Get ready for another exciting and interesting entry in our “30 Stories for 30 Years” interview series! We’ve been meeting with former Ottawa Visitors Center Board members, and others who have been along for the ride. We’re reflecting on three decades of tourism and considering what the future may hold. Join us, as we look back on local tourism’s evolution, some Ottawa Visitors Center history, and a special guest’s unique perspectives.
Our special guest for this interview is Reed Wilson, who some may know from his time at the City of Ottawa. He got us started with some background about his time at the City. We also discussed the downtown revitalization project and the effect on tourism.
“Since 2009. For 10 years, I was director of economic development for the City of Ottawa. So I worked with Mayor Eschbach… and he served 20 years, and for the last 10 years, I worked with his tenure as mayor, I worked with him on that. I think that’s when really tourism began to take off in this area and in Ottawa, and partly to his vision, that Ottawa could be a center for tourism. Before that, back in the early 2000s, I was District Director for Congressman Jerry Weller. And Ottawa was one of the largest cities in our district, so we spent a lot of time in Ottawa. And we always came back in that day and age, we came to Ottawa, and we looked at Ottawa, and downtown, you know, it was barren. There was no green, no trees, you know, no hanging baskets, no flower beds. Some grass growing in, maybe weeds growing in cracks downtown, that’s all you had. 40% of the buildings were empty. Some of the older ones were disrepair,” Reed explained.
“I mean, we never could quite figure this out, because looking at Ottawa, Ottawa seemed to have all the ingredients to have a flourishing downtown that attracted a lot of people. First of all, it has great history. Great history. The Lincoln story, of course, and the Canal, certainly. And then of course, the city’s bisected by two beautiful rivers as well. And it’s a few miles from the most heavily visited state park in the state of Illinois, Starved Rock. And it’s close to Chicago. People from Ottawa, I think, and I agree with them, when it comes to this, Ottawa’s close to Chicago. Close enough for people to easily make the trip from Chicago out here. It’s a very easy trip compared to going the other directions.”
“But Ottawa’s not too close to Chicago, or close, but not too close. And that’s important because Ottawa does not have all the problems that Chicago has in terms of residency and things like that. So people come to visit. So lots of good reasons for Ottawa to have a booming downtown, and boy, it looked bad back in those days. In 2009, that’s when the downtown renovation began, prior to the city under the mayor’s administration. And our strategy for changing, and by the way, the downtown, of course, when it comes to tourism, having a vibrant downtown where people want to visit, they like to walk around downtown, they like to shop, like to do business there, and increasingly, they like to live there. Back in 2009, nobody wanted to live downtown in Ottawa. But nowadays, it’s changed completely,” Reed said.
“There are a lot of really nice places to live in downtown Ottawa. Apartments on upper floors where they have residential restaurants on the lower floors. That’s a sure sign that you’re making real progress with your downtown and people actually want to live there. So that’s happening right now, and that’s really good. But one of the things that was missing back in those days was that kind of vibrancy downtown. One of the kind of a key part of our strategy, was to make the downtown green. And research shows that when you have trees and plants and things in your downtown, people are more likely to come downtown and more likely to visit businesses that have hanging baskets and planters or trees around and things like that. And it proved to be the case.”
“So we decided to begin the process by a block-by-block basis, start the 700 block. And we had our source of funding was the downtown TIF, the Taxes Increment Financing District. And then we had enough money really to do a downtown, block-by-block-by-block. The primary strategy was not just to plant a few flowers and things like that, but really to do it right and make a big splash. Bright, flashy, attention-getting streetscaping, with trees and sizable flower beds cut into the sidewalks, hanging baskets, and the whole nine yards and banners on our light bulbs, something that Nancy here was very much in charge of, certainly. She was a great partner for this effort. We started that in the spring of 2009, and for the next three or four years, we did another block,” he explained.
“But we actually, were kind of surprised, by the almost overnight change in the downtown, just between the one block and the 700 block. All of a sudden we had more stores and we had more restaurants. So we were clearly on the right track. We just pressed ahead and did the rest of the downtown over the next few years, as we could afford it. We got some grants, some nice grants that Columbus Street was done with. A nearly $1 million grant from the federal money, by the state IDOT grant for streetscaping. That helped a lot. Something else that downtown has, downtown has a lot of really nice, beautiful, historic commercial buildings,” Reed said.
“So one of the natural steps that we took back in those days, I think it was 2010, was to lay the groundwork and get the paperwork done, a lot of research to enable downtown Ottawa to file to become a national historic commercial district. And we were successful in doing that. So all of downtown Ottawa now, I think there’s 153 structures, as I recall, are part of the Ottawa National Historic Commercial District. And that’s administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Not only is it kind of a nice destination to have for tourism purposes, because heritage tourism is a big deal these days, and Ottawa, of course, is a prime position for that type of thing with the canal and Lincoln and so forth. Also, there are tax credits, too. So if you own a historic commercial building, there are tax credits that you can utilize to help restore the building.”
“Nowadays, the state of Illinois has a partner program that adds even more to that, too. I think it’s 25% federal tax credit and something similar at the state level, I believe, as well. So if you combine, there’s a red tape involved, of course, with the government, but still, there’s a financial advantage there. So that has kind of come together, and downtown Ottawa looks a lot different… It’s just like night and day. It used to be a concrete desert.”
In our interview with Tom Aussem, he mentioned that the downtown area was referred to as the “concrete jungle” when he was in high school. Reed spoke on this nickname.
“Well, and that’s a good reason, unfortunately. But that has changed dramatically. Now downtown is the place to be. Something else that has really, helped a lot has been the creation and promotion of the Starved Rock Country concept. This kind of becomes sort of a trademark, I think, for the area. We’re within 30 miles, for example, of Starved Rock State Park. Kind of like Door County and things like that. But the same concept, though. So many people visit Starved Rock, but don’t know, at least they didn’t, much about the area surrounding,” he said.
“They don’t know that within 30 miles there’s all kinds of opportunities for recreation, history, shopping, lots of good things like that. And now, it’s entirely possible, and many people do, I think, come to Starved Rock Country, and don’t even visit the park because there’s so many other things to do, that they know about now throughout the Starved Rock Country. The name ‘Starved Rock’ is very well known throughout the Midwest, especially the Chicago area. And so it’s just like a no-brainer to put it all together, and convince people that, let people know, build an awareness about what you can do and enjoy in Starved Rock Country. And that’s happening too. So it’s been great to see the effect on the economy of tourism,” Reed said.
“And there has been a really marked increase over the last decade or so. The pandemic, of course, interrupted everything. But, and the amount of, the importance of tourism in terms of just economic activity and employment as well in Starved Rock Country. And the Heritage Corridor has been a big part of that, and Bob’s done a good job. And I think in the last 10 years or so especially, the Visitor Center here has made a big difference. There are very few communities in Starved Rock Country that have this kind of visitor center to promote tourism in their home cities.”
“So that makes a difference too. Awareness is a key. You can have the greatest things in the world, but people don’t know about them. People from the Chicago area come out here and spend a lot of money. They have learned. They have built their awareness about the good time they can have coming to Starved Rock. And the Visitor Center has done a lot, I think, to build that awareness. They should be credited for that. So, 30 years has been 30 years of good work, and I think it’s just getting better in terms of the effectiveness of the office and the operation.”
Throughout this interview series, we’ve explored a lot of the downtown revitalization process. Reed gives an amazing scope to think about the project’s timeline. The evolution of tourism in Ottawa certainly has not been easy, but has been possible only because of so many people’s hard work and dedication. We can’t wait to see what might come next. As someone involved in developing tourism, we asked Reed what tourism means to him, in relation to Ottawa.
“Given my former position as economic development director, I love to see all the growth of downtown, the shops, the restaurants, all the things that attract people. But tourism, some people in a community, you don’t always understand the total value of tourism. Of course, there’s the economic development aspect. But as the tourism economy grows in your community, there are new restaurants, new places to shop. So there are a lot of places that people who live there can enjoy. New restaurants to go to, new places to shop. So the quality of life, I think, in the community is improved by tourism in that way. And I think that’s sometimes not fully understood by people.
“Sometimes you see tourism as kind of ‘more people coming to their community and getting their way.’ But if they think about it, though, compare where the community was, Ottawa, for example, downtown, like 10 or 15 years ago, and they realize, again, there’s so many more places they can enjoy themselves. And again, it’s a quality of life issue, I think, for the community.”
The Ottawa Visitors Center has been proud to share the uniqueness, stories, and heart of this community for 30 years, something that is extremely important to us. There’s a lot to love in Ottawa, whether you’re a local or a tourist. Speaking of things to love, the town is especially known for its beloved attractions and iconic events. We asked Reed if he had a favorite.
“The biggest one that we used to operate in Ottawa, of course, was the Wine Festival, Two Rivers Wine and Jazz Festival. And we threw that into an event that attracted thousands of people. Many of them from Chicago. We would market this event heavily in Chicago. I think they allowed to raise awareness in Chicago about Ottawa. I mean, a fun place to visit. If they didn’t come to the festival, they thought that Ottawa was a nearby destination that they could enjoy and easily get there. So that’s probably been the biggest one. And the pandemic, of course, was pretty hard on festivals of that nature,” he said,
“But this is my personal favorite, Ottawa has the very unique Morel Festival. And I was raised on a farm, and as a boy in our local woods, I used to go out and hunt morels with my father, for example. So it’s kind of a personal favorite. Plus, they’re delicious when they’re cooked properly. So, I’m looking forward to May 2nd and the Morel Fest this year. I’m glad that the festival has been renewed, certainly. It’s a very unique one…”
“There are a lot of people out there that love morels. They’re kind of hard to find. So having a place you can come and purchase them and enjoy the other activities is kind of special,” Reed said.
We’re certainly excited for the Tom Nauman Memorial Midwest Morel Fest & Burger Bash too! Recently, Morel Fest was able to make its triumphant return after a brief hiatus. After speaking about a festival making a comeback, we asked Reed if there were any old events or attractions he would like to see renewed– or if he’d prefer something new
“I know you’ve got some new things. The Kite Festival, for example. Sounds pretty cool. It’s got so many cool family activity. That’s one I think, a new one that, again, should be a favorite. Again, back to Morel Fest. I’m glad to see that one has been renewed. Another one that worked with the mayor… it must have been, 2014, 2015, something like that, the Chris Kringle Market,”
“That’s something else that’s kind of unique for this area and seems to be kind of growing and flourishing. It’s, well, again, the pandemic interrupted it, but that’s a nice, unique seasonal opportunity. And that’s something to keep in mind, too, because tourism is not just a fair weather, spring, summer, fall type of thing, but it’s kind of a dead season in the wintertime part of the country, so having something like the Christmas market makes it makes a big difference. I think it lightens up the less active part of the tourism season,” Reed explained.
Ottawa’s always got something to do! Events may come and go throughout the years, but in an evolving town like Ottawa, you know the next exciting event or attraction is just around the corner. We can’t wait to keep sharing the one-of-a-kind events and attractions from the Middle of Everywhere with you. To close out the interview, we asked Reed if he had any final thoughts on Ottawa tourism’s future.
“Well, really, I think just keep it going,” Reed said. “I think things are heading in the right direction. And I’m happy to see the city continue to invest its hotel, motel funds in tourism, promotional activities. I think they can only pay off for the city in terms of revenue and also, as I mentioned earlier, quality of life for the residents as well. It’s something that I think that you want to continue to pursue and complement, again, the visitor center and kind of leading the way.”
Many thanks to Reed!
We hope you’ve been enjoying these stories of local tourism development, right from the source. Stay tuned for more updates and interviews on our Facebook and the rest of our blog! Thank you for 30 years in the Middle of Everywhere.
