As some of you may have already heard, recently a decision was made to move the annual summer Founders Festival out of downtown Farmington to Shiawassee Park. This decision was made quickly and without much public discussion and greatly affects the revenue for businesses downtown. There will be a City Council meeting on Monday, December 17th at 7:00 pm at Farmington City Hall. Please consider attending if you would like your voice heard.
Our owner Greg Cowley would like to issue the following statement.
“Dear City Council and DDA Board Members,
The Farmington Founders Festival is a vital place making event in downtownFarmington and should not be cast aside to Shiawassee Park. The immediate concern is the lost revenue/marketing for our downtown businesses and employees.
The longer term issue is the downgrading/loss of a downtown event. Look around, Milford, Royal Oak, Birmingham,Plymouth create and manage events as a crucial element of place making for their downtowns.
The recent Chamber request to remove the Festival from downtown was approved by CityCouncil in haste without any public discussion or much thought and is a mistake.
Farmington embraced the place making concept (won DDA Awards for it) over the past 16years that I have been involved with the City as a DDA Board member andCouncilman. Absent much TIFF funding, to stimulate growth we concentrated on event planning to create a Farmington brand and a sense of place.
Born of this strategy were: Grand River Streetscape, Riley Park, The Farmers Market, Art on the Grand, Harvest Moon and the Ice Rink, all successful events now installed supporting our downtown. The DDA created these events to reinforce our brand and assist it bringing guests toFarmington.
So too, the Founders Festival was rescued from the scrap heap when a Festival Board had enough. The DDA ran this event successfully in the past contributing to the City’s brand with a profit attracting 250,000 visitors to our downtown.
It was awarded to the Chamber because the DDA Director at the time deemed that it was a burden, volunteers slipped away, and the Chamber installed a 3rd party to run OUR key event. The Chamber financial problems should not influence nor remove this iconic event from the downtown.
Own the solution, as Board members before you have. You were elected and volunteer to the DDA Board to solve problems.
The City Council should cherish this event and own the brand, the DDA Board should manage the Founders Festival. It’s one of the best investments in our city you can make, it supports our businesses, stimulates investment and rewards the residents and volunteers who support it.”
Greg Cowley
Past DDA Board Member & President, Councilman
Principal – John Cowley & Sons and Resident of Farmington