Greetings!   

Thank you to all who attended our Holiday Open House yesterday! We had a great night with lovely company. Please check out our Facebook page for pictures of the event.

As 2012 comes to a close, we want to thank all of our members, sponsors, and event attendees for helping to make this year a success. Please take a moment to save the dates for a few of the events we have planned for the new year, starting with our Annual Meeting (February 6) and Downtown Institute (February 6-8) held in conjunction with Colorado Preservation, Inc.'s Saving Places Conference at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver. 

Cheers and happy holidays!!

Katherine Correll

Whether you serve a local government, an urban renewal authority, a merchants' association, are a business or property owner, or a concerned resident, now is the time to share your opinions and concerns with your state representatives and state senators.  

The 2013 session of the state legislature begins January 9 and many of the tools that Colorado's downtowns use for revitalization, urban renewal, creating regional tourism and marketing, and support to small business are not well understood among either new or veteran members of the General Assembly. We all play a very important role in communicating what we need to maintain the downtowns that are the backbone of our state. It is vital that everyone from practitioner to beneficiaries reach out to your legislators in some way-- invite them for a tour of your business district, show off your new urban renewal project, or take them to lunch or coffee and talk about the public-private partnerships that help keep your business district alive. This gives you the opportunity to explain the work that you do and show them the redevelopment that is made possible through the work of public-private partnerships.  

By doing this you also establish a relationship that paves the way for future communication on issues that are relevant to your community. Downtown revitalization works because of the local efforts and tools available to our local communities. But most people don't know the background or how and why this fabulous redevelopment happens. Click this link to find a list of legislators and take a moment to share your thoughts with yours today!  

Downtown Colorado, Inc. is pleased to announce a new member group feature available to members on our website. These groups give our members the opportunity to post discussions, share information, and connect with peers in groups made specific to your community or organizations' needs. Please click here to check out the different online groups available! Many members have been automatically placed into groups based on membership type, but if you would like to join other groups, you may request membership by visiting the different group pages and selecting the option to join.   

Online groups are a great way to provide additional resources to connect with your peers, learn about upcoming events, and share best practices and updates from your community or district! Please take a moment to look at the different groups, and introduce yourself by posting on the group news feed! If you have any questions about groups, or suggestions about new groups, please contact DCI at events@downtowncoloradoinc.org, subject line DCI GROUPS.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is working hard to make sure that lawmakers on Capitol Hill don't come near the federal historic tax credit when tax reform discussions begin in earnest next year.

To make sure that the job-creating and economic development benefits of the historic tax credit are made clear to our legislators, the National Trust is collecting success stories from across the country. What they are looking for are examples of formerly vacant/underutilized historic building that were rehabilitated with the help of the federal historic tax credit, and in its new use, have gone on to spur the revitalization of the surrounding community.

They are especially interested in telling these stories through the eyes of real people, not an omniscient narrator, so contact information for the principal players would be also very helpful.

These stories will be included on the National Trust web site, in e-alerts, and on social media to make the historic tax credit program less arcane and more real.

Please respond to Erica Stewart at the National Trust for Historic Preservation by December 14^th.

Saving Places 2013 Annual Conference: The Language of Preservation, February 6-8, Denver 

 2013 Annual Land Use Conference, March 6-8, University of Denver 

Thank You to Our Patron, District Partner, and Main Street Supporter Sponsors!  

Interested in DCI sponsorship?  Download our sponsorship brochure now! Or contact DCI at 303.282.0625.

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