Right Now Downtown

They vied for your votes via video.  The competition was fierce.  And the final margins were razor thin.

Congratulations to the 2010 Show Your Love Contest Winner (drum roll please…)

Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace!!!

Thanks to all of you who voted for your flav-o-favs!  With hundreds of votes cast, J. Gumbo’s fell short of the winner’s spot by a mere three votes, with Jack’s Diner, last year’s Show Your Love winner, and Burgers Dogs and Fries in hot pursuit.

Now the love showing worked both ways.  By voting for their favorite lunch spot, food fans were entered to win free lunches from our featured downtown restaurants: Barrio, Burgers Dogs and Fries, Caffe Daniela, Dirty Frank’s, J. Gumbo’s, and Plantain Cafe.  Congratulations to our winners who now know that there is such thing as a free lunch:

Erika Haske
Trish Mester
Alyson Miles
Angela Butler
Kristine Kring
Jen Town
Christina Ringley
Mary Groves
Jeremy
Chris Powers
Joshua Young
Rhonda Ries
Sandy Auckerman
Chris Carpenter
Mark Siple
Kris Davis
Charlie Letson

LOVE ‘EM UP

(to cast your vote immediately, click here.  if you want to learn more about the campaign, read on…)

Time flies: it’s been a full year since DowntownColumbus.com’s Show Your Love project launched.  Back in 2009, six local eateries joined in a good natured contest to become Downtown’s Official Sweetheart.

The competition was brutal.  The love was intense.  Ultimately, Jack’s Diner emerged as number one.

But it can be number one for only one year.  Jack’s reign has ended.  Although we still love the joint, it’s time to find 2010’s Official Sweetheart.

Just like last year, we’ve sweetened the deal for the voting public.  Cast a ballot for your favorite eatery and you’re automatically registered for a set of gift certificates from all the competitors: Barrio Tapas Lounge; Burgers Dogs and Fries; Caffe Daniela; Dirty Frank’s Hot Dog Palace; J. Gumbo’s; and Plantain Cafe.  Vote early and vote often.

(Sigh)… and it seemed like just yesterday when Jack’s claimed its award.

EDITOR’S NOTE: It was yesterday.  SOMEBODY kept hoarding Jack’s award plaque in our office.  Oops.

If you want to re-watch anyone’s video, to really take in the message, just click on the link: Barrio Tapas Lounge; Burgers Dogs and Fries; Caffe Daniela; Dirty Franks Hot Dog Palace; J. Gumbo’s; and Plantain Cafe

Show Us Some Love 2010 from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

Show Us Some Love: J. Gumbo’s from Downtown Columbus on Vimeo.

DOWNTOWN SPEAKS

You know how suggestion boxes work?  Fill out the form, put it in the box… and it goes away forever.

We’re not that way.  At the end of last year, we asked for reader thoughts and suggestions, you followed through and offered all kinds of comments.

Now we’ll follow through too.  Here’s the plan:

1.  You want more places to have lunch, including fast food chains.
Although our focus has been on independent operations (here’s our online directory of almost one hundred eateries), we welcome all sorts of purveyors.  Heck, if there’s room for Dunkin Donuts, we’ve got room for a McWendy’s King.  But please be patient.  The chains will be slow to return to downtown.  In the meantime, check out the quick bite places in the directory…  we promise good eats are ahead!

2.  You want more retail stores downtown.
We do too.  Since the survey, Capital Crossroads SID has announced that it will create a retail recruitment program for downtown with Kacey Campbell taking the lead on revving up downtown retail.  You can be proactive in this process too: shop at downtown’s Pearl Market, nurture those businesses and they’ll grow into a full-scale retail community.  And support the downtown retails we have.  You can find a list of retailers here.

3.  You want to know about marches and rallies happening downtown.
Duly noted.

4.  Some readers wanted City Center open again as a mall; some wanted it to remain standing and repurposed.
City Center ran its course as a mall.  It faced fierce competition from Tuttle, Easton and Polaris malls.  Its closed-off-fortress design was no longer cool.  So bye-bye mall; hello sweet opportunities!

As for redesign, the mall was build to be a mall.  Did you know it doesn’t even have a heating system, because the lights and people generated enough heat?  The best evidence indicates that the single most cost effective way of dealing with the structure was to disassemble it entirely.  To do otherwise would be a statistically improbably gamble.

5.  Readers want the magic of their childhood.
Can we pull a rabbit out of the hat and make our downtown dreams come true?  If you care, and we know you do, then we can!

ALL ABOUT YOU

You may recall receiving an email survey through Right Now Downtown a few months ago.  While numerical scores are interesting, many of you took the time to write in your own comments and ideas about downtown.

Want to know what you think?  We can tell you now…

1.  Not one single comment was abusive or ugly.  That’s an anomaly on anonymous surveys.  It says something about you as a group.  We’re very proud to live and work among such unusually constructive souls.

2.  You want more places to have lunch.

3.  You want more places like McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

4.  You want more retail stores downtown.

5.  You want to know about marches and rallies happening downtown.

6.  You want City Center open again as a mall.

7.  You want City Center to remain standing and used for something else.

8.  You want the magic of your childhood.

We’ve been brainstorming on how to best follow up on these ideas.  While we finalize, we’re sending the intern out to chain himself to the wrecking ball at City Center.

Meanwhile, perhaps you have some follow-up solutions of your own?  Stay tuned for next week…

CAPITAL CROSSROADS SID ANNUAL AWARDS

Each year at its Annual Meeting in November, Capital Crossroads recognizes people and companies in a variety of categories.  Listed below are the winners in each category, including Ambassador of the Year, Outstanding Service, Aesthetic Contribution and Outstanding Achievement.

Marissa Ingram was awarded Ambassador of the Year, for her outstanding work and her wide range of experience and skills.  As an ambassador since 2002, Ingram has served in a variety of capacities and has a detailed knowledge of downtown which makes her a valuable asset as an ambassador and as a trainer for other ambassadors.

The SID’s Award for Outstanding Aesthetic Contribution recognizes a project in the past year which adds to the beauty, street life, energy, brightness and attractiveness of downtown.    The 2009 honoree is the new restaurant, Barrio Tapas Lounge.  In addition to being a great restaurant, the project humanizes an intersection that was lifeless.  The restaurant’s windows open, allowing the energy of the restaurant to spill out onto the sidewalks; they also offer sidewalk dining.  Jeff Mathes and Sam Horner accepted the award for their outstanding aesthetic contribution.

The Outstanding Service Award recognizes the public or private sector entity that makes a significant contribution to downtown.  The first-time winner of this award is Ric Rossetti of the Public Service Department.  As the man who runs the Public Service Department permit office, he is on the front lines every time someone needs a permit to work or place something in the public right of way.  Ric handles this demanding job with patience and grace, always providing responsive and excellent customer service.

A second award for Outstanding Service in 2009 was presented to the Columbus Downtown Dog Park Association, whose four founding members, Janet Berry, Suzanne DeWoody, Mary Jane Gerhardstein and Liz Leahy, shared a passion and commitment for dogs and for downtown.  They started with a mission to establish an off-leash dog exercise area close to urban housing, and this year with support from the City, the first Downtown Columbus Dog Park opened at the corner of Fourth and Spring streets.  The group continues their work and hopes to open additional dog parks downtown.

The final award presented was that for Outstanding Achievement for an accomplishment by a property owner, city division, tenant or civic organization that deserved special recognition.  This year that accomplishment was a real home run: the Huntington Ball Park.  This wonderful facility debuted in the spring, enhancing the Arena District and drawing more visitors to that growing area of our city.  Capital Crossroads isn’t the only organization to recognize this outstanding amenity.  Baseballparks.com named Huntington Ball Park the ballpark of the year, beating out the new parks opened by both the Yankees and the Mets.  The award was presented to the Franklin County Commissioners at a meeting in early December.

THE PERSNICKETY LIST

Sure, it’s time for peace on earth and goodwill toward men; AND goodwill toward women… and all that other stuff.

It’s also time to make a list.  Downtowncolumbus.com has a list: a persnickety list.  It’s a little collection of things we fussy, nitpicky downtown-lovers would like in our stockings…

1.  Diamond studded lids for El Arepazo’s bottles of green sauce.  While a rubber band and kitchen wrap gets the job done, the insanely addictive stuff is worth of a high end topper.

2.  Speaking of high end, how about an Eggs Benedict with truffle oil and foie gras?  Would be an excellent in-house offering to team with Cafe Brioso’s gourmand-pleasing coffee.  Heck, even and egg sandwich would feel special when teamed with their magical morning brew.

3.  The Statehouse needs some sturdy, all-weather Astroturf.  It’d be maintenance-free (saving taxpayer dollars) and strong enough to support the roughest match of kickball.

4.  For The Jury Room, we wish for a bottomless bowl of their bean-free chili.

5.  For the rest of us, we wish for free parking downtown.  Yes, we believe in holiday miracles.

Jingle Bells… Free Fridays has a very nice ring, don’t you agree?

DANIELA’S DOWNTOWN HOMECOMING

Caffe Daniela’s spelling makes more sense than it looks.  It is still tempting to point out that spell check really prefers “Cafe” to Caffe.”  And the newest eatery at Broad and High is a cafe… but it’s a cafe with caffe.

As it turns out, caffe is Italian for “coffee”, a most necessary part of any productive person’s diet.  Caffe Daniela serves the drink in its most loveable forms.

The cafe’s most loveable items, though, might not be the java.  The coffee has serious competition from an array of fresh Italian fare – including divine pasta dishes like Alfredo and lasagna.  Run by the Milano family, they are now in the second generation of Italian eateries in Columbus.  And downtown’s is the second location of Caffe Daniela itself.  The first was born in Worthington.

While there’s nothing wrong with downtown Worthington (it’s provincial with lots of nice people and businesses)… it’s not like the real downtown.  It’s not the very center of the city, with skyscrapers and art and people of all sorts and sizes.  Daniela’s owner, Joe Milano, understands the magic, “I am overjoyed in being downtown and seeing what it has come from – and where it may go.”

Maybe that’s why more businesses that start in the outlying areas are coming home to the city’s core.  Polaris’ Sugardaddy’s Sumptuous Sweeties is setting up shop downtown too.  We’ve still got room for more… Who’s next?

THE LAZY MAN’S GUIDE TO EXPERIENCE COLUMBUS DAYS

There’s a couple ways to approach the three days of festivities known as Experience Columbus Days.  You could do a willy-nilly drive around, frantically hitting as many discount deals as possible.

With that approach comes stress and angst.  Who needs all the drama when the best bang for the buck comes in one concentrated area?  Enter Downtown Columbus…

1.  It starts with a visit to the Santa Maria (the only option with an authentic Christopher Columbus connection).  Guests can explore a real relic and take the official tour at a buy one/get one rate.

2.  Over at the Ohio Statehouse, tours are always FREE.  That said, it’s a great way to celebrate the weekend and the tours of the Statehouse building and museum are going full force on Saturday and Sunday.

3.  When the demands of this rigorous schedule render you too weak to walk, enter SegAway Tours.  Now famous for the fabulously interesting local trivia tidbits, at 50% off, you save a whopping $22.50 per rider.

Of course, you’ll need sustenance to survive our grueling itinerary.  The weekend celebration includes 25% off your tab at local Dine Originals restaurants.  Downtown members include Tip Top Kitchen & Cocktails,  Elevator Brewery & Draught Haus, and Due Amici.  Check out experiencecolumbusdays.com for more information and the discount flyer.

FROM TO-DO TO TA-DAH

Here’s the official list of Things-We-Didn’t Do-Last-Month… that we can do now, thanks to the City’s new parking meter policies.  The City announced today a lift on the rush hour parking bans on several streets in downtown.  These few extra hours make a world of difference, so it’s high time to:

1.  Park on Third to grab some breakfast muffins for the office at Au Bon Pain.

2.  And pick up some bagels too, at Broad Street Bagels.

3.  Retrieve the alterations at Marie’s on Front Street after work.

4.  Score a hot dog at Dirty Frank’s on Fourth for the drive home.

5.  RENEW the dang driver’s license on Third Street, first thing in the morning.

6.  Park on Spring and hop into Barrio for some happy hour tapas.

7.  Grab some glorious blooms from T. Bears on Third to greet the day.

Our downtown is a destination and the city knows it.  Many of the parking-prohibited-during-these-hours signs are disappearing.  That makes 162 new places to park your car in the morning and the evenings.

Come downtown and play, come downtown and stay!

For more information, including locations, visit downtowncolumbus.com.