Downtown future tied to river

Marilyn Davison took some advice from Hallmark many years ago and successfully applied it to the family store.

"They said, 'find a niche and fill it,'" said Davison, who operated the retail part of Davison's Drug & Stationery for many years before turning it over to her son.

Davison said she applied that advice to how she filled her shelves, trying to keep tapped into what kind of merchandise people wanted and was not being offered elsewhere in town.

And after being part of several downtown improvement efforts, most of which failed, she is convinced that advice applies to the city, too.

It was that philosophy that carried Pat and Scott Kittle toward what has become the most successful new enterprise in the downtown area in the last decade.

Pat Kittle said it took a lot of time and planning to bring it to reality, and admits it was a bit of a gamble.

"Really, it was just rolling the dice and just starting the business," said Kittle, adding the idea came from his experience working in his father's True Value hardware store, and, of course, talking to hunters and fishermen about the need for a dedicated sporting goods shop in the area.

The brothers have even been able to expand, and as the business has grown, Kittle admits his vision of the whole of the downtown has grown with it.

Quite frankly, it was not a concern when he first started.

Now he has joined the fraternity concerned with keeping downtown alive.

"On the outskirts of town, where Highway 20 comes in (from Yuba City and from Williams) ... there has been talk about developing commercial out there," Kittle said. "And as downtown businesses, I think we have to get together and try to develop a river district or something like that before the big outside money comes in and develops that (highway) area."

Kittle is convinced the river, and the kind of tourism and entertainment dollars it can generate, needs to be the centerpiece of the downtown revitalization effort.

"A good example is what Steelhead Lodge did," Kittle said. "People love to go out and have a good place to eat."

Ian Ross agrees.

Founder of City Design Collective, Ross said when he first visited downtown Colusa, he was surprised that the city did not emphasize the river more.

"I stood at Market and Fifth and asked, 'Where is the river?'" Ross said.

"I have a habit of seeing things through an urban design lens. So my first impression (of the Colusa downtown) was I saw a lot of missed opportunities ... to leverage some of its greatest assets, like it proximity to the river," Ross said.

"That is what makes Colusa special, and when you come downtown, you blow right by it. There is nothing to connect it to the river."

But that is just part of the piece.

In fact, the downtown is defined, for the purpose of the city's development plans, as the area bordered by Market Street and Highway 45, and from the river to Oak Street. Residential properties will not be part of the study.

It is the first phase of the Downtown Development Plan. The city is using a $35,000 planning grant to pay for the work, and hopes to add a more specific riverfront plan during the second phase depending on the availability of additional grant funds.

The city is looking at upwards of $100,000 for that phase. It also will include more details about the overall downtown plan, and an economic analysis.

Ross and his team will be in Colusa April 18-19 for a series of public meetings at which they will be asking city officials, business owners, property owners and the public about their vision of the downtown.

They will take that information and develop and overall vision, and then develop strategies to reach those goals.

"The downtown has taken a passive role. It is a good place to come and get a cup of coffee, get stamps, and get lunch, but it is not an active role. We want to return it to an active role. But it will be a challenge," Ross said.