different businesses or service organizations every month, are a great opportunity to meet North Park business and community leaders.

August
1997

North Park Main Street published our first edition of The North Park Way, our new newsletter for merchants in the Business Improvement District.

Our fourth committee, the Organization Committee, was established this month. Main Street uses a "Four-Point Approach" to deal with the full spectrum of interrelated issues that affect commercial districts. The four points are Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring.

Our Spring Festival sub-committee was formed and had their first meeting for the May event.

August’s Merchant Mixer was hosted by Rolling Readers.

September
1997

We attended a California Main Street Network Conference hosted by Coronado Main Street. Coronado has been involved with Main Street for about ten years. It’s hard to believe that before Main Street, Coronado had a vacancy rate triple that of North Park!

To maintain cleanliness of the district, we got ten new trash cans, compliments of Council-member Christine Kehoe’s Livable Neighborhoods program. The receptacles were distributed along University Avenue and 30th Street.

North Park Main Street hired a full-time Assistant Director. With 65 neighborhood volunteers on four committees and numerous sub-committees, there is a need for full-time staff in the Main Street office.

The Design Committee worked diligently for weeks on Development Criteria for North Park Main Street. The document was presented to the Board who adopted it unanimously!

The first meeting of the Organization Committee was held this month. We elected Richard Miller of Lost Your Marbles Too as Chair and began developing a Conflict of Interest policy and Statement of Confidentiality.

Check out the marquee of the North Park Theater for happenings in the district. Both the City and Landmark Theaters donated letters to our program. Our first advertised event was North Park Days in October.

We distributed election ballots this month for our Board of Directors. Eight candidates were running for Board positions.

Representatives from the National Main Street Center visited North Park to assess our progress and define our needs. This is one of the many benefits of being part of the Main Street network.

October
1997

At our Annual Meeting, we welcomed new Directors to our Board. Hal Thomas of Thomas Realtors took the helm as President, and Ellen Yacovone of Washington Mutual was elected Vice President.

One of the first projects for our new Board was to apply the Development Criteria for North Park Main Street to the proposed Food4Less market. The criteria functioned well in helping us be objective with development projects.

Our Promotion Commit-tee was busy in October. We celebrated the half-way point of the sidewalk construction with North Park Days, featuring a huge sidewalk sale! Merchants featured their products, menus, and services outside. We had music, clowns, balloons, and face-painting all throughout the district. We look forward to having this event every year and seeing it grow more popular.

Our Spring Festival sub-committee continued to meet regularly in the planning of May’s event.

San Diego National Bank hosted a wonderful Merchant Mixer this month. Their branch was all decked out in Halloween decorations and spider webs. Everybody dressed up in costume. Local restaurants donated lots of food and a bubbling "Witch’s brew" was enjoyed by all.

North Park Main Street set a shining example to all of the businesses in our district with our new, inexpensively-constructed, window display. Designed by volunteers on our Design Committee, the new display provided space for posters and announcements. All of the paper in our windows was then removed from our windows. What a difference!

Our Design Committee printed brochures for our new banners and started seeking sponsorships. We had a tremendous response for the large banners which sold out in just a few weeks.

November
1997

The North Park Organization of Businesses, Inc., applied to do business as "North Park Main Street." We felt this new name recognized our expanding role for merchants in the Business Improvement District.

This month, in an effort to ensure the long-term success of the program, we established the Fund Raising Committee. This is our fifth regular committee in addition to Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring.

Our November Merchant Mixer was hosted by San Diego Antiques and Collectibles.

December
1997

’Tis the season for holiday decorations and music emanating from the North Park Sign, which features its own built-in set of speakers.

Over eighty merchants participated in our Holiday Decoration and Lighting Contest. Winners included ZenKura Futons, Claire de Lune, Shooterz, and Kelly Hair & Nails.

The streetscape project was completed this month. It featured new sidewalks with in-laid tile, umbrella bus stops, seating cubes, and historic storyboards. Much of it was custom-made for North Park.

We organized a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new streetscaping. We had a huge cake decorated with cocktail umbrellas like our new bus stops. Councilmember Kehoe addressed the audience and unveiled one of the four storyboards. The highlight of the event was when Councilmember Kehoe handed each merchant along the streetscaping a broom of their own to keep the new sidewalks clean!

Our Toyland Parade float represented well what we’re doing in the neighborhood: "Jazzin’ Up North Park." The float featured a Dixieland Jazz band and two of our Main Street volunteers as flappers.

Our program’s Ambassador sub-committee began welcoming new businesses to the district this month. A "care package" of useful information was delivered to each new merchant.

North Park Main Street met with the City and the Redevelopment Agency regarding the future of the North Park Theatre. A new timeline was developed, and it was agreed that there would be greater community involvement in the project.

Our Design Committee adopted the Public Art Initiative for storefront improvements. Buildings can qualify for a 50% rebate when public art is a significant part of the facade improvement. This partnership between the Office of Small Business, the Commission for Arts and Culture, and North Park Main Street is a pilot project for Main Street businesses.

A Conflict of Interest policy was developed this month by our Organization Committee. The committee also began working on ensuring the efficiency of our by-laws.

California Main Street visited North Park to assess our progress. Networking with other Main Streets in the state through California Main Street has been very helpful to us.

We had a very successful Holiday Merchant Mixer hosted by Armstrong’s Emporium and Lost Your Marbles Too. There were lots of people and plenty of food! Businesses were awarded for their holiday decorations.

January
1998

North Park Main Street approached the new year with lots of energy. The Board took a visionary stance, designating North Park Main Street an Arts, Culture, & Entertainment District! We felt that arts, already evident here, would focus businesses, complement the existing commercial core, and open the neighborhood to new possibilities.

Our Organization Committee developed a Statement of Confidentiality as policy for North Park Main Street. We wanted merchants to know that we would maintain the confidentiality of information if they called us or stopped by for assistance.

Our Fund Raising Committee applied for CDBG funds for technical assistance, for economic development, and for new streetscaping east of 30th Street.

We attended Focus on Organization, a training by the Office of Small Business for the Organization Committee members and staff.

North Park Main Street scheduled its first Quarterly Meeting this month. With so many volunteers doing so many different projects, this was a great way to get them all to meet each other.

January’s Merchant Mixer was hosted by the Evangelical Bible Book Store.

February
1998

We supported the preservation of the gateway sign at University and Boundary avenues. We suggested that it be relocated elsewhere in the district when the public art gateway project is constructed in that area.

North Park Main Street supported the North Park Community Association by officially joining their organization. Our two groups share a common vision and often work closely with one another.

We also supported the North Park Lighting and Landscape Maintenance District (LLMD) which was up for re-balloting in June of 1998. The LLMD contributes greatly to the cleanliness, safety, and beauty of the commercial core. They clean our sidewalks, plant and water trees, and help us maintain the North Park Sign.

Our Design Committee established two new sub-committees this month. The Design Guidelines and Historic Preservation sub-committees will meet regularly to move the Design Committee further.

Main Street’s Fund Raising Committee applied for Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) financing for our Spring Festival in May. The Spring Festival Committee has been meeting regularly and was progressing well with their festival planning.

The new owners of North Park Travel hosted the February Merchant Mixer. The spectacular event coincided with their grand opening.

March
1998

North Park Main Street has a web site developed by volunteer webmaster Bob Pallas: www.northparkmainstreet.com/npbid. It features information about Main Street, happenings in the district, maps, pictures, The North Park Way newsletter, and much more.

With so many projects in the works, we created an extensive work plan for the upcoming fiscal year (1998-1999). Scott Day from the National Main Street Center assisted us with our work plan development.

North Park Main Street met with restauranteur Debra Helm of Mixx and The Mission. She heard about arts, culture, & entertainment in North Park and wanted to know more. We told her all about Main Street, the work we have done, and all the plans for the district. We also showed her some vacancies for a possible new restaurant!

We supported efforts by the Police Department to place addresses and street names in alleyways.

North Park Main Street also supported efforts to monitor and control the number of pay phones in the district.

Our Design Committee began compiling historic photo-graphs and articles for storefront improvement projects. The photographs reveal much of the architectural history hidden behind stucco modernization. Owners restoring the facades of their buildings may be eligible for a 50% rebate through the Storefront Improvement Program.

North Park Main Street staff attended a California Main Street Network Conference in Benicia in the Bay Area. In ten years, Main Street made a huge difference in Benicia.

With the Spring Festival just around the corner, our committee began meeting every week.

Our Merchant Mixer for March was hosted by The Corner Clubhouse at Utah and University.

April
1998

North Park banners made their debut in the business district. Designed by artist Lisa Schirmer, the banners are color-filled and dynamic, featuring a Renaissance angel. The spirited messenger is nudging the "N" in North Park up as if to say go, shoot for the stars, the sky is the limit! Some small banners are still available for sponsorship.

North Park Main Street met with representatives of nine other community groups over the fate of the Georgia Street Bridge. Though not within the boundaries of our district, the bridge is an important gateway to our neighborhood. All ten of the community groups, including North Park Main Street, recommended that the bridge be seismically retrofitted to retain its historic designation.

This month, we strongly opposed the closing of the Pacific Bell service center at Grim and University. Without the PacBell storefront, people would not receive the same level of customer service they deserved. We felt it was important to retain the service center in North Park for the thousands of customers who regularly used it.

Our Fund Raising Committee met for the first time this month to discuss diversification of funding for our program. The committee meets every fourth Tuesday at 7:30 A.M. in the Main Street office.

We held our second quarterly meeting this month for Board Members, volunteers, and staff.

Our Organization Committee began developing a Board Members Handbook for all Board Members. The handbook would be ready by time the new Board is announced in October.

It came to our attention that the spotlights at the base of the North Park Sign were not working. We informed the North Park LLMD who then had the problem immediately repaired.

May
1998

North Park Main Street received the People in Preservation award by the Save Our Heritage Organisation for storefront improvements on the Odd Fellows Building.

We had our North Park Spring Festival this month. It was a huge success! It featured over 115 vendor on five blocks, with three stages for bands and Karaoke, plus clowns, magicians, children’s amusement rides, and much more.

North Park Main Street began a close collaboration with the Project Area Committee of the Redevelopment Agency towards development of the North Park Theatre.

Silver Gate Lodge hosted the May Merchant Mixer in their beautiful Art Deco building.

June
1998

Numerous representatives from North Park Main Street attended a California Main Street Network Conference in San Luis Obispo. Washington Mutual and San Diego National Bank both donated to our program so we could be represented.

Our Design Committee assisted with a storefront improvement at 3118 University Avenue. This extensive historic restoration included smooth stucco, new awnings, clear windows, new lighting, and new signage for two new businesses!

North Park Main Street supported the development and implementation of a Mid-City small business loan pool.

June’s Merchant Mixer was hosted by Life Colours in the Granada Building.

We held a Volunteer Appreciation Party to thank all of our hard-working volunteers.

Our Economic Restructuring Committee developed a volunteer recruitment postcard for new homeowners in zip code 92104. We have accomplished a lot, but our wish list is long. If you would like to volunteer, please join us at our committee meetings or call us at (619) 294-2501.