Third Thursdays, pedestrian alley & place making in Manchester
The Stockwell's gumball machine on the sidewalk in front of Kellies on Adrian street proved popular with kids at the first Third Thursday event last week.
Last Wednesday night, the Downtown Development Authority hosted a presentation by Gil White, Placemaking Consultant for the Michigan Realtors Association. White explained placemaking and gave examples of placemaking projects in Michigan communities of different sizes from villages as small as Manchester to cities like Marquette, Jackson, and Lansing. Examples included benches and Adirondack chairs to make comfortable places to sit, “parklets” built in parallel parking spots, re-purposed alleyways, street pianos, and more.
Michigan Realtors give Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper place making grants to communities. Manchester is one of the first communities to receive a grant in 2018. Along with money donated by sponsors Proper Property Services, Danielle Cassetta of Keller Williams, and Pat Fielder of Keller Williams, this year's grant will be used to fund Manchester’s Third Thursdays and a place making project in the alley that runs between Dance with Heart and Comerica Bank.
The first Third Thursday event took place last Thursday evening. One of the organizers, Jason Heinrich, stated, ”The first Manchester Third Thursday was a great learning experience. The event served as a great pilot for future events … providing us an opportunity to try out various activities for the community. Many community members were eager to offer suggestions, which helps us to understand what works and doesn’t work. The feedback I received was positive with an appreciation for the variety of street performers, vendors, and activities throughout the downtown."
Organizers of Third Thursdays include a group of downtown business owners and DDA members Sue LaRocque, Mary Bortmas, Crystal Fahey, and Linda Stevens, Jason Heinrich, Ray Berg and Jesse Tanner. Organizers are still seeking additional sponsors, volunteers, vendors, and performers.
Heinrich states that organizers hope to see more individual community members to get involved as a volunteer/organizer. Contact riverraisinantiques@gmail.com if you or someone you know is an interested artist, vendor, maker, or performer. “This is also a great opportunity for local organizations to participate through group projects or vending,” he added "For example: the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts provided street chalk stations and folks from the Manchester Rocks Facebook group provided a rock painting area which the participants later hid throughout the village.”
The placemaking project in the alley between the dance studio and Comerica bank will turn the space into a “people habitat” in addition to being a useful pedestrian walk through. Future Third Thursday events will include opportunities for the community to voice their interests and what they would like to see in the space. Some suggestions already brought forward include: sitting benches or chairs, greenery/planters, overhead solar string lighting, an outdoor piano, chalk board for kids to draw, painted path, Doggie waste bag dispenser, painted trash can and recycle bin, games and storage bin (chess, checkers, Jenga) or Giant Size Chess Board.
Third Thursday photos:
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