by John Dowd
Presenting their first ever report to the community last Thursday at Hamilton City Hall, the Hamilton Downtown Association (HDA) was surprised to get a much higher attendance than they expected. After planning for around 65 representatives from the community and local businesses, they were amazed to welcome that and at least 30 more. After being introduced by Mark Rudd, the HDA president of the board, Robin Pruitt, the executive director of HDA, said, “This is an incredible turnout, much more than we expected!”
Pruitt has been the executive director for two years, and has been extremely excited to get involved in the way she has for her community. “It’s just a really great special place, and I think that’s why we’re all here,” said Pruitt.
Shortly after she was introduced, Pruitt introduced her executive assistant, Susan Wetzsteon, who said that she grew up in Hamilton. Wetzsteon said HDA does great work, and she participates to help create “the opportunity for my children and grandchildren to grow up and have a life in Hamilton.” Wetzsteon has been with the HDA since 2011. After her remarks, Wetzsteon handed the floor back to Pruitt, who started off by saying she believes the “community seems confused about how our events happen.”
Pruitt believes some of this is confusion about the nature of, and differences between, the HDA and the Bitterroot Chamber of Commerce, and also comes from the similarities between the two groups. Both are separate organizations, but do work in the same circles and partner on certain projects, according to Pruitt.
To differentiate the HDA, Pruitt described how the HDA functions and where their funding comes from. According to her, the organization has been around for some time, and several years ago the local businesses in the downtown elected to create a “self-imposed” tax through the Business Improvement District which helps fund certain projects in the downtown. In a later interview, Pruitt said that many people who come to them are under the impression that these types of projects and services are carried out by the City. This is not the case, as the funds from the “tax” go in to pay for programs like downtown trash collection and plant watering.
Pruitt added that the HDA is a 501(c) 6 organized to aid the industry, and overall look of the Hamilton downtown area. In order to achieve this, the organization has been following Hamilton’s “master plan,” which has played out in several of the steps the group is following. These steps were created to help the organization grow and to achieve their mission of maintaining and improving the Hamilton space. In this endeavor, the group has recently started several programs, which Pruitt said are all part of the downtown master plan. Pruit described the plan as “the road map to how we got here” and where they’re going.
The Hamilton Downtown Foundation is one such newly created program that is separate from the HDA, and allows for a funding source for other projects done by the HDA. One of these projects is the new Flower Program, which was piloted this last summer. The program allows for the installation and maintenance of seasonal hanging flower baskets in the downtown area.
Another of these programs funded by the Hamilton Downtown Foundation is the Facade Improvement Program. This program is in its infancy this year, and started with a $50,000 grant from the Montana Main Street Program. The grant was applied for by the Hamilton City Planning Office, on behalf of HDA. These funds will be used for the improvement and beautification of the exterior portions of shops downtown. These projects are part of the Facade Improvement Program mission, and are geared towards anything from doors and windows to lighting and murals. Anything on the exterior of buildings that will improve the overall look of downtown is fair game. During her presentation on Thursday, Pruitt introduced the program, and then said, “You’re going to see a lot of construction and change over the next year and we are really excited about it.”
Another of these new programs in the works for downtown Hamilton is the Wayfiinding Program. This is already under way, and is working to create informational signs for the downtown. Funding for this program is coming from another Montana Main Street Program grant, separate from the one being used for the facade program. This program will add signage about the historic downtown as well as how to navigate it and where certain things like parks, trails and shops are located.
After talking about the organization and what it has been able to achieve, Pruitt then thanked leading volunteers and invited everyone in attendance to the regular HDA meetings, which are held every second Thursday in the same room, starting at 8:30 am.
When asked about volunteer opportunities for the community, Pruit said they are always looking for help with their events and projects. “Providing volunteer opportunities is a really great way to get people interested in their community and to give them ownership over it,” said Pruitt. Interested parties can contact HDA before upcoming events to volunteer for those and they can visit the HDA website: visithamiltonmt.org. Interested parties can also contact Pruitt by emailing her at robin@visithamiltonmt.org. Other interested persons can also visit the organization’s Facebook, which is constantly updated with new information about local happenings.