Examining Cape Girardeau's market value

Cape Girardeau and Paducah, Ky., are similar places. The two cities, 64 miles apart, are closely tied to the major rivers they are on -- the Mississippi at Cape Girardeau and the Ohio at Paducah; the pulse of both cities center on the downtown areas that lie next to these rivers; and they have similar mural projects for the city floodwalls.

The two cities differ, however, in how big a role arts and cultural attractions play in marketing the community to visitors.

According to Chuck Martin, director of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau, Cape Girardeau markets the arts as much as it does attractions like amateur sports and historical landmarks.

"As the CVB our goal is to entice visitors to come to Cape Girardeau for a variety of reasons," he said. "We do promote the arts. If you look at our Web site and our calendar of events and our visitor's guide, you'll see we do what we can to promote it."

"I don't think in a town of 36,000, we have the luxury of focusing on one market," he said. "As the CVB we have to paint with a broad brush and we have to be mindful of a limited budget. We have to market different aspects of the community."

Promoting a destination

Paducah, with a population around 27,000, takes a different approach.

"We do promote Paducah as an arts destination," said Rosemarie Steele, marketing director of Paducah's Convention and Visitors Bureau. Steele said Paducah's CVB is getting ready to work with an advertising agency for a new marketing campaign, in which the city's art and cultural attractions will be a major part.

Steele listed the Museum of the American Quilter's Society, the Market House Theatre, the floodwall murals, the Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center for the Performing Arts and the Lowertown Arts District as some of the attractions Paducah has to offer.

In itself, the Museum of the American Quilter's Society brings Paducah visitors from around the nation, but the city has brought in new attractions that have resulted in more visitors.

Since it opened in April, the 1,806-seat Luther F. Carson Four Rivers Center has brought top-name comedians, musicians and theater and dance acts to Paducah, as well as visitors who stay at local bed and breakfasts, eat at restaurants and shop in stores.

Another draw for Paducah is its Lowertown Arts District.

The district is a result of the city's artist relocation program, a collaborative effort between the city, residents of Paducah and Paducah Bank that provides incentives, such as tax breaks and lower interest rates, for artists to move to the formerly blighted Lowertown area.

"They've had a lot of tourists from the quilting museum, but this has really put us on the map," said Mark Barone, the artist relocation coordinator.

There are now more than 40 artists from all over the country taking part in the artist relocation program, which has earned Paducah the 2002 Governors Award in the Arts and the 2003 Kentucky Chapter of the American Planning Association's Distinguished Award and the 2004 American Planning Association's National Planning Award.

It has also earned Paducah attention. The program has also been featured in articles in "Paducah Life" magazine, several art magazines, the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

Barone said the program is marketed in national art publications, which brings in artists and visitors from all over the country.

'Arts improve economies'

Cape Girardeau artist Craig Thomas and Southeast Missouri Arts Council director Becky Fulgham are both fans of Paducah's art district and would like to see a similar emphasis on the arts in Cape Girardeau.

"There are things [in Cape Girardeau] going on, but there could be more," said Thomas, who is currently working on the floodwall murals. "The arts are great for tourism. The murals we're doing now are bringing a lot of attention."

Fulgham also believes the arts could be a great draw to bring visitors to Cape Girardeau.

"There have been studies that prove the arts improve economies," she said.

According to Fulgham, there has already been increased attendance at the arts council's exhibit openings since it moved to its Main Street location in 2003. She would like to see that excitement about the arts continue to grow.

"I think the time is right. There seems to be a renewed interest in the downtown district. It's time to broaden our interests and look at what Paducah has done," she said. "There's no reason why we couldn't come up with a similar project."

Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson said that promoting the arts in such a way as Paducah does requires substantial financial resources and partnerships between the city, organizations and individuals who want to make it happen. He said the city alone cannot increase the presence of the arts in Cape Girardeau.

Fulgham agrees that it takes more than the city to make such a change and she is happy with the way the CVB has marketed the arts council. She said the CVB printed and distributed rack cards promoting May's ArtsCape, which brought more than 2,000 visitors to downtown, at least twice as many as the previous year.

Murals project

For Martin, the comparisons between Cape Girardeau and Paducah are not exactly fair.

"When you live in your own community you tend to take things for granted," he said. "Good things are indeed happening."

One such good thing is the Mississippi River Tales project under production.

Martin said the CVB is meeting with a design firm as part of creating a campaign to promote the floodwall murals. He said there is already a catchy tag line -- which he would not reveal -- for the promotional campaign. A celebration is also planned for when the murals are finished.

It is the construction of Southeast Missouri State University's River Campus, however, that Martin said will bring Cape Girardeau to the next level when it comes to making it a destination for arts and culture and will allow the CVB to market the arts more aggressively. The River Campus will include a 950-seat performance venue and a university museum.

"At that point in time you really have something you can hang your hat on," Martin said.

kalfisi@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182