Windows of change
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Albert J. Marro / Rutland Herald Steve Eddy adjusts origami crane decorations for the window of the former Army Navy store on Center Street in downtown Rutland. |
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By STEPHANIE M. PETERS STAFF WRITER - Published: June 22, 2009
Tired of hearing people passively ask what's being done about downtown's vacant storefronts, a small group of volunteers has taken it upon themselves to bring curb appeal to the area's commercial real estate.
This summer, the dark and dusty store windows that dot Center Street and Merchants Row will be replaced with colorful cloth backdrops, furniture and theater prop displays, unconventional art and more than a few flocks of paper cranes.
"We're a small group of volunteers who are just very interested in seeing the beauty of Rutland shine through," said Carol Tashie, of the group City SEEDs — formerly known as Farm to City — which promotes socially engaged economic development.
"We thought we could take advantage of the fact that those windows offer a frame for getting people to locate their businesses downtown," she said.
With the permission of the property owners, all of whom have been receptive to the idea, City SEEDs has already spruced up three window fronts, including the former Army Navy store on Center Street and the old Book King on Merchants Row, and hopes to have all decorated by early August, said Steve Eddy, another member of the group. Eddy is the former owner of Book King, but doesn't own the now-vacant space he formerly occupied.
The owners of Steve's Window Cleaning in Rutland have donated their services, while a more unusual donation of a thousand paper cranes, which will serve as a uniting theme for the windows, came from Wallingford resident Cindy Daubenspeck.
Originally, Daubenspeck intended the origami cranes as decoration for the Hands for Hope Thrift Shop in Wallingford. According to ancient Japanese legend, the cranes carry a wish for the folder or the recipient. They've also become a symbol of peace thanks to the story of Sadako Sasaski, a Japanese girl who was exposed to radiation during bombing of Hiroshima during World War II and fell ill with leukemia.
By the time Daubenspeck completed the cranes after a winter of work, however, the thrift shop had no place for the decorations.
"After holding on to them for a while, I was driving down Center Street and saw the vacant storefronts, which is really sad to see happen to a downtown," Daubenspeck said.
She saw a purpose for her flock of colorful cranes and called the Downtown Rutland Partnership to donate them as decorations for the store windows.
Maybe, the group thinks, the cranes could even bring a little luck to downtown business recruitment.
So far, Eddy and another volunteer, Joanne Johnston, have labored over stringing together the cranes with 4-pound fishing line. They're hoping to attract a few more volunteers in order to finish stringing and place the cranes before Aug. 6, the anniversary of Hiroshima.
Paper cranes will not be the only focus of the store windows, however. One will promote Amtrak's Ethan Allen Express, which can be picked up only a few blocks away. Others will feature creations from the currently ongoing Trash to Art competition once it's completed in mid-August.
The group also saw the window project as an opportunity to adopt specific marketing material suggested for vacant downtown storefronts during last fall's branding exercises, according to Tashie.
They've made up sign boards that read in contrasting green and white text and backgrounds, "This space is not empty, it's full of opportunity," a phrase penned by consulting firm Arnett Muldrow.
"Pride in Rutland is our greatest asset and if this one little effort can build that pride, it's well worth the time it takes," Tashie said.
stephanie.peters@rutlandherald.com
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