Town Halls Today And Friday On Proposed Chadron Creative District

      Town hall meetings are being held today and Friday on the proposed creation of a Creative District in Chadron through the Nebraska Arts Council. 

     There are 2 town halls today aimed at artisans and others on the creative side from 1-3:00 and 3-5:00 at the Mari Sandoz Center.

Two more are set for Friday and the general public. They will run from 3-5:00 and 5:30-7:30, also at the Sandoz Center. 

     Northwest Nebraska Tourism Director Kerri Rempp says a creative district utilizes the arts as an economic driver for communities by telling their stories and elevating the value of the arts. 

      Rempp says the town halls today and Friday are intended to help organizers plan out a long-term strategy for the direction to take with a creative district, a well-defined geographic area with a high concentration of artistic and creative resources.

For Chadron, that’s primary Main Street from the railroad tracks to Chadron State College.

The proposed district also includes 2nd Street from Bordeaux to Morehead, 3rd Street from Main to Chadron Avenue, 5th from Main to Bordeaux to include the library, and 4th from Main to King to bring in the Chadron Arts Center.

      Creative districts are a new program established last year by the legislature and run by the Nebraska Arts Council with state funding for grants. Rempp says each district must be formed as a partnership.

The city council last fall committed to acting as the creative district’s administrative arm for handling hoped-for grants.