Old Town Treasures on North Main Street is receiving a loan to help it recover from the shutdown and move forward with some rebranding efforts. In response to the pandemic shutdown, the Three Rivers Downtown Development Authority and Main Street Program (TRDDA) recently changed the guidelines for its ongoing Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) program. The new guidelines permit funds to be used to offset losses incurred during the shutdown for downtown businesses, reduce the minimum interest rate to one percent, and modify other terms.

The RLF funds come from a contribution from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of a long-term economic development initiative for rural communities and small towns. In theory, the funds must eventually return to the USDA, but as long as they remain in use through the fund, TRDDA can continue to recirculate them through new loans, and TRDDA can earn interest on each loan. Through interest on previous loans, TRDDA has grown the fund’s balance. It currently stands at a little over $30,000.

West Michigan Land Management LLC owns the Old Town Treasures business, a variety and resale shop at 60 North Main Street. The company owns the building, which is serving as collateral for the loan. The business is receiving $8,000, payable over a five-year term at an interest rate of one percent. Because the business has shown a low debt-to-income ratio for the past few years, a measure of ability to pay back a loan, the owners, Larry Hudsen and Dacoda Jacobs, backed the application personally.

Old Town Treasures represents the third in a continuous chain of three owners to operate a similar business in the same location. The business started out as an antique store a little over 20 years ago, TRDDA Executive Director Tricia Meyer said. Following that, it operated as Centsible Treasures. Old Town took the space over several years ago, and operates it as a consignment, repurpose, and vintage store. Several vendors use merchant space inside the store to sell various items, and the owners collect a percentage of sales.

The loan will help offset losses due to the pandemic shutdown, when the renting merchants did not have income to provide for their spaces. However, it will also help pay for improvements to the business. Those improvements will include a new point-of-sale system, a new security system, and some rebranding and marketing efforts aimed at making the business model more lucrative.

TRDDA Vice Chair Michael Hogoboom expressed concern that the loan was outside the scope of its usual intended purpose of helping with major business improvements, that the business was not doing well even before the pandemic, and that a five-year term was unusual for such a low amount. However, he also said the loan fund needed to be used so USDA would not take it away. Board member and City Manager Joe Bippus said the building collateral reduced the risk. The owners are “not going to want to lose that building for $8,000,” he said.

Meyer said it was typical for LLCs to show loss, and the applicants’ personal finances showed ability to pay the loan back. TRDDA Chair Andrew George said the loan “does fit into some of what we have wanted to do,” including helping maintain and grow a mixed-use space that could potentially incubate other businesses. He said the money could help “push them in the right direction.”

Board member and secretary Sherri Rivers said, “it’s a win-win. It’s a small amount of money that leaves other funds available for future businesses. They’re not going to want to lose the building.” If they did default on the loan, she said, it would be a good revenue asset for TRDDA with four apartments in the upstairs section. The loan vote passed with all board members in favor except Timothy Raakman, who abstained.

Outdoor Social Zone Application Progresses

In efforts to provide creative solutions to permit drinking establishments to reopen amid social distancing restrictions and other pandemic concerns, the state of Michigan has modified some of the rules by which drinking establishments can operate outdoor seating. One new measure permits the establishment of Outdoor Social Zones, wherein a certain area can be designated to permit consumption of alcoholic beverages sold inside adjacent, licensed businesses.

Earlier this summer, Venue 45 and Kelsey Block Brewing Company began working with Meyer and the City of Three Rivers to establish such a zone. Both businesses have remained largely closed since the shutdown began. Even after some restrictions were lifted, cautionary concerns and some restrictions on liquor establishments have kept their doors shut. 

The City Commission recently passed its endorsement of the zone. That permitted the application to proceed to the state. Meyer said the application is “being reviewed as we speak. So far, it is moving forward with no hitches.”

At first, small seating enclosures would be constructed behind Kelsey Block and Venue 45 next to the East Parking Lot. Patrons could purchase drinks at either establishment and then consume them within the enclosures. Outside beverages and food would be prohibited, and there would be no table service in the enclosures, but they would allow both businesses to reopen. 

Because the Social Zone application covers the entire downtown historic district, Meyer said it could also become available for use by other businesses as well. She said TRDDA has been watching how social zones have played out in other communities, including Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Sturgis, where the main U.S.-12 throughfare has been turned into such a zone. Additional enclosures would have to be approved by the City Commission, but Tricia says she plans to have discussions about that with Bippus.

For the City, the biggest concern would be the management of the zones from a law enforcement perspective, making sure patrons did not abuse the rules that help keep them safe. Hogoboom said he felt the impacts would mostly be positive. “We don’t get a lot of people downtown where it would get crazy,” he said.

Downtown Events Remain in Limbo

Pandemic restrictions and concerns have kept planning for the usual range of downtown events in a state of uncertainty, board member and Promotions Committee chair John “Charlie” Wolgamood said. Winter events, including Christmas Around Town (CAT) and the Midnight on Main New Years’ Eve event, are subject to further developments around pandemic phases from the Governor’s Office. If restrictions reduce available timelines to plan larger functions, Wolgamood said “we can always do small events or live music.”

This week, Meyer said she is attending a Zoom meeting with Michigan Main Street staff and other Main Street directors to discuss practical ways for events to take place outdoors, even during winter. “It’s refreshing not to have events because they take up a lot of time, and it’s good to dive into other, important things that need to be done, but we need to keep our events program going. We don’t want to be left behind” in promoting downtown, she said. 

Meyer is working on ways to make CAT an all-outdoor event, and to cover costs that are not currently budgeted. Midnight on Main might be able to proceed with outdoor, social distancing measures in place because it is ticketed and in theory pays for itself, she said. She is also looking into other events that meet pandemic concerns, such as car shows, which have been successful in Sturgis. Meyer will have additional information by October for the board to review, with cost projections.

Meanwhile, as art installations and other improvements to the East Parking Lot walk-through come together, Hogoboom and Rivers are both looking at potential events there. Hogoboom sees potential for a small opening event in the fall or a larger outdoor art event in the spring. Rivers, with the help of the Organization Committee, is considering a possible hybrid virtual and in-person fundraiser in the space in conjunction with an upcoming downtown trivia night.

In other TRDDA business:

• Meyer is working with city staff to clean out the building at 111 Portage. The city recently completed repairs to the building’s previously condemned façade. The cleanup work will be in preparation for making the building attractive to potential developers.
• An upcoming virtual conference of the Michigan Historic Preservation Network will feature Meyer among several Main Street directors who are presenting on their work in historic downtowns across the state.
• Wolgamood is working with the Design Committee to plan some weeding and other upkeep in the downtown Mural Mall.
• Discussion continues with the Grand Elk Railroad regarding possible sidewalk placement and other work related to the planned reconstruction of railroad drive.
• Wolgamood suggested a possible performance evaluation for Meyer in the near future. Meyer recently received a pay increase without one due to state requirements, but Wolgamood said it would be a good idea to conduct a review anyway in the interest of public accountability. George will work with Rivers to review TRDDA policies and initiate a process.

Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.