Are you ready?
We are heading into a summer that promises to be a demarcation in the timeline of our city.
Those who’ve lamented the fading memory of Oneonta’s “glory days” will recognize some of that familiar energy, as our downtown fills with locals and visitors.
Tuesday, June 13, at noon, we will be celebrating the reimagining of Muller Plaza.
From today forward, it will be a focus of downtown’s energy.
A village square where you can relax while dining on take-out from an array of eclectic restaurants — Italian, American, Mexican, Asian, Indian, Thai, Caribbean, Fusion or BBQ.
Enjoy a coffee and a pastry. Spend time in conversation, in people watching, and in appreciation of some of the regularly changing activities and performances that will fill the day, every day.
Beginning this week and running from Tuesday through Saturday, from now until the end of September, Muller Plaza will be the most inviting place to spend time as Oneonta has ever offered.
We are remarkably fortunate that the staff of Club Odyssey and FOR-DO will serve as attendant and concierge to the plaza. Each day, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., there will be a trained person on hand to ensure that everyone who visits or uses the plaza for activity or performance is well taken care of — that seating and tables are always convenient, comfortable, and clean. They will be communicators to public safety, a general information resource and the publicists for all that may be scheduled in and around the city.
We are calling them our “Muller Plaza Ambassadors.”
What will the experience of the plaza feel like on any given day?
I cannot tell you. And therein lies the joy of this.
The use of the plaza by artists, performers, studios and groups will be vetted and scheduled, but it will be organic. Some days there may be a musician or two performing, perhaps a yoga class, people practicing lines for a play, or a game of life-sized chess. The day may feature a magician, a juggler, a face painter or a full-on dance presentation. There may be vendors or local artisans with wonderful items for purchase.
(Look for an open instrument case or tip jar.)
Every day will be different.
Because of that, I am certain that the plaza will become a very popular place to be — at any time on any day.
Our messaging: “There is ALWAYS a Reason to Visit Downtown Oneonta.”
I hope you can join us at noon, as we celebrate the potential of the plaza and of our community.
We are on the cusp of a new day.
Challenges? Sure, we’ve got those.
But our problems are not unique, and each — planned and unplanned — is being addressed by the government and the community working together.
That’s how we get this done.
That’s how we come together as neighbors to push past the constraints that have stymied us in the past, to grow our numbers, to charge our economy and to begin to realize the potential that has always defined the city of Oneonta.
Our reimagination of Muller Plaza provides visual evidence of that creative collaboration, but we have many more examples that are less obvious. They are all equally important and impressive for their progress.
Economic development, marketing, housing, parking and quality of life issues are all being actively addressed and gaining ground because so many of our neighbors are involved in their progress.
We are doing well, Oneonta. And while we are a long way from done, we are most definitely getting there.
As always, visit All4Oneonta.com to learn more.
Mark Drnek is the mayor of Oneonta. Contact him at mdrnek@oneonta.ny.us.