Any volunteer group with aims to revitalize a city’s downtown and foster cultural opportunities faces that moment when members might wonder how, or if, they’re going to pull it off.
But right out of the gate, the new Vermillion (South Dakota) Downtown Cultural Association has a summer blockbuster of a project that couldn’t be any better marriage of its goals to keep this city’s downtown going while providing cultural events that should appeal to a wide array of people.
Six months ago, association members were thinking about how to achieve their mission of improving cultural life in downtown Vermillion when the city’s two movie theaters, both located downtown on Main Street, came up for sale.
You probably couldn’t ask for a better situation in which to match culture and downtown development.
“It just so happened interest in downtown and the focus on culture fit nicely in this theater project,” said Bill Anderson, the Downtown Cultural Association’s president.