2012 APRIL MAIN STREET CONFER-

ENCE RECAP .................. 1

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:

VIKKY ROSS .................. 5

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION

DOWNTOWN .................. 6 Downtown update

C R E AT I N G A V I T AL , I N V I T I N G D O W N T O W N L E W I S T O N W H I C H W I L L P R O M O T E Q U AL I T Y

B U S I NE S S , C U L T U R AL , AN D C O M M U N I T Y G R O W T H

THE BIG PICTURE By Breanne Durham, BDL Executive Director

Once a year I am fortunate enough to

attend the National Main Street Confer-

ence to learn from seasoned downtown

professionals the most innovative ap-

proaches and best practices of this field. I

just returned from the conference, and

once again I was impressed and inspired

by what I learned. I’d like to share some

of the highlights with you, as I attend the

conference on behalf of our organization

and community. I’m also going to need

your help to implement some of these

new programs and ideas, because one

thing that really hit home with me from

the conference is the fundamental fact

that downtown revitalization must come

from collaboration!

First of all, to understand why there were

more than 1,200 people gathered in Balti-

more, Maryland for four days learning

about downtown revitalization, you have

to understand that BDL is part of a na-

tional movement called the Main Street

Four-Point Approach®. Along with hun-

dreds of other communities across the

United States, BDL uses Promotion, De-

sign, Economic Restructuring, and Or-

ganization to achieve economic develop-

ment through historic preservation. If

you haven’t already, I encourage you to

learn more about this approach on our

website or at www.mainstreet.org.

Across the nation, Main Street programs,

like BDL, are using Shop Local cam-

paigns (much like our Shop Downtown

For the Holidays program) to remind

consumers that small businesses are the

backbone of the economy and the major

employers (2/3 of jobs are created by

small business) in our communities.

Innovative programs like pop-up busi-

ness competitions (which BDL has al-

ready started planning for Lewiston!),

“parklets,” public-private partnerships,

and public art are being used to activate

unused space, increase property values

and local tax base, and bring new life to

downtown districts.

Many of the case studies presented at the

conference closely resemble work BDL

is already doing. Others, like Main Street

programs that purchase and restore his-

toric buildings for reuse, are encouraging

and exciting to look forward to as our

organization grows.

The most inspiring part of the conference

experience for me is learning about the

positive long-term effects that other com-

munities are seeing from the Main Street

Approach. BDL is a relatively young

organization, so it is incredibly inspiring

to hear from communities that have been

following Main Street for 10-20 years

and have truly turned their downtown

districts into vibrant commercial centers

where business and culture thrive! BDL

has made great strides in the last few

years, and with your help and our contin-

ued dedication to the Main Street Ap-

proach, we will also achieve this goal!

DOWNTOWN STREETSCAPE

UPDATE AND INVITATION TO

ARTIST PRESENTATION ... 3

I N TH IS IS S UE:

Photo from The National Trust Main Street Center

REFRESH THE VALLEY AND

OTHER DOGWOOD FESTIVAL

EVENTS ........................ 4

HISTORY NOTES: THE

VOLLMER BLOCK ............ 5

Herb Boreson, The Diamond Shop

BDL Past President

It’s April – Spring is here

and things are beginning to

bloom in Beautiful Down-

town Lewiston!

I encourage you, if you

haven’t already, to take a

walk down Main Street and

enjoy some of the great new

businesses located there. If

you are looking for a place

to hang out with friends and

just visit, try one of the new

wonderful coffee shops lo-

cated downtown. I encour-

age you to grab a friend or

co-worker and come down-

town to sample some of the

great atmosphere that is

awaiting you.

There are also many new

wonderful food selections

for your dining pleas-

ure. There is a wide varie-

ty of gourmet tastes to

satisfy every palette. And

if you have not experi-

enced Downtown Lewis-

ton’s nightlife I encourage

you to come and listen to

the music that awaits you

at some of these new es-

tablishments. There is a

new fun and exciting at-

mosphere in downtown

Lewiston that you are in-

vited to come and be a

part of it.

We have all heard how we

are in an economic down-

turn and how depressed

the economy is but we

here in Downtown Lewis-

ton are very optimistic

about the present and the

future. We are seeing

great things happening all

around us. We are seeing

once vacant and decaying

buildings being brought

back to life, looking better

than ever before. And I

encourage you, if you are

one of the businesses in

Downtown Lewiston, to

take pride in your business

and the city it is located

in. We truly are blessed to

live where we do and to be

surrounded by people who

care about their customers

as well as their businesses.

And for those of you for-

tunate enough to have a

birthday or anniversary in

April the birthstone for

that month is DIA-

MOND! I encourage all

of you men out there to

make an investment in

your marriage and consid-

er what a diamond can do

for you.

Happy April and join us

April 14th for Refresh the

Valley from 8:00 am to

10:00 am.

BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN LEWISTON

MEMBERS: Thank you for your support!

Corporate

Avista Corporation

City of Lewiston

Media

Big Country 97.7/98.5 K Hits

Digital Barn

IdaVend Broadcasting

John Roy & Associates

KLEW TV

KOZE AM/FM

Lewiston Tribune

Northwest Media Productions

Pacific Empire Radio

Key

Bridal Path

The Diamond Shop

Edward Jones/Scott Arnone

H & R Block

Headmasters School of Hair Design

Idaho History Tours

Idaho Impressions

Inland Cellular

Land Title of Nez Perce Co.

Main Street Grill

Morgan’s Alley

My Architect

Port of Lewiston

Stonebraker McQuary Insurance

Valley Vision

Business

Advantage Advertising

Alexander Investors

Art and Frame at Kling’s

ArtBeat, Inc.

B & I Computers

Bott & Associates

Cannon’s Building Materials Center

Castellaw Kom Architects

Century 21 Price Right

ChangePoint

Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Assoc.

CornerStone Interiors

Creason, Moore, Dokken & Geidl

D.A. Davidson

Digital Barn Productions

Follett’s Mountain Sports

IdaVend Broadcasting

Image! Design Center

Interiors, Etc!

Intermountain Claims

Jazzy’s in Towne Square

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Angela VanTassel

Wells Fargo Bank

President

John Roy

John Roy & Associates

Vice President

Michelle Witthaus

Northwest Media

Secretary

Vikky Ross

Morgan’s Alley

Treasurer

Herb Boreson

The Diamond Shop

Past President

Jennifer Boyer

Bridal Path

Wayne Hollingshead

Lewiston Tribune

Clarice Mattoon

Jazzy’s in Towne Square

Joe Strohmaier

Land Title of Nez Perce Co.

Scott Trotter

Image! Design Center

Kristin Gibson

Kristin Gibson Real Estate

Brad Cannon

Cannon’s BMC

Ex-Officio

Kristin Kemak

Lewis Clark Valley Chamber

Ex-Officio

FROM THE BOARD:

Put a Spring in Your Step: Visit Downtown!

BDL HIRES DESIGN SERVICES COORDINATOR

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Joe Hall Ford

John Roy & Associates

Jurgens & Co., P.A.

Kause Success Management

K & G Construction

KOZE AM/FM

Keeton & Tait

Kristin Gibson

Largent’s

Lewiston Tribune

Lewis Clark Recyclers, Inc.

Linda Joyner-Jones

Martin Insurance

Northwest Media Productions

Northwestern Mutual Financial

Pacific Empire Radio

Pacific Steel & Recycling

Pals Sports Bar

Printcraft Printing

Pure Magic Media Creations

Ridinger’s Photography

Ronda Realtor

St. Joseph Regional Medical Center

Seasons Bistro

Shinn Reimers

Simple Reflections

The Stained Glass Co.

Sylvan Furniture

Tri-State Outfitters

Tom Woods Insurance

TTJS' Inc. Boomers, CandyStore,

Boomtown

Twin River National Bank

US Bank

Wells Fargo Bank

Zion’s Bank

Non-Profit

Community Action Partnership

Hope Chapel

LCSC Center for Arts & History

LC Valley Chamber of Commerce

Lewiston Historic Preservation

UI Extension/Nez Perce Co.

YWCA

Friends of Downtown Steve Forge

Dan & Cindi Mader

Steve Watson

Dennis Ohrtman

Herb Boreson

Bill Johnson

Mitch Silvers

Judy Higueria

Linda Joyner-Jones

Jan Durham

Charlette & Richard Kremer

Richard & Jeanette Morgan

Jill Thomas-Jorgenson

Edwin Litteneker

Kathee Tifft

Robanna & Henrik Brosten

Beautiful Downtown Lewiston is pleased to announce that it has selected Courtney Brockett to

fill the roll of Design Services Coordinator. Courtney will coordinate all functions of the Down-

town Streetscape Initiative, which includes calls to artists, public input gathering and the selec-

tion committee meetings. Courtney has a strong arts background, including a Masters of Fine

Arts degree from the University of Idaho. She is currently teaching a Survey of Art History

course at LCSC. Welcome to BDL, Courtney!

Downtown Streetscape Initiative

streetscape update

ENTRYWAY ARTIST PUBLIC PRESENTATION

CALL FOR ARTISTS: LIBRARY FOCAL POINT The second Call for Artists document is now available online. This

request for proposals is for the library focal point design, to be locat-

ed on Fifth Street, on the eastern side of the new home of the Lewis-

ton City Library (411 D Street). Deadline: May 11, 2012.

Visit www.downtownlewistonstreetscape.com to download the

request for proposals document.

Email art@beautifuldowntownlewiston.org with questions.

BDL is currently seeking public input on the top three proposals submitted for the entryway

design to be located on the pedestrian overpass at the north end of Fifth Street. Please visit

www.downtownlewistonstreetscape.com to weigh in on the proposed designs.

The three artists have been invited to give presentations to the Downtown Streetscape Initiative

selection committee before their final decision. The public is invited to attend this meeting:

Thursday, April 12, 2012 at 5:30 p.m. Upstairs conference room at 215 D Street, Downtown Lewiston

MORE

DOGWOOD

FESTIVAL

EVENTS:

22nd Annual Confluence

Grape & Grain

Friday, April 13 6-9 p.m.

415 Main Street

Beer and wine tasting with

silent auction, benefitting

LCSC Center for Arts &

History and LCSC student

scholarships.

Stephen Lyman Memorial

Children’s Art Exhibit

Friday, April 20 at 4 p.m.

415 Main Street

A celebration of children’s

art from around our region.

K-6th grade students take

part in this exhibit each

year, culminating in a

chance to showcase their

work at the LCSC Center

for Arts & History.

Art Under the Elms

April 27-29

LCSC Campus

Three day artisans fair—

the signature event of the

Dogwood Festival.

For a complete list of Dogwood Festival events, visit www.lcsc.edu/dogwood

REFRESH THE VALLEY! Calling all volunteers! This Saturday, Beautiful Downtown Lewiston and the Lewis-Clark Valley Chamber of Commerce are teaming up to host the annual Refresh the Valley event! Join us! A big THANK YOU to Lewiston Parks & Recreation Department for providing flowers for downtown Lewiston each year!

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT:

Vikky Ross

THE VOLLMER BLOCK: ANCHOR OF HISTORIC DOWNTOWN LEWISTON

This month’s featured volunteer, Vikky Ross, is truly an all-star

when it comes to the amount of time, talent and passion she con-

tributes to revitalizing downtown Lewiston.

In addition to being a BDL board member, Vikky also chairs the

Organization Committee and is actively involved in other BDL

functions such as economic development and event planning. For

the last three years she has successfully created and grown the popular St. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl event, which involved a record high

200+ participants last month.

All this, and she doesn’t event live in Lewiston! Vikky and her twin sister Nikki Hites live in Moscow but own a number of properties in

downtown Lewiston, including Morgan’s Alley.

“I choose to volunteer for Beautiful Downtown Lewiston because I firmly believe in the Main Street USA 4 point approach to revitaliza-

tion,” said Vikky. “After witnessing the 10 year revitalization of downtown Walla Walla and realizing the potential for Lewiston, I com-

mitted myself to helping to achieve the ‘vision’ that so many people share with me.”

INTERESTED IN

VOLUNTEERING?

BDL has a number of excit-

ing and rewarding volunteer

opportunities available.

Please call Breanne at

208.790.1148 to learn more.

By Brian Keenan

John P. Vollmer, a 23-year-old originally from Germany, arrived in Lewiston in 1870. Beginning his tenure in Lewiston with a grocery

and wholesale liquor business, he would go on to become a leading figure in the young city’s economic and civic life. The “Vollmer

Block” at 415 Main Street, now the Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts & History, is one of his

enduring legacies. Built in 1883 — a time of dusty, horse-and-carriage-cluttered streets in the town that

still had yet to make great inroads on the bluff to its south — this Renaissance Revival-style building

began life as the J.P. Vollmer Great Bargain Store.

Vollmer was a man of wide-ranging business interests; in addition to his mercantile, he had extensive

dealings in lands, railroads and banks. His First National Bank of Lewiston, the first of its kind in the

region, was based in the storefront next door to the store. Reputed to be Idaho’s first millionaire, during

his busy life Vollmer was also a trustee at Lewiston State Normal School and a city council member.

Located at 5th and Main Streets, the Vollmer Block was soon buttressed in all directions by distinguished

buildings in the heart of Lewiston’s rapidly expanding downtown. Some of those buildings are gone now,

but the Vollmer Block is still in great condition. The exterior, in fact, looks much the way it might have

in the 1880s: arched windows on the second story above a first-floor storefront; dignified brick facing; a

handsome, terracotta-framed entranceway on the southeast corner.

In 1904, Vollmer’s First National Bank supplanted the Great Bargain Store in the east storefront of the

block. The First National Bank called the building home until 1946, when the First Security Bank of Ida-

ho moved in, using the space until 1989.

Twenty years into its third incarnation, this time as a unique community resource, the script in terracotta

above the building’s entranceway now reads: Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History. First Security Bank donated the building to the

Lewis-Clark State College Foundation in March, 1991. Soon after, the Center for Arts & History was born. In 1998, artist Colleen Es-

parsen painted a beautiful mural on the north, D Street-facing, exterior wall. A 2009 fire, followed by a timeout for restoration, slowed

the center only but a little: Since its opening, the center estimates that more than 75,000 visitors have walked through the doors.

Befitting its name, the center is a showcase for arts, history, and culture. It hosts exhibits throughout the year, and is the permanent home

of Lewiston’s Beuk Aie Temple artifacts. For nearly 130 years this building has served as an anchor for downtown — first commercial,

now cultural.

history notes

Present-day 415 Main Street

Photo by Joe Filler

Brian Keenan wrote this article for BDL. Brian works at the Lewis Clark Early Childhood Program and volunteers with BDL.

He has become interested in Lewiston’s history through his work aimed at saving the Hurlbut Mansion. To learn more about

this historic building, visit thehurlbutmansion.com. *The Lewiston Historic Preservation Commission’s Historic Downtown

Walking Tour, historian Stephen Branting, and the LCSC Center for Arts & History greatly contributed to this article.

AVISTA COMMERCIAL LIGHTING INCENTIVE PROGRAM:

Avista is offering incentives for energy efficient light upgrades to commercial customers. This program represents increased

incentives for most T12 fluorescent conversions. Other lighting conversions are also eligible for incentives, as explained at

www.everylittlebit.com.

Avista will pay you $4 per foot to replace old T12 fluorescent bulbs (1 ½” diameter) with new T8, T5, or LED approved lights. You get new lighting equipment, better light, and a lower electric bill. The T12 bulbs will not be manufactured in the US after July 14, 2012, and the Avista program ends December 31, 2012. Many other interior and exterior commercial lighting update options are also available. Contact Camille Martin at 509.495.4276, or Camille.Martin@avistautilities.com.

HELLO/GOODBYE

As many of you already know, La Boheme closed its doors on March 16, 2012. The Tribune posted a blog entry last month that describes the reasons for the decision to close, for those interested. We wish Nathanael and crew all the best in future en-deavors, and thank them for provid-ing a fantastic downtown venue for coffee, food and culture for two and a half years. It is true that when one door closes another opens, in this case quite lit-erally; 326 Main Street will not be vacant for long! Later this month, the historic building will become the home of Blue Lantern Coffee House, a new business venture for Dawn Abbott. Dawn owns Retro Espresso in Moscow, and has been interested for quite some time in opening a storefront in downtown Lewiston. Stay tuned for more infor-mation about Blue Lantern Coffee House in the near future!

COMMITTEE COMMENTS Organization is pursing a change in non-profit status from a 501

(c)6 to a 501(c)3, which will allow BDL members and sponsors to

list their generous contributions as tax-deductible. The committee

is also redesigning the BDL Membership application to reflect

exciting new benefits that BDL members will be able to take ad-

vantage of in the near future. An on-going project of the commit-

tee is volunteer recruitment and recognition.

Economic Restructuring is pursuing follow-up information and

visits with property owners in the downtown corridor. The com-

mittee will soon be visiting regional businesses in hopes of recruit-

ing new tenants to downtown Lewiston. Also in the works are

plans to host ISBDC training opportunities this year, as well as a

business plan competition that would result in downtown Lewis-

ton’s first “pop-up shop” program.

Design continues its work on creating design guidelines for down-

town. Included in this document, which will be available to down-

town property owners upon completion, will be suggestions on

streetscape elements, awnings, color palette, use of historic materi-

als, and more. The committee has also been working on a incen-

tive plan to create a cohesive look amongst signage used by busi-

nesses.

Promotions had great success with two March events: St. Pat-

rick’s Day Celebration and St. Patrick’s Day Pub Crawl. Although

the rain ended the daytime celebration a bit early, the more than

200 pub crawl participants enjoyed excellent weather as they

marched to and from the 11 participating downtown pubs that

night. We hope you’ll join us for our next event, Refresh the Val-

ley, on Saturday, April 14, beginning at 8 a.m. in Brackenbury.

CONTACT BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN LEWISTON

Email: breanne@beautifuldowntownlewiston.org Call: 208.790.1148

Mail: PO Box 617 Lewiston, ID 83501 Web: www.beautifuldowntownlewiston.org

April 2012 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

1 2 3

Call for Artists 2 Available Online*

4 5 6 7

8 9 10 Promotions

Mtg. (8:00 AM) BDL Board Mtg. (4:00 PM)

11 12

Design Mtg. (8:00 AM)

13

Grape & Grain at CAH** (6-9 PM)

14

Refresh the Val-ley (8-10 AM)

15 16 17 Economic Mtg. (1:00 PM)

18 19

Organization Mtg (12:00 PM) Earth Day (4-7)

20

Stephen Lyman Opening at CAH (4:00 PM)

21

Lewiston Library Gala

22 23 24 25

Social Media for Small Biz (5:30-8:00 PM)***

26

Design Mtg. (8:00 AM)

27 28

29 30 *Call for Artists now available online; library focal point deadline 5/11

**CAH: LCSC Center for Arts & History, located at 415 Main

***ISBDC Work-shop; BDL mem-bers may attend one per year for free!