1-10-08 Fredericksburg Growing as a Major Tourist Destination  -- Silver Companies Brings Kalahari to Celebrate Virginia + Aids Fredericksburg Athenaeum... Teens to Benefit

Downtown teens stand to benefit from tourism developments:  Silver Companies $500,000 donation is the beginning of big things for the Fredericksburg Athenaeum 

Date published: 1/10/2008

BY BRINKLEY SHARPE

Starting in 2008, Fredericksburg promises to grow as a major tourist destination. One reason for this is the potentially lucrative Kalahari Waterpark Resort, which will be a part of the Celebrate Virginia project adjacent to Central Park. The water park has generated a lot of talk and support from local government.

Following a trip last week to Sandusky, Ohio, to see Kalahari's flagship water parks, Fredericksburg's city council met this week to decide on a final package of economic incentives to offer the park.

In order for the water park and tourist-oriented projects in development to thrive, however, Fredericksburg must also offer other incentives--namely those to the community and tourists who will be supporting them.

City officials--along with Celebrate Virginia's project developer, the Silver Cos.--must help bring downtown up to par with their vision of Fredericksburg as a youth-friendly destination. And to do that, they must form some new alliances.

A recently announced $500,000 grant from the Silver Cos. to downtown's Fredericksburg Athenaeum promises to be a big step in the right direction.

THE TEEN SCENE

Paul Lewis, head of the Fredericksburg Athenaeum and owner of Wounded Bookshop, is no stranger to forming partnerships. As a member of the downtown arts community, Lewis has partnered with many organizations, including teen arts organization The Panta Rhei Project.

The Athenaeum is also unofficially associated with the Fredericksburg All Ages concert series (which Lewis said may be officially incorporated into the Athenaeum in 2008), as well as the teen-run Fredericksburg Free Store. Both organizations use the Athenaeum's Third Floor loft space at 810 Caroline St. for regular events.

"The gift received by the Athenaeum is a big first step in acknowledging the importance of the arts community in downtown Fredericksburg," said Adam Bray, organizer of the All Ages shows.

"By enabling artists, writers and musicians, the cultural gifts of our town will flourish and make downtown a vibrant center of entertainment and creative energy--not just for teenagers and Fredericksburg All Ages shows, but, for the entire community. It'll be an exciting 2008."

SHOW ME THE MONEY?

Though teens involved with the organizations (and those featured in our sidebar) may have big ideas about how to use $500,000 to develop downtown, Lewis was more reserved about how the Athenaeum will use the grant. "Just enough money to lose almost instantly" is how he described the donation.

Bray also urged teens not to overspeculate. "I don't want to suggest that the grant is only or primarily going to fund rock shows," he said.

The majority of the money will go into an endowment to "build sustainability," Lewis said. He hopes this fund will grow yearly and can be used to offer grants to individual artists and groups that need funding for their own arts-related endeavors.

The rest of the money will go into more immediate projects, namely work on the Third Floor and funding a festival of the arts, planned for the fall.

Lewis said he hopes that some money can also go toward hiring two salaried employees, who would ideally begin work in February.

One would be tasked with running the Third Floor in some sort of officially regulated schedule, since other commitments of members and volunteers have prevented it from actually functioning well as the art gallery that it aims to be, in addition to being an event space.

The second position is a director of development to be the "go-to person" for events and reserving any of the Athenaeum's venues. This would provide increased organization for the entire project. In the future, positions will include volunteer coordinators and part-timers to run the Wounded Bookshop, which Lewis considers to be the "spirit of the organization," he said.

SUPPORT STILL NEEDED

With these and other lofty goals, Lewis said he's "trying to proactively support [his] mission by being as open as possible and involving as many people as possible."

Thus, the generous contribution of the Silver Cos. cannot mean an end to outside help. Lewis is confident that the Athenaeum will continue to thrive in its day-to-day operations through additional donations from interested individuals and businesses. But he feels that the city needs to understand the incentive of stepping up and taking its own part in the arts.

Lewis urged the community to support any legislation and discussion coming out of City Council that would be for the city's cultural and creative benefit.

"Not one single city cent has been given to the arts community," Lewis said. But "the city has the biggest opportunity to be the most active player," he added.

After much effort, the first large step on the part of furthering the Athenaeum's mission and capabilities has been taken, but it is not the final solution. As Lewis said, "The real work begins now."

Brinkley Sharpe is a junior at Chancellor High School.

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