Attempts to revitalize Saratoga prove promising

Saratoga Downtown, also known as the Village, is commonly regarded by students as a stagnant area that really does not have much to offer.

Yet recently, the Chamber of Commerce has launched a bold and sorely needed plan of action to revitalize the atmosphere of the downtown area. Scott Anderson, the president of the Chamber, says the Chamber is attacking the plan with full force.

“Our production plan for this year is the most aggressive plan this Chamber has ever had,” Anderson said. “We do a weekly event, the marketplace, which has never happened before.”

The Village Farmers’ Market, held every Wednesday afternoon, is notable proof of progress. Local vendors offer a wide variety of products, including Indian cuisine, kettle corn, organic produce and chocolate truffles.

The chamber recently hired a marketplace manager to oversee activities.

The hope is to book 30 vendors for the marketplace, which now has about 18.

By hosting an event every week, the Chamber of Commerce is able to raise funds to cover operation fees, and host future community events, which in turn bring the Chamber more funds.

Such events this year include the ceremonial grand opening of the Village Farmers’ Market, as well as the upcoming Spring Wine Stroll and Celebrate Saratoga.

Although the Farmer’s Market had been in operation for about half a year, it was scheduled to be showcased to the public on April 4. There was face painting, music, and an appearance by the mayor.

The Spring Wine Stroll, created last year, will be held on May 12. Some 300 visitors are expected to attend the event. For the cost of $40, people will be able to sample wines from 20 different wineries located throughout the Bay Area.

The infamous annual Saratoga Street Dance hasn’t been held since 2007. The masses of inebriated college students who began to frequent the event led to its eventual end.

However, the Street Dance will be revitalized for the first time in five years on Sept. 16, and will be called Celebrate Saratoga. The event will be a more family-friendly atmosphere in the form of a village block party. Rather than end at 10 p.m., the event will take place from noon to 7 p.m., and will take place on a Sunday rather than a Saturday in order to curtail rowdiness and excessive drinking.

Celebrate Saratoga may be more low-key than the Street Dance, but people from other towns are anticipated to attend the event.

These events seem to be solid steps in the right direction since they would bring both revenue and more recognition to the city, which are essentials to turning the city around.

The Chamber of Commerce has also come up with a long-term vision for the direction the city is taking. It plans on branding the city as a gourmet food and wine destination.

Unfortunately, as appealing as a “gourmet food and wine destination” may seem to an older demographic, it fails to attract the youth of Saratoga. Chic boutiques or pizza parlors would be much more desirable additions for teengers than expensive restaurants would be.

The Chamber plans to accomplish this branding of the city through a public relations agent, who will launch an 18-month campaign to promote the “Saratoga brand.” However, the Chamber is still looking into possible ways to fund the employment of a public relations agent. Current ideas include hosting events, holding sponsorship programs, and even asking Saratoga residents to donate.

In addition to seeking a public relations agent, the Chamber is hoping to hire and pay a professional executive director who would concentrate solely on the activities in the village.

The fiscal planning to enact the public relations campaign and the executive director does sound slightly unrealistic, since the only tangible source of the planned funds thus far are the events.

Moreover, the funds for the events are already directed towards the hiring of an executive director; it remains to be seen whether there would be enough funds coming in from the events to go to both the executive director position and a public relations campaign.

Although there still seem to be some relatively minor details that need to be ironed out, the Chamber’s action plan is a strong step toward fostering a sense of community in the Village.

“We want Saratogans to fall back in love with the village, because they have fallen out of love with it,” Anderson said. “We want to recapture the hearts of Saratogans and have people be proud of their downtown.”

For the sake of the community, we all hope the chamber succeeds in its efforts to revitalize the heart of Saratoga.