Current Issue: June 2010

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When the going gets tough...

ArtSpaces

Donor Spotlight

Downtown Development Update

When the going gets tough...

Downtown Frederick Partnership, like many businesses and organizations around the country, will enter its new fiscal year facing a significant budget challenge.

The Partnership received an $85,000 budget allotment from the City of Frederick in FY10 (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010) to support the organization’s economic development efforts in Downtown Frederick.   The City’s support in the last fiscal year totaled about 19 percent of the Partnership’s overall budget. 

With the City facing an $8.5 million shortfall, Mayor Randy McClement’s FY11 initial budget included a 50 percent cut in the Partnership’s funding from the City.   While very difficult to absorb, the Partnership greatly appreciates being included in the City’s budget during a difficult fiscal year and is thrilled that the City’s leadership restored in the adopted FY11 City budget $17,500 of the initial $42,500 cut.  The Partnership’s staff and board members are now working to close the remaining $25,000 budget shortfall.

During the Partnership’s annual retreat, the organization’s Board of Directors examined the individual budgets of each of each of the four major committees to find ways to trim expenses, and also worked with fundraising consultant Catalan deMatties to brainstorm ways to increase investments in the organization. 

“Going into the retreat, I’ll admit I was a little nervous about how we were going to make this work,” says Paul Thompson, Partnership Board President.  “But after spending the day with our very smart and dedicated board, I have to say I feel quite confident we’ve found some proactive ways to minimize the impact of any cuts we have to make, while also identifying ways to increase our corporate, individual and board member investments.”  

ArtSpaces

American Style Magazine (www.americanstyle.com) named Frederick one of the Top 25 Small Art Cities in the United States.  The national publication that promotes the significance of handmade objects of art holds an annual competition to select the top arts destinations in the United States, based on population numbers.  Frederick falls under the “small cities” category with a population of less than 100,000. 

Frederick joins 24 other small cities such as Asheville, N.C., Santa Fe, N.M. and Key West, Fla., as a recipient of the honor which recognizes the community’s commitment to the arts through its varied and successful offerings of live performances, festivals and public art, to name just a few.

The Frederick Arts Council led a write-in vote campaign to ensure Frederick made the list.  “I want to thank everyone who got behind this effort,” says Shuan Butcher, executive director of the Frederick Arts Council.  “We wouldn't have been able to accomplish this without everyone who took the time to vote for our city.”

The award comes at a time when the Frederick Arts Council is faced with significant cuts to its funding from Frederick County.  “The timing is rather ironic,” Butcher says.  “The fact that Frederick is sure to benefit from increased tourism and recognition as an arts destination only drives home the importance of steady and consistent funding for the arts, especially given the economic impact increased tourism will bring to the area.”

Copies of the Summer 2010 issue of American Style Magazine, which lists the Top 25 large, medium and small cities for art are available for purchase at a discounted rate of $5 at the Cultural Arts Center.

Donor Spotlight

Fran Baker is a fan of Downtown Frederick – literally. 

Her financial sponsorship of the Partnership’s 2009 Annual Report -- just one of many monetary contributions she has made to the organization over the years -- earned her the Partnership’s investor status of “Downtown Frederick Fan.”

But her contributions extend far beyond her wallet.  Fran also has generously donated her wisdom to the Partnership, where as chair of the Organization Committee and a member of the Board of Directors, she has shared decades of first-hand historical insights into Frederick’s past – and its vision for the future.

Fran was a City Alderman when the engineering for Carroll Creek Linear Park was in its early stages and served on the Carroll Creek Task Force.   No one understands better than she how the creek’s development is inextricably tied to Downtown Frederick’s revitalization. 

It’s a revitalization that has allowed her children to build thriving businesses on Market Street.   Her son, Graham, owns La Paz Restaurant and her daughter, Gerry, and her husband, Clyde Hicks, own The Trail House. Her husband, Joe, has an office downtown as well.

“I’m both emotionally and economically attached to downtown,” she admits.   She loves the fact that the area has seen what she calls an “explosion of restaurants” – a far cry from the days in the 1940s when, as a 

Hood College student, she says the only place to eat downtown was “a little confectionary at North Market and 5th streets where we would go to get a little treat.” 

Although she has earned a well-deserved retirement from community service, Fran says she will continue to support the Partnership because she believes so strongly in what it has accomplished and what it can still achieve.  “I want to see downtown flourish because it offers economic and cultural benefits for everyone,” she says.  “I hope we can continue to be a hospitable, welcoming place and continue to find ways to be even more interesting to a wider group of people. I think we’re on our way.”