“Revitalizing a Community through Arts and Entertainment”

Jay Turner served as the Executive Director of North Park Main Street from its founding in 1996 until retiring on September 30, 2005. The Main Street program is a system of community-based economic revitalization that was devised by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. North Park Main Street is a private non-profit organization charged with the revitalization of the North Park Business Improvement District (BID), North Park’s Downtown and the historic heart of the community.

In 1996, North Park was selected by the City’s Office of Small Business, which administers San Diego’s BID program, to be the pilot project for establishing Main Street in the City of San Diego. Jay and his business community volunteers quickly established a record of innovation, starting with the North Park Spring Festival in 1997. Linking to the rich art heritage that thrives in the neighborhood, North Park Main Street, in 1998, declared itself an Arts, Culture, & Entertainment district.

Jay has stayed busy in retirement. In January 2010 he “shared his extensive experience in economic development and the use of local art in revitalizing downtowns” with the Economic and Arts Development Committee . This included “the many geographically distinct and distant downtowns he has worked with, from Eureka to North Park.”

Panelists:

REDEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE: Tom Romstad, former North Park Redevelopment Project Manager during the time when the development of the NP Theatre and the garage were under consideration. The importance of the arts as a revitalization tool was why we did it. He is now with the City of Santee.

ARTIST and PROPERTY OWNER PERSPECTIVE: Lynn Susholz, owner of the public project art firm, Stone, Paper, Scissors. She owns her property in North Park on University and has a gallery there. She is a strong advocate for the arts.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVE: Cheryl Dye, Principal, Dye & Assoc. Economic & Community Development Consulting. Cheryl is an expert in economic development with municipal experience.

ARCHITECT: Steve Hoard, formerly with PUBLIC Architecture, Strong advocate for art as an eco devo tool.