Creative thinking: Moses Lake launches downtown revitalization

The idea to transition downtown Moses Lake into a Creative District came last year, said Dollie Boyd, Moses Lake Museum & Art Center manager.

An official Creative District designation comes from the Washington State Arts Commission, formed in 1961 by state legislature. Once granted, the commission provides proper designation, signage, resources and, of course, money.

A Creative District is a walkable area of artistic activities and businesses. A fun community heart to live in, work in and visit, she said.

Designation requires community-wide input and support, a downtown vitalization effort that -- with new businesses, new organizations, new events and new visuals -- fit the specific needs of a specific community.

In short, said City Manager Allison Williams, it’s a chance to dream.

“There really is a pent-up demand here for the arts and creative endeavors to have a place, and so for me, that’s been really encouraging to see,” she said.

One of the biggest aspects of the Creative District at this stage is public input, Boyd said.

“We don’t want this to be a surprise for anyone in Moses Lake,” she said. “It’s for the community, and we want them to be in the process of building it and what it’s going to look like and what the vibe is going to be like for lack of a better word. We’re not trying to impose something on this community that doesn’t fit here.”

NCW Libraries, Columbia Basin Allied Arts, Desert Artists, city Parks and Recreation advisory board, the Downtown Moses Lake Association, a variety of community leaders and others have joined the Creative District Committee, and the list is continually growing.

In part of the ArtsWA Creative District Workbook, it states a community must have well-defined strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and assets.

Moses Lake is situated on a beautiful, sunny part of the state for people who crave a bit different landscape and weather, Boyd said. It’s close to numerous natural places of wonder, such as Dry Falls.

The former U.S. Air Force Base here has a great history, and people are welcoming, kind and positive. These are real strengths, she said.

“For people who aren’t familiar with Washington, eastern Washington is a prize, and we want it to be a prize,” she said.

This part of the state, however, is known for potatoes and agriculture, she said. This is not necessarily a bad thing, not necessarily a weakness, but it’s not what comes to mind when thinking of a vacation destination.

“We love our potatoes,” she said, “but we’ve got a lot more things going on other than that reputation.”

This leaves room for opportunities: a co-op gallery, affordable studio space, more places for live music and events, she said. There’s plenty of empty real estate downtown for new and creative endeavors.

“That’s a tough one when you’re an artist,” she said. “You have to have a place to make art.”

Much of Moses Lake’s assets overlap with the city’s strengths, she said. The town has a great community, a great energy and a passionate city manager.

In total, a revitalized district would make downtown a more pleasant and attractive place to live, she said. As more people come to town, it’s a necessity to keep up with growing demands.

The committee crafted a short, open-ended survey for community members to fill out on a voluntary basis. This will be a long process, Boyd said, lasting until they feel they have adequate input. To give voice to the future of downtown Moses Lake, visit cityofml.com/1008/Creative-District.

So far, people have expressed wanting more live music, more concert series, more family friendly events, more things to see and experience downtown, more leisure businesses and activities to do in the evenings, she said.

“There are some really positive comments about what’s downtown currently, and then there’s some that are not so positive, and they have a point,” she said. “There’s room for improvement, and that’s one of the reasons we’re wanting this prospect is to help that process along.”

There is some demographic information included on the survey. The committee is looking for as many diverse voices as possible.

In the beginning, many responses came from older folks, she said, and the committee has had to make a conscious effort to reach out to younger groups in the community.

Young people are the community’s future, said Lexi Smith, executive director of the Downtown Moses Lake Association. Because the Creative District’s vision almost perfectly overlaps with the Downtown Moses Lake Association’s, the organization jumped on board at the beginning.

“There are 23,000 people in Moses Lake and we only have about 100 responses right now,” she said. “To get a good idea of what our community actually wants we need a lot more than that.”

Proper youth input could mean a lot, she said. Instead of kids immediately wanting to leave Moses Lake, perhaps they’ll want to stay and be a part of the community they’ve grown up with.

“It would give that artsy kind of vibrant atmosphere that everyone seems to crave,” she said. “They crave more live music, they crave more murals, they crave all kinds of things like that.”

Downtown is in need of more breweries and taprooms and more retail opportunities, she said. Those are the types of businesses that are complementary to shops already there. If one does well, they all do well.

Moses Lake’s Creative District will be walkable, Boyd said. Broadway Avenue would serve as a border, and it would envelope all of downtown as well as McCosh Park, the Japanese Peace Garden and the skate park.

ArtsWA staffers have been involved in the process and will come for a site visit, she said. It may take a year to get the Creative District certificate and resources.

At that point, the committee will start planning events.