With details about the plan to reconstruct a stretch of U.S. 160 in downtown Pagosa Springs still forthcoming, the Main Street Advisory Board is continuing to search for ways to amass support — and mitigate disruption — among businesses likely to be impacted by the project.
Consulting with a web developer and marketing firm on Oct. 31, board members questioned how to direct traffic and dollars to businesses when conveniences like access and parking are limited.
One possible answer gaining traction is a revamped Main Street website, which board members speculated could serve a twofold purpose as both an informational hub for all things reconstruction-related and a tool for promoting businesses before, during and after work is completed.
“It became evident that this pending road construction was coming up and a plan needed to be put in place,” said Matt Molenar, whose firm met with the Main Street board on Oct. 31. “There’s going to be some hardships, and this is something that a group of people could come together [for] and try to offset and keep businesses afloat.”
Molenar reported his company has been successful in helping the city of Yuma, Ariz., navigate a similar construction project, and, if hired by the board, proposed implementing marketing strategies like short-form videos spotlighting local businesses, social media campaigns and deploying software tools capable of lassoing tourists visiting the surrounding areas.
“It inspires some ideas beyond … our website just being kind of informational, brochure-ware,” board member Haz Saïd commented during an earlier meeting about the website on Oct. 10.
“That’s what helped our board think bigger [about] this project,” Main Street Coordinator Kathleen McFadden added. “This is something that we aspire to.”
Seeking to scale Yuma’s project to local realities, Pagosa Springs Mayor and Main Street board member Shari Pierce asked how redoubled marketing efforts would help the town surmount challenges like parking and way-finding during its own project — which is expected to take two seasons to complete.
“Have you seen these programs be successful in getting people to want to park-and-ride or park-and-walk on into those blocks where that heavy [work] is going on?” Pierce asked.
“That, specifically, isn’t something that we’ve had to tackle,” Molenar replied. “But, I’ll say, regardless of the challenge or regardless of the message, this platform works as far as communicating ideas out to people.”
The Main Street board may have an opportunity to begin refining its message as soon as Nov. 18, when the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is anticipated to release limited information about what bids, if any, were received for the project and whether or not a contractor was selected.
That update is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Bliss Scoops and Sweets, located at 470 Pagosa St., on Nov. 18.
“They [CDOT] will not tell us the contractor names or bid amounts, but they will tell us if they are moving forward with selecting a contractor,” McFadden wrote in an email to The SUN.
According to board president Rick Holter, building public awareness around the project while also girding business owners for potential disruptions could require a multiphase approach.
“We can build the foundation for this [website] in the next couple of months … and then look to next spring to summer, when theoretically the project is starting to crank up, as when we add on the bells and whistles kind of stuff,” he said.
As part of that effort, Holter emphasized the importance of sharing a vision for what lies beyond the rubble and hassle of construction — something he suggested a new website and visual renderings could help promote.
“There’s a whole lot of trepidation about this construction project,” Holter said. “We want to put out there that once we get through the trouble, there’s a bright future ahead.”
For its next steps, McFadden indicated the board would plan to hold additional discussions about its marketing approach and take a closer look at the costs associated with hiring Molenar, whose services board members have stated would start at around $10,000.
“I really think that this plan, or some variation on it, is going to make the difference to keep everybody in business and to keep that vision [alive],” Molenar told the board during his closing pitch. “Sometimes just having something to focus on keeps that hope going and keeps you going though the hard times. Plus, it’ll work.”
garrett@pagosasun.com
