Roxbury is chosen for the first “Re-Store Design Challenge” this summer
Three dedicated design teams will fill storefronts with creativity and inspiration
After a highly competitive and lengthy selection process, the hamlet of Roxbury was chosen to host the inaugural “Re-Store Design Challenge,” with “stores” to be unveiled in late July and open every weekend this August.
The decision comes after two weeks of fierce deliberation among the selection committee, which included House Beautiful editor Newell Turner, Central Catskills Chamber Executive Director Carol O’Beirne and the three design team leaders, Andrew Williams, Sean Scherer and Donald Hill.
Now that the village has been selected, the Re-Store design leaders will each select a local student to join their teams and begin the conceptual and planning work for a model retail venture to install in three empty storefronts in Roxbury. With a budget of $1,000 each, the actual installations will take place in only two days in late July, so that locals and visitors can “shop” the Re-Store design stores every weekend in August. “Shoppers” can also cast their vote for their favorite of the three “Re-Stores,” votes that will be weighted with those of the official judging team. An awards ceremony will be held August 28 to announce the winning design team.
“It was so close that the selection process took longer than expected,” said Williams, adding, “Fleischmanns also presented an fantastic application and it was a tough choice. But with some exciting Main Street projects coming to Fleischmanns this year, we thought it might be an even stronger candidate next year. All three applications showed that there is incredible support in our area to showcase the retail potential in our villages.”
Roxbury: what’s there … and what’s not
While Roxbury had decades of experience in heritage tourism and dedicated, experienced Parks Department staff and volunteers to support the project, it was also chosen in part because, of all the villages in the competition, it has the fewest Main Street retail ventures right now. With art galleries, four restaurants, an award-winning boutique motel, a performing arts center and a Main Street listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Sites, Roxbury’s lack of retail business really begs the question, “Why not here?”
“It was almost as if Roxbury were the perfect stage to ask the question, ‘If we build it, will they come?’” said Carol O’Beirne, adding “Attracting enough business traffic is a challenge for all our local communities, but Roxbury has that with a twist — it has wonderful resources to offer, but its position on Route 30 has pluses and minuses. Roxbury has to work harder to draw people off that well-travelled Route 28 corridor. Re-Store is an ideal opportunity to show potential investors that Roxbury is a viable retail location.”
Sponsored by The MARK Project and funded in part by the O’Connor Foundation, the Re-Store Design Challenge was open to any of the communities in The Mark Project service area. This year the team received applications from Margaretville, Roxbury and Fleischmanns. The hope is that Re-Store Design Challenge will become an annual event, with even more designers and villages vying to participate next year. You can read more about the project in this issue’s Summer Preview, and you can follow Re-Store Design Challenge on Facebook, or contact MARK at 845 586-3500 for more information.
