Downtown Gadsden’s signature event returns, building bigger and better traditions

successful efforts to bring people back to downtown. Gadsden’s many honors include Top 10 awards for its promotional activities.

“We remind people we have a good downtown,” Moore said. “It’s the heartbeat of the community,” stressing that efforts reach well beyond First Friday. Promotions and events – from a chili cookoff to a St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl –ensure that downtown merchants benefit from the increased activity drawing prospective customers their way on a regular basis.

“They like coming to our downtown,” she said.

Downtown Gadsden Inc. efforts don’t stop there, though. The organization is involved in beautifying and revitalizing the downtown area. The Pittman Theatre stage is being expanded and the ceiling is being dropped to improve its ability to host concerts.

Downtown Gadsden has entered into a public-private partnership with Walnut Gallery and Gadsden Museum of Art, leveraging its own $10,000 grant into a larger pool of $25,000 to place an 18foot kinetic wind sculpture on the corner of 1st and Broad Streets. Just a short distance from the river and recognizing the water’s roots in Gadsden’s history, the sculpture resembles a fish with parts moving with the breeze.

“We’re really, really excited” about the sculpture coming and what the future holds for downtown, Moore said. There is no shortage of “great ideas” from the new mayor and administration that can be part of the planning that lies ahead.

“There’s a lot going on in Gadsden this year,” she added. First Friday and all the rest have been “a huge success for our downtown merchants and everybody else.”