Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country
Founded 05-05-05

September 21, 2006 issue

Downtown Boone Development Association: Developing Our Future

DBDA Helps Light Up Boone Holidays A Bit More

Thanks to the Downtown Boone Development Association (DBDA), the Town of Boone’s Holiday Décor Committee and the town’s Public Works Department, the holidays in the heart of the High Country will be a little brighter this year. After countless hours of lobbying, the Holiday Décor Committee received the go-ahead to install three Snowflake Swag Skylines—strings of illuminated snowflakes that will drape from building to building across King Street in Boone—during the upcoming holiday season, from roughly the beginning of November to the end of February.

Boone’s Public Works Department spent many hours trying to convince the North Carolina Department of Transportation that the Snowflake Swag Skyline was feasible, and the DBDA is very thankful for their diligence. The addition of the Snowflake Swag Skyline is expected to add new dimensions to the annual Downtown Boone Illumination Event. 

Story by Sam Calhoun

Since 1993, a local organization, run by local individuals, has helped the Boone central business district welcome visitors and maintain its small mountain town image.

From planning multiple holiday parades to arranging holiday decorations, from implementing and designing downtown restoration projects to choosing aesthetically pleasing garbage receptacles, from coordinating downtown Boone Art Crawls to working with ASU to promote athletics, from helping local businesses solve problems to knowing everyone’s first name, the Downtown Boone Development Association (DBDA) is the organization working behind the scenes to preserve the past and plan for the future in the Heart of the High Country.

The mission of the association, begun in 1993 by Kaye Edmisten, “is to improve the central business district of Boone,” by “encouraging property owners to maintain, improve and beautify downtown properties; improving walkways and pedestrian crosswalks; providing more cultural and civic events downtown; encouraging transportation and parking improvements; and encouraging greater involvement of all property owners, professionals, nonprofit groups or agencies and merchants in the district.”

With all the work the DBDA does, you might think that a battalion of employees fills its ranks, but there are only four: one executive director, one intern and two project coordinators.

At the helm of this 13-year-old association is Tuesdae Rice—the DBDA’s fifth executive director. Rice took the job in May 2005 and hasn’t slowed down since. She balances her duties at the DBDA with teaching business and English and sitting on the Business Curriculum Academic Advisory Board at Caldwell Community College. Rice is also the director of Region 1 for the North Carolina Downtown Development Association and a member of numerous community boards, including the Blue Ridge Heritage Committee, the Holiday Décor Committee, the Kraut Creek Committee, the Parking Appeals Committee, SPARKS and the Preservation of Historic Building Committee. She is also a board member for the Jones House Community Center. 

Starting at the same time as Rice, Project Coordinator Katie MacIntosh is an ASU work-study student and is currently organizing the Kraut Creek Festival, taking place this Saturday on Howard Street from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Project Coordinator Jessica Montford, an ASU graduate with a major in industrial organizational psychology, is working as an independent contractor for the DBDA and is charge of coordinating the Howard Street Restoration Project. Rice is looking for funding to keep Montford around for the next phase of the project, expected to continue for some time.

Mary Baker is just starting a 400-hour internship and acting as the project coordinator for the Urban Artscape Project for Downtown Boone. The Urban Artscape Project is the baby of the DBDA and the Watauga Arts Council—an attempt to beautify downtown Boone. At present, the project is just on paper in the form of a comprehensive plan, but Baker’s charge is to implement the plan.

“I think its great,” added Baker. “People are really excited about it—we just need to get it done.”

But don’t think that the Kraut Creek Festival, Howard Street Restoration Project and the Urban Artscape Project are all that the DBDA is working on. The DBDA is behind almost all the cultural and civic events in downtown Boone that bring visitors and locals alike to King Street and its surrounds.

During Halloween, the DBDA hosts the Downtown Boo—a ghostly affair that caters to both young and old. During the winter holiday season, the DBDA plans the Holiday Parade and sets up holiday decorations, including the snowflakes that adorn the light poles and, as a new addition for this year, the Swag Snowflake Skylines that will hang over King Street in three locations. In the summer, the DBDA hosts the Fourth of July Parade and coordinates the First Friday Downtown Boone Art Crawls. At Easter, the DBDA teams up with the Easter Bunny to bring Boone the Downtown Eggstravaganza.

And it’s not only events—it’s relationships as well. The DBDA offers two types of grants, with a combined budget of $8,000 per year, to help with business upgrades—the Façade Incentive Grant and the Sign Incentive Grant. Working hand in hand with downtown Boone business owners, the DBDA hosts regular public meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at 9:00 a.m. in the Watauga County Library Conference Room and acts as an information conduit between businesses and the town.

DBDA funding comes from two sources.

“We receive funding through taxation within the municipal service district of Boone, but we also are funded through membership dues and sponsorships,” explained Rice. Every business in downtown Boone is part of the DBDA by paying taxes, but businesses can also purchase a DBDA membership for $100 annually. The membership allows businesses to have more of a voice in public meetings and gets them a spot on the DBDA’s weekly television show. 

Looking ahead, Rice is excited about the Howard Street Restoration Project, but she is also looking forward to starting another project that will beautify and help preserve downtown—the King Street Restoration Project. She looks ahead to this task with confidence based upon the overwhelming cooperation she has received from local businesses and landowners while implementing the Howard Street Restoration Project.

“It’s the greatest success that I could have ever hoped for,” she said. “It’s fantastic.”

So is downtown Boone—and part of that is due to the DBDA.

The Downtown Boone Development Association (DBDA) is located at 736 West King Street. Operating hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, subject to variations based on the availability of DBDA employees. For more information about the DBDA, click to www.boone/nc.org or call 828-262-4532. Send mail to P.O. Box 362, Boone, NC, 28607.