Five more weeks of fair

Fans of Surf City Nights are getting a five-week encore. The popular Tuesday night street fair is running at least through the end of June because of a deal between businesses and the council to share costs until then.

The City Council voted 5-1 at its Monday meeting to spend about $5,000 in economic development money per week to fund their employees’ involvement in the festival. Downtown businesses say they will pay about $5,000 a week for the farmers’ market and entertainment in June, after which they hope to find a sponsor or make it more economical.

City money goes to subsidize free parking, barricade Main Street, advertise with banners and pay emergency workers to keep an eye on the proceedings, said Jim Lamb, project manager for the economic development department.

Though the original purpose of the trial was to see if a street closure would help businesses in the off-season, many at the meeting said the event was such a success it deserved to keep going.

“I saw a lot of smiling faces — the faces of residents down there and the faces of merchants who can’t get away from the cash register,” Councilman Don Hansensaid. “Keeping it going in the summer months makes sense because the event has momentum.”

The 12-week trial was a major success, said Downtown Business Improvement District board member Ron McLin, who owns the Longboard Restaurant and Pub on Main Street. The district voted nearly unanimously to kick in the money to run the entertainment and farmers’ market, he said.

“It’s gone over very well with the residents, bringing in a lot of new people into the downtown area,” he said. “It would be a shame to stop this event just as it gets going on. Everybody felt this was one of the best marketing tools we’ve used downtown.”

Once June runs out, businesses and city officials hope to have a major sponsor and a bigger festival. Closing a third block of Main Street to traffic would make the farmers’ market more profitable so it would require less of a subsidy, Lamb said.

“We’re working very hard to increase revenue on our business model by expanding to at least three blocks,” he said. “We’re working to decrease expenses and find sponsorships.”

Steve Daniel, who owns the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on Main Street, said the work was ongoing among businesses as well.

“Tuesday nights have turned out to be very, very good,” he said. “We’re coming up with ideas on how to make Main Street better.”