The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce and the new producer of the Capitol Hill Block Party will host a community meeting Tuesday night to give residents and local business owners the opportunity to talk about the plans and logistics for the 2012 edition of the three-day music festival that is expected to draw more than 30,000 visitors to the Pike/Pine neighborhood in July.
The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a community meeting to discuss this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party this coming Tuesday, June 5th at 5:30pm, at Caffé Vita, the upstairs space. Community members with questions or concerns about the Block Party will be able to ask them directly of Block Party’s own Jason LaJeunesse.
The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce has been working both with the Capitol Hill Block Party and Capitol Hill merchants to find ways to mitigate the effects of the Block party on area retailers. We will be discussing those efforts at Tuesday night’s meeting as well.
LaJeunesse, as the new producer of the Capitol Hill Block Party, is bringing new elements to this year’s event, ranging from involvement from the arts community to children’s programming.
Last week, CHS reported on a changing of the guard with CHBP as long-time organizer Jason LaJeunesse takes over majority ownership of the event. LaJeunesse’s plans include a broadening of the event to include an arts program and other new components like a family-friend Sunday event coordinated by Cupcake Royale.
While many of the community issues surfaced in past neighborhood meetings about the Block Party have been worked out over the years, some in the community continue to be frustrated by what they see as the unchecked growth of the festival into a major business issue for Pike/Pine retailers and service providers who don’t benefit from the influx of music fans into the festival grounds on the streets of E Pike, 10th and 11th. A comment from last week’s CHS post shows that not everybody is satisfied by Block Party organizer efforts to involve more of the neighborhood’s businesses in the event:
This block party messes with many local businesses that arent sponsors. Emerson salon, retail therapy, sweatbox, frame central and more. My business isnt compensated for loss except for free tiickerts whi ch doesnt really matter to me or most of my clients. I dont care about the bands! I sm..not available to go to the meeting and it doesnt matter because weve tried to address these concerns with them before. Sweatbox was even thinking of suing. A new showrunner most likely isnt going to change a thing
Residents in the immediate area, on the other hand, seem to be mostly well-taken care of. Many choose to attend the festival — watch for the “Resident” wrist bands — while others take up offers from the producers for hotel stays elsewhere in the city and other perks.
All are welcome Tuesday night to talk about the 2012 festival, ask questions, and, perhaps, figure out a way to continue to work out new solutions.
