South Central Reporter

City of Centralia Tourism Commission met Dec. 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

I. CALL TO ORDER- Davis, Chair: Meeting called to order 5:04PM

II. ROLL CALL

____ Dawn Long

____ Mary Davis

_ X_ Shannon Cooney

_ X_ Barri Allen

_ X_ Rachel Wallace

_ X_ Greg Sutton

____ Kelsie Smith

____ Vacant

_ X_ Tom Walsh

Ex-Officio Members

____ William Smith, City Manager

____ Marcus Holland, Chamber of Commerce Director

_ X_ Advisory Staff -Derek Sherman, Economic Development Director

Others Present:

III. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – None

IV. MINUTES –

November 19th, 2024 Meeting: A motion was made to approve the minutes as presented. There was a 1st-Sutton, 2nd-Wallace. All present voted in favor with none opposing.

V. TREASURER’S REPORT – Walsh

1. A motion was made to approve the Treasurer’s Report as presented. 1st- Cooney, 2nd- Sutton. With all in present voting in favor and none opposed.

VI. ONGOING BUSINESS

VII. NEW BUSINESS

VIII. DISCUSSION

1. Illinois Theatre

i. Per the request of Commissioner Walsh, Sherman informed the Commission that the Illinois Theatre needed roughly $600,000 worth of improvements for it to open as a fully functional movie theater again. Additionally, Sherman informed the Commission that the city had applied to a DCEO Rebuild Downtown and Main Streets grant to acquire the funds to reopen the Illinois Theatre. However, the city had not yet heard from DCEO on whether the City had been awarded the grant at this time. Sherman was hopeful that in the next few months DCEO would announce grant award winners. Finally, Sherman stated that due to the costs the city alone could not expend that amount of funds to reopen the Illinois Theatre and it would require additional revenue to accomplish a project of that size.

2. Upcoming Events

i. Sherman informed the Commission that most of the events for December had already occurred expect the Centralia High School Holiday Tournament and that there were few events scheduled for January 2025 at this time.

3. Potential Marketing Contract

i. In light of the newly adopted Centralia Comprehensive Plan, the Commissioners felt that a Community-Wide Branding Study should be accomplished first before a Marketing Services Contract was explored/determined. However, the Tourism Commission felt strongly that a Marketing Services Contract would need a Marketing Strategy to help guide the deliverables of the contract.

4. FY2025 Budget

i. Sherman confirmed with the Tourism Commission that the Centralia City Council had approved the FY2025 Budget that included in the Tourism Funds the reallocation of the line-items of Celebrate Centralia, Summer Market, and Hodges Photography Contract into the Printing & Advertising line-item or Marketing line-item as it is commonly referred to.

5. FY’25 Goals & Objectives

i. The Commissioners were provided with the Tourism portion of the newly approved Centralia Comprehensive Plan and the accompanying goals that would correspond to Tourism’s role in the city. The Commissioners suggested that the city begin work on the Community-wide Branding Study as that project fit under tourism and could be accomplished within a year’s time through a contract with a professional marketing company. Sherman asked for suggestions on deliverables that could be included in an RFP for Community-Wide Branding Study, and the commission felt that the bullet points listed in the Comprehensive Plan on page 35 would be a good starting point and to include a marketing strategy geared toward our target audiences defined during the Branding Study.

IX. ADJOURNMENT - A motion was made to adjourn the meeting. 1st- Wallace 2nd- Cooney. All present voted in favor with none opposed.

https://www.cityofcentralia.org/media/7056