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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-31-TOUR2-min Town of Lexington Tourism Committee Dawn McKenna, Chair info@tourlexington.us 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Tourism Committee Minutes Thursday, March 31, 2022 3:30 pm Conducted Remotely Members Present: Marsha Baker, Kerry Brandin, Margaret Coppe (joined late), Bebe Fallick, Dawn McKenna, Elsie Xu Members Absent: Sarah Boulos, Erin Sandler-Rathe, Wim Nijenberg Also Present: Doug Lucente (Select Board Liaison) Fred Johnson (Center Committee Liaison), Sandhya Iyer (Economic Development Director), Casey Hagerty (Economic Development Coordinator), and Betty Gau, Jessie Steigerwald and other representatives of the LexSeeHer project, Linda Dixon (Town Celebrations Committee), Susan Rubenstein (William Diamond Jr. Fife and Drum) The Chair announced that public comment would not be taken at this meeting. 1) Economic Development Report Casey indicated that things have really picked up in the past month with nearly 3,000 people coming into the Visitors Center. January and February were quite slow with 641 people in January and 990 in February. January through March the Visitors Center was open Friday through Monday and closed mid-week which also puts the lower numbers in context. Beginning April 1st the Visitors Center will be open full-time, 9-4 seven days a week. The sales numbers reflect the same patterns. The tours and charter tours have really increased in the past week. Battle Green Tours will be available on weekends and during April vacation mid-week. The Liberty Ride will be operating on a limited schedule because the fixed costs of operating was out-pacing sales. This includes two weeks in April, and Memorial Day weekend. Beginning on June 17th the Liberty Ride will operate Friday – Monday at 10 and 11:30 am to try to optimize the budget. Marketing has been a focus pushing out a lot of ads includes a push for Patriots Day on WGBH radio and digital ads on wgbh.com as well as a Boston Globe ticket watch event. In partnership with the Lexington Historical Society advertising around the February Chocolate events was done. The Mass Office of Travel and Tourism (MOTT) approved a $30k grant with some matching funds for additional joint advertising on WCVB television particularly during Chronicle, as well as some social media digital targeted advertising. Lexington Cultural District application process has slowed down as the person in charge left the Mass Cultural Council and they have been in a holding pattern. A Request for Information (RFI) was issued for the tourism website with 13 responses ranging from $19k to over $3 million. The ones that most captured the Lexington experience were in the range of $50k which exceeds the $25k budget the Select Board provided through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. Staff will be requesting additional funding in order to move forward with the redesign. Once additional funds have been secured a Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued in the fall to have it ready for a Spring 2023 launch. Because the season is beginning and the Select Board has not yet seen the request, it is unlikely that the work can begin any sooner. Kerry indicated that she has all of the text from our first website that could be a good starting point to save both money and time. The new Visitors Center Assistant Manager, Rosemary, has been hired and has a good editing background. Based on a question from Elsie, Casey indicated that the plan is to have offsite management of the website going forward. Staff will organize the efforts and Kerry and Elsie agreed to work with Casey and the consultants to help make sure the new website reflects the collective expectations and expertise. It was requested that the group regularly brings back work in progress for feedback so the website development receives input along the way from the full Committee. Comments were made regarding the Liberty Ride operations having been reduced to four days per week with the two afternoon tours eliminated. Revolving Fund authorization was also reduced to $104k and the Tourism Committee was not consulted. The Liberty Ride was designed to give people a reason to stay in Lexington. Money needs to be spent in order to make money. Staff is working to find a way to reinvigorate the services by holding costs this year. Plan on doing surveys and feedback to get a comprehensive look at how the services have worked and what can we do in the future. This is a topic that we need to have at our next meeting as it is a bigger discussion. It was pointed out that other departments have been given the resources they needed to operate through COVID. Economic Development has not been given the same ability. It was also pointed out that none of the leadership, including the Town Manager was in place prior to COVID and the relocation of the Visitors Center and has not seen what a normal active season looks like. Current operations are being built off the pandemic numbers which does not make sense. All indications is that this will be a more normal season and we need to be prepared to adjust accordingly. 2) Visitors Center Fundraising over Patriot’s Day Weekend Discussion regarding the commitment to raise funds for the Visitors Center and how important it is for staff to not only have the brochures available but to also ask for those donations during checkout, especially given the anticipated crowds for Patriot’s Day. Sandhya indicated that while they have the signage up, they are still not having staff ask for donations at the register while making purchases. Dawn indicated that the Select Board voted as part of the funding plan to do so. Sandhya indicated that is not a role that the Visitors Center Manager wants to do. This conversation will be continued. 3) Patriot’s Day Proposal for Bleachers Linda Dixon came to propose a pilot project to fill 150 seats next to the reviewing stand that the Town Celebrations Committee is requesting. The idea is that the Town Celebrations Committee wondered if the Visitors Center would be willing to offer two free tickets to sit on the bleachers for purchases of $25 or more for watching the afternoon Patriot’s Day parade. That would help the Visitors Center increase sales and also help fill the seats. Dawn spoke with Katie and she thought it was an idea worth doing. Casey and Sandhya were comfortable with it if Katie was ok with it. The tickets are free and the incentive is to spend more money at a price level at which the Visitors Center thinks is appropriate. With concurrence of staff and the Committee, this pilot will be tried. 4) LexSeeHer Dawn indicated that she had spoken with Betty Gau and Jessie Steigerwald who are the proponents of the monument in advance to discuss the process for today. Since the Tourism Committee has had extended presentations on the LexSeeHer proposed monument and location at prior meetings, the Tourism Committee is well versed on what is being asked of us. However, the Committee has not had time to deliberate on their views. Therefore, the proponents will have 10 minutes to provide whatever additional information they want to share. The balance of the time will be a discussion amongst the Committee, with the goal of concluding with a voted position. Jessie was recognized and showed a video about the project and location. (They had sent a link to the video in advance that was provided to Committee members.) She ended by asking for our support. Members each had an opportunity to express their personal views. Kerry indicated that she liked the proposed monument although she did not like the proposed location. She felt that preserving the vistas for the Battle Green as people approached from the Center with the Minute Man Statue, Buckman Tavern, and the Visitors Center was important. Having a large modern monument right there blocking those views she did not feel was the right approach. Kerry proposed placing the monument in Emery Park which is well maintained and if the monument will be the attraction that the proponents believe it would be a great draw in the downtown area. She made the following motion which was seconded by Dawn: That the Tourism Committee generally supports the proposed monument honoring Lexington Women who have made meaningful contributions to the Town. However, the Tourism Committee does not support locating the LexSeeHer Monument within the approved Battle Green Master Plan area, including the proposed location directly in front of the Visitors Center. The Battle Green Master Plan states that it is "especially important to preserve the open space between the Minute Man Statue and the Visitors Center. The Tourism Committee would support the installation of the proposed LexSeeHer Monument at Emery Park. Marsha disagreed with that motion and indicated she received a text from Dave Pinsonneault during the meeting that it could not go in Emery Park because there was too much infrastructure under the Park. She strongly believes that all other town entities and committees agree it should be on the Visitors Center lawn. Elsie does not feel comfortable placing the monument where it is proposed near the Visitors Center. She suggested perhaps near the Museum or in East Lexington, nor did she think it would fit in Emery Park. Margaret will not support this motion. From the beginning this project has not been a high priority for her. She would be more comfortable if there had locations proposed other than at Cary Library or here. The design reminds Margaret of a cemetery gate which she felt was appropriate as all of the women being depicted are dead. She is opposed to this motion. Bebe has repeatedly believed in the project. She admires Meredith’s work. This process has had a number of small and large holes and the insistence on one spot, the library, was a mistake from the beginning. Because the library has a unique ability to say “no,” the group turned their attention to this proposed site and would not consider other sites. A concerned raised by Bebe is that the group had given a name to the spot which they did not have the authority to do. The materials that have been distributed are top notch. Bebe has concerns about the design and that it has been rotated 45 degrees from when we last saw it. It is no longer parallel to Mass Ave or the Visitors Center and needs to hear a lot more about that change. The whole process has been a concern and Bebe does not have enough information to vote. Dawn has been concerned about the way her position on this has been inaccurately portrayed. From the beginning she was supportive of the idea of a women’s monument. Where ideas have diverged is where the monument should be located and what it would look like. It was originally brought forward as a very small monument put off to the side of the Visitors Center and would not impact the view between the Visitors Center and the Minute Man Statue and it has morphed into a much larger and different project. Dawn still supports the notion of a women’s monument and is very appreciative of all the work that has gone into it. Meredith has done a very good job following the directions to given to her to create something meaningful for Lexington. With Dawn’s work on the Battle Green Master Plan she strongly believes it does not belong in the proposed location. Additionally, Dawn indicated that some of the process around this project has not been fair. As an example she stated that she had seen an email from Lucinda “Cindy” Brockway (the person hired by the Town to write the Battle Green Master Plan) the morning of the meeting. Dawn was unaware that the group would be contacting her nor was Cindy given an opportunity to have a complete picture from all perspectives. Dawn knows her very well and so called to learn that Cindy had only been contacted late in the afternoon the day before this meeting. Cindy was given misleading information about the location. Cindy sent a clarifying email after her conversation with Dawn reiterating the importance of the connectivity which Dawn read to the Committee. Dawn would support Kerry’s motion with a request for a friendly amendment to remove the wording regarding the alternative location of Emery Park. Kerry, the maker of the original motion, agreed to withdraw her motion, and Dawn who had seconded it also agreed. The revised motion was then moved by Kerry and seconded by Dawn as follows: That the Tourism Committee generally supports the proposed monument honoring Lexington Women who have made meaningful contributions to the Town. However, the Tourism Committee does not support locating the LexSeeHer Monument within the approved Battle Green Master Plan area, including the proposed location directly in front of the Visitors Center. The Battle Green Master Plan states that it is "especially important to preserve the open space between the Minute Man Statue and the Visitors Center.” Marsha then added that she does not believe that it blocks the Minute Man Statue and clarified that Kerry meant that she did not want the monument anywhere in the Battle Green Master Plan area. She did not understand why members of the Tourism Committee were out of step with others in the community. Changes made were in response to listening and trying to make improvements along the way. The world has come to recognize that women and their past achievements should be recognized, and she does not understand why we would not want to celebrate that and put the monument in an important place in our community. Bebe said no one at the meeting has said they object to the project itself and the honoring of women. Before taking a vote, Dawn asked all present that regardless of how the vote comes out, we all care and have respect for women. It is a philosophical difference as to whether the only prominent place in the community is in the Battle Green area. The Battle Green is one of approximately 2500 National Historic Landmarks in the country. Dawn related an experience with a teacher from Russia who was taught to hate America, and the reverence and respect he had for the Battle Green when he saw it for the first time that reinforced personally how sacred that piece of land was to the world. It was what inspired her to propose the Battle Green Master Planning Process that involved hundreds of participants. We asked the federal government to grant us that designation and we have an obligation to preserve this area. There can be different interpretations of what that means. Personally, she wants to work with LexSeeHer to find a prominent location that honors women’s contributions in a way they haven’t previously been recognized. Dawn described the broad and inclusive process that resulted in a location for Antony Park that wasn’t what had been envisioned, but how it turned out to be a better choice. Up until now, there has not been such an inclusive process to work with those who disagreed to find a location that is supported by all. She expressed the hope that it would take place if the proposed motion prevailed. Margaret said, given that we are at a point in history where women’s roles are being revisited, as well as others, there is no better place for it than the sacred ground that Dawn just described. Fred was on the Center Committee when they voted for the project and that the location proposed is not on the Battle Green. He is troubled that the Motion states that the monument should not be located anywhere in the Battle Green Master Plan area. He would be disappointed if this motion prevailed. Dawn reminded the participants that there has been a lot of misinformation out there, one of which is that everyone supports this but the Tourism Committee. The HDC took their position without allowing any public comment in a public hearing, so comments made in that meeting that were not accurate were left to stand. Monuments and Memorials has not yet made their recommendation nor taken a vote. Following this vigorous debate we need to respect everyone’s perspective. Monuments and Memorials Committee and the Select Board will weigh in on this next. Each of us has been as diligent as we could about this. By roll call vote the following motion was approved by a vote of 4 – 2. That the Tourism Committee generally supports the proposed monument honoring Lexington Women who have made meaningful contributions to the Town. However, the Tourism Committee does not support locating the LexSeeHer Monument within the approved Battle Green Master Plan area, including the proposed location directly in front of the Visitors Center. The Battle Green Master Plan states that it is "especially important to preserve the open space between the Minute Man Statue and the Visitors Center.” The LexSeeHer proponents were invited to work with the Tourism Committee as necessary to find a different location. 5) Battle Green Master Plan Project The interpretative panels have been finished, approved and are being fabricated for the Battle Green and Belfry viewing areas. Once completed they will be stored until they are ready for installation. The contract has been awarded for the work on the Battle Green Master Plan. It is projected that the work will begin right after Patriots’Day. One of benches for the Belfry was approved to honor Barrie Peltz and there will be a ceremony once the work has been completed in that area. On Monday, April 4th at Town Meeting it is expected that there will be a vote on the funding for the Battle Green Master Plan streetscape. Tourism Committee members are welcome to join the Zoom. The Article number is 12n for the traffic portion and should be early in the meeting. 6) Fife and Drum Muster As part of Revolutionary Revelry the William Diamond Jr. Fife and Drum Corps began including a Fife and Drum Tattoo on the Battle Green 6 or 7 years ago. The Tattoo was a Friday night add on to the Muster that takes place at the Minute Man National Park on Saturday. Susan Rubenstein noted that this year is the 20th anniversary of the William Diamond Jr. Fife and Drum Corps. The Tattoo will be held once again, this year on Friday, May 6th. This year’s program will include the Middlesex County Volunteers and the Old Guard. Lighting has been requested to allow them to perform longer. The Corps will march from the Depot to the Battle Green. They are looking for help with publicity and keeping the Visitors Center open on Friday night. The outdoor rehearsals of the Fife and Drum Corps are also resuming on Monday evenings, including a dress rehearsal the last Monday of every month from 6:30 – 8 pm. They are going to Switzerland this year for the Basil Tattoo. Kerry suggested that they put their rehearsals on the calendar and suggest people plan to have a picnic on the lawn on Mondays. It was also suggested that they send the information to Katie Johnson for posting, and for social media posts. Dawn described other tourism marketing opportunities. Margaret provided other suggestions for posting online through LexObserver and What’s Happening which is put out by the Chinese American Association. Susan indicated the Katie is looking into having sufficient staffing to open the Visitors Center during these Monday night rehearsals. 7) Updates and Miscellaneous LexDoingGood has been moved to 10/22 for sharing what we do. The Committee agreed to participate in October. The Committee needs to start thinking about who we might want to add to the Tourism Committee. Two members were on the Committee in their capacity of staff for organizations that supported tourism: Sarah Boulos (Aloft/Element Hotel) and Erin Sandler-Rathe (Lexington Chamber of Commerce). Both are no longer with those organizations. Once they resign we can fill the positions. Otherwise when their appointments end in September they will not be reappointed. Doug explained that the Board will most likely not make appointments without their resignation. Dawn recommended that the Select Board require that applicants attend at least one or two meetings of a committee to which they wish to be appointed to be eligible. Wim Nijenberg has not been receiving notices since he moved. We will continue to reach out to him. Margaret indicated that the Visitors Center has been closed early on Sundays. Conversations with the Tourism Committee regarding the Liberty Ride and Visitors Center data and discussion around hours of operation need to be had. 8) Adjourn Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:35 pm. Unanimously passed by roll call vote. Respectfully submitted Dawn E. McKenna Approved: September 29, 2022