Seeking Support For Your Local Music Scene? Consider Urban Redevelopment
In Omaha, Nebraska, support for the local music scene has blossomed into a redevelopment project led by Slowdown, the name of a venue as well as a larger mixed-use facility that also houses a variety of music-related businesses. According to researcher Michael Seman, Slowdown was supported by the city as part of their redevelopment plans for a "blighted" downtown area. While music scenes tend to be studied for other reasons related to urban life, his study of the Omaha example is a rare look at how supporting local music scenes can also support redevelopment.
Danielle Paquette sketches (via StageBloc) some of the history and the current scene at Slowdown in Omaha for The Washington Post.
In some respects the story is fairly simple and well-described in Paquette's article as well as in a research paper by Michael Seman.
Saddle Creek Records wanted to launch Slowdown near their offices.
The neighbors didn't like that idea. But the city's been supportive in a mostly hands-off kind of way to the local music scene and they showed interest in Saddle Creek setting up shop in a fairly burned out section of downtown.
They wouldn't be displacing inhabitants but instead would be helping downtown redevelopment.
As Seman notes in his paper, music scenes have often been studied for their effects on the local economy and on attracting newcomers but they are "rarely discussed in terms of being catalysts for urban redevelopment" (p. 1).
Seman gets into some of the details regarding the facility and deal (p. 4):
"Named after an influential local band and constructed for $10.2 million dollars, Slowdown covers 56,000 square feet and opened in the summer of 2007. It houses the offices of Omaha record label, Saddle Creek Records, the label’s warehouse space, a music venue (also entitled "Slowdown"), a (non-profit) two screen cinema, residential and retail space, a bar/lounge, and coffeehouse…"
"The project was developed through a partnership formed between Saddle Creek Records’ label manager, Jason Kulbel and label owner and former band member, Robb Nansel (Saddle Creek Records is a wholly separate entity). Funding for the project was provided through this independent partnership, the label itself, and the City of Omaha."
Seman has much more on the details of the development and its history. But Paquette's recent coverage gives one a sense that the project has a ways to go in influencing the area around it. It seems to be a bit of an island.
I'm not sure what that means for the relative success of Omaha's redevelopment efforts. But it does appear that Slowdown and Michael Seman's study offer another angle of approach for those seeking to get local support for local music scenes.
More:
- How A Small Music Festival Revived A Texas Town [It's Not Austin]
- 2011 SXSW Economic Impact Report Shows Power of Music Festivals
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) recently launched DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
