It’s hard work being a city planner.
Ask T.J. Blakeman about the ins and outs of working in a micro-urban environment and he’ll tell you that part of the challenge is handling the balance. How do you create a city where progressives thrive and old-timers settle? How can one dissolve the past while constantly looking towards the future?
Part of the answer lies in the questions themselves.
Since he was a teenager, Mr. Blakeman — who, for many years, has been focused on the idea that city government can affect real change culturally — has been working towards making things happen for the people by way of utilizing city resources.
2011 has been a busy year for him. With the development of the Champaign Center Partnership, his hours have been re-allocated to devote half of his time to the position of Executive Director. The idea is a simple one, with a complex execution: link the Campustown with Downtown by creating a Midtown.
Yeah… me too…
Needless to say, it’s a multi-faceted job and one that requires an extremely broad view of Champaign. More importantly, he needs not only to consider the people living here, but also, the people who eventually might be.
From November to January — and let’s face it: it really starts in September for some retailers — every city and town and village and municipality across America, exploits a basic sense to help to inspire feelings of nostalgia and cheer with some version of holiday decorations on Main St. USA.
The twinkle of bright, white strung lights. The warmth in the wrap of (fake) pine garland. A massive Christmas tree in the center of Downtown (but can I get a Menorah up in that piece as well?). Iconic images of Lincoln Center or Daley Plaza set the precedent for a replication nationwide, and most of us, despite liberal leanings or feelings of agnosticism, tend to just react with positivity to the sight.
The holiday season is little more than an illusion, but seriously — why deny it? It’s everything good, and all things redemption.
Please — spare me the lecture on the devastation of consumerism; the emphasis we place on giving stupid gifts to our loved ones is truly demented, but I’ve never been able to separate that from something mundane like driving our cars less than a mile with regularity, or the idea of lawn fertilizer. We’re immersed in commercialism and spending. So, if the twinkle twinkle of holiday lights somehow grab your attention more than any of the rest of it, well, that’s awesome…
But I digress…
Above all, and honestly, of great importance, is how this silly, but gorgeous, American tradition affects the bottom line for many, many local businesses. Look around downtown Champaign (and Urbana, for that matter). There’s nary a restaurant or clothing chain in sight. OK OK, Subway has a presence and Urban Outfitters is planted on Green, but beyond that, our downtowns are limited to local entrepreneurs — people who work year-round to both earn a living and employ many — to bring us good, old-fashioned salesmanship to our lives.
This isn’t the first time Smile Politely has come to T.J. looking for answers about how holiday decorations affect the community, and if history is an indicator, it won’t be the last. The man is committed. And in that commitment, T.J. Blakeman is determined to bring Champaign back to glory in terms of the way downtown looks during the holidays.
Budget, as you might imagine, is a HUGE issue. Right now, with a new mayor, a bevy of social issues to smooth over, and a 150 year old city to maintain, employing staff to handle holiday cheer is, well, simply not fiscally responsible.
And so, in the spirit of the season — the true spirit of the season — Mr. Blakeman is takin’ it to the streets. Call it an Occupy Champaign via Northpole, of sorts.
He wants YOU to dress for the season, and lend a hand.
Allow yourself the chance to revel in the notion of a bunch of people with little understanding of each other to come together to decorate downtown. Ponder the notion: together, we can transform the city.
Forgive me — I am singing Jingle Bells in my goddamned head now…
On November 11 — this Friday, tomorrow — the CCP is planning a volunteer work day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. to help hang lights and adorn street poles with garland. Wreaths will be hung in Campustown, and chances are, you’ll make a new friend.
Oh sure, it’s pedestrian at best, and slightly hokey, but overall — it just makes sense.
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Smile Politely: How long have you been working on downtown holiday decor? At what point did you make it a priority in your job?
T.J. Blakeman: I’ve been assisting the Champaign Downtown Association and now the Champaign Center Partnership on Decorating since I began working for the City in 2003. This has never been part of my job with the City since this has been a volunteer effort for nearly 20 years. Now that I am the Executive Director of the Champaign Center Partnership, I feel that we can begin to raise the level of our decorating in all three of our districts (Downtown, Midtown, and Campustown)
Smile Politely: Can you determine the economic benefit to a project like this? Do retailers downtown seem to respond well to the additional lighting and decorations?
T.J. Blakeman: It’s hard to quantify the economic value of a garland hanging on a lamp post or a wreath hanging along Green Street but I can tell you that the community connects with these decorations and it adds something special to the holiday season. The community recognizes when these things aren’t done, as has happened in years past. The Champaign Center Partnership is committed to shining a light back on our great local businesses located in our Districts and we see the decorations as a way to enhance that “experience”. We are holding Shop Local Saturday and the Parade of Lights on November 26th for that very reason.
Smile Politely: What’s the budget on this project? Will asking the community to spend a little volunteer time significantly help make it an affordable project?
T.J. Blakeman: Our budget has been nearly non-existent over the past five years. This year, the partnership will spend about $3,000 to get many of our lights working again. It will be a process to begin building new decorations. Having the community volunteer to hang the decorations is vital. Without them, none of it gets done. Contributions from community groups and interested individuals are always welcome.
Smile Politely: Are there any plans to bring new decorations to the streets at all, or are you in maintenance mode?
T.J. Blakeman: As I mentioned above, we are really in rebuild mode. That starts this year with new shipments of lights for all of the garlands and wreaths and getting the building lights back on. Next we will turn to sprucing up the decorations on the tree and trying to find new items to bring back. I have included a photo that you might like to see that shows the street decorations. I can’t promise these, but they are representative of how I would like to boost the decorating Downtown. Projects like this can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and we clearly won’t have that, but we can continue to move in a positive direction. It helps that we now have strong and stable organizations backing us up in the Champaign Center Partnership.
Smile Politely: If people can’t make it on November 11, are there other times or ways in which they might help?
T.J. Blakeman: People that want to help can join us this Friday (11/11) at 11a.m. at 34 Main Street. We will have refreshments for folks and jobs for all ages. We will be unwrapping the existing garlands and restringing with new lights. If you can’t make it on Friday, you can volunteer to help with the Parade of Lights and Shop Local Saturday on Saturday, November 26th. In any event, people can email me at [email protected] and I can find a role for them.