Each week, when the weather is nice, I try to walk a different neighborhood. It gives me the opportunity to see how our city is changing in real time. On a recent walk, a new resident asked me how they could meet other people. It’s a question I’m hearing more and more, especially as we continue to see the ongoing renaissance of our basin neighborhoods. When I moved to Newport in 2012, I knew no one, so I’m sympathetic to this situation. I typically respond with information about our festivals, neighborhood groups and sometimes restaurant recommendations. When you think about it, what are the odds of someone living on Joyce Avenue having a social opportunity to meet someone on Maple Avenue? Those odds can’t be high, right? So, why not consider establishing a physical community center. Within this article, I’ll share my vision and answer some questions you might have. I’m hopeful you’ll have ideas of your own and that you’ll share them with the City Manager, my peers on the Board of Commissioners, as well as with me personally.
The Vision:
Newport has a rich history beyond Monmouth street’s past, so I see the community center as a place where our whole story can be told, while new connections and memories are made. Beyond exhibits of our past, we could also include a small art gallery or maybe even an art installation. The Board recently passed legislation as a part of the Buena Vista Historic District to move Scott Clark to a new role focused on preserving our existing historic artifacts. I’ve spent some time reading through all the news clippings and pictures of what the East End looked like before the creation of the East Row Historic District. It’s an opportunity that everyone should have. Some of the exhibits could be themed to feature topics such as:
- General James Taylor
- Our brewing heritage then and now
- Our steel heritage / industry heritage
- Sports players
- Veteran spotlight
- Monmouth shops—then and now of buildings and businesses
- Neighborhoods then and now
- Newport families then and now
- Riverfront then and now
- Newport barracks exhibit
- Christmas in Newport over the years
- Italianfest collection and exhibit
Commissioner Radwanski reviewing historic material at the city building in April.
It’s within this atmosphere that the following events and groups could get together:
- Seniors’ bingo
- Seniors’ picnic
- Young professionals’ group
- Young family network
- Card club (bridge, euchre, etc.)
- Board game club
- Art night / art matinee
- Salsa dancing night
- Newport history talks
- New neighbor welcome
- History exhibitions
That’s great Mike, but how will we pay for it?
Newport has a 501c3 that we already use for events like the Car Show and Newport Night Out. So, I would envision that we use that to pay for the events. We already have Scott Clark in a Museum Curator role, so there isn’t any new cost there. I do think a part-time contracted role of a Community Coordinator will be all we need. I see this role as a person who would work with our businesses to activate events. We will need a dedicated space and that has always derailed past attempts of a museum in and of itself. I’m confident Staff can solve this problem and give the Board options to consider. Given that most of the revenue we get is from payroll taxes, it would be a good use of a small portion of those taxes. We could even broker a deal with future developments via an Industrial Revenue Bond also called an IRB. So, we have options that won’t impact your property taxes.
In closing:
We have a lot to be excited and proud about in Newport. We’ve seen a lot of change over the years. I strongly feel it’s time that we all have a community center to gather, as one city, together to write the next chapter of our story here in Newport.
