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| Richland Carrousel Park in Mansfield, Ohio, opened in 1991 as the first new, hand-carved carousel to be built and operated in the United States since the 1930’s. It has contributed to the rebirth of the city’s downtown area. |
The Patriot Ledger
By the mid-1980s, blight had settled in on downtown Mansfield, Ohio. Prostitutes lingered in front of hole-in-the-wall bars and vacant buildings.
A once-thriving retail district was dead.
Until salvation arrived by horse. Wooden horses.
Tired of watching downtown slip further and further into disrepair, a group of local businessmen sought a way to bring people back to the commercial area.
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GREG DERR/The Patriot Ledger
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| One of the new restaurants in Davis Square, Somerville, which has helped transform that area of the city. |
“As a centerpiece someone mentioned we ought to put in a carousel,” said John Fernyak, a local business owner involved in initial revitalization plans and who now heads a company that refurbishes historic buildings downtown. “Everybody laughed and chuckled.”
They’re not laughing any more.
On the day the Richland Carrousel Park opened in 1991, a line of people stretched around the block eager to ride the wooden horses and other animals. More than a decade later, the carousel draws between 250,000 and 300,000 people a year.
That’s 300,000 people who shop in stores, eat in restaurants and spend their money in what is now a vibrant downtown brimming with new businesses.
Quincy Center won’t likely be home to a carousel any time soon.
But the Mansfield story illustrates an important lesson as officials in the City of Presidents try to rejuvenate their own downtown: There is no magic formula that yields success.
“There is no one solution,” said Christine Scott, a senior planner and urban designer with Boston-based Goody, Clancy & Associates, the firm hired by Mayor William Phelan to help plot a redevelopment strategy for Quincy. “It always has to be tailored to the community.”
That’s not to say there is nothing to be learned from other communities. Officials can get ideas about how to secure money for major projects, what methods work when wooing would-be businesses, and changes that can help create an ambiance that draws people back downtown.
There is no city that exactly mirrors Quincy’s situation, but the stories of Moody Street in Waltham, Davis Square in Somerville and downtown Portsmouth, N.H., each provide valuable insight into the process of revitalizing an urban center.
Quincy officials and residents should then take that knowledge and customize, not copy, experts said.
“The best strategy that any downtown of any size could do is find out what its competitive strengths are,” said David Diaz, president of Downtown Roanoke Inc., an organization that helped to restore the Virginia city’s center.
Roanoke, for example, invested $5 million in infrastructure improvements around a farmer’s market that is open daily. It is the centerpiece of a downtown revitalization plan that also saw the addition of museums and international restaurants.
“That means looking into the city,” Diaz said. “What are its organic strengths? This area has a strong history of farming and people wanted to support the local farmers. It’s a very powerful idea.”
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