Okay, we have the tourists out on Haynes Avenue. They look around and think, shrug, another boring little burg with fast food joints, a Wally World, and NOTHING of interest worth wasting time on here. So they eat their fast food, sleep in their motel and hit the road.

How do we get them to stop and think, hmmm, historic Old West Community, dozens of fabulous period buildings, interesting history, lovely park, all of that DOWNTOWN.

I have heard horror stories about motel clerks and gas station attendants giving people directions on how to get from a Haynes Ave. motel to the Range Riders Museum. . .first, you go back on the Interstate to avoid the downtown. . .shudder.

What kind of packages are available in motel rooms on Haynes Ave? Are there brochures, like there are in Butte, for interesting attractions to pull tourists out of their motels on a warm, lingering summer evenings? Could we get permission to reprint the article in the Western Horseman March 2004 on how great Miles City is downtown and put that in every motel room?

Do the clerks say, you know, you would love our downtown and the residential historic districts. No, our motel doesn't have a gym but you could walk a mile or so and see the lovely old buildings and another mile to the park and the dike and the river and. . .

Is there a video playing in the hotel lobby, showing off the sights of Miles City, with, say, a tall, good-looking cowboy to give directions?

Could we put something like this together? Does the Chamber have a similar program? How many motel rooms are there on the strip? Would the hotels/fast food places/ gas stations, be agreeable to displays encouraging tourists to check out the rest of town? Could we put together a packet for motel rooms, with photos and info? Could we train clerks to tell the stories that make Miles City great?

Doesn't sound to me like it would be terribly expensive and it could be very creative.

Anyone interested? Have Suggestions? Or should we just give up and let downtown rot?

Amorette

I think my Internet Cafe idea would be good (looks at the old Odyssey building). It would allow gamers, along with surfers, to find a good spot to relax. Also, will give the youngsters and teens a drug, alcohol, and smoke-free spot to hangout on the weekends.

Miles City does not even come close to having the population to support an internet cafe. There would have to be a lot of out of pocket expense for a long time for it to get established enough to even begin to draw the required interest from the community. Billings can barely support the two or three that they have and even those guys have a tough time staying alive. Just call and ask them, I did.

There has to be a way to "funnel" people downtown. When I think of funneling people downtown I think along the lines of Buffalo, Wyoming. Here's a place rich in history. The center of the Johnson County cattle wars, the home of the Occidental Hotel (where Butch Cassidy supposedly stayed--see they got it engrained in my head). They also have the Jim Gatchell museum to promote the area's history (MC has theirs too). The restaurant next to the carousel has historic post cards from the American West and area newsletters promoting the great hunting and the history of Johnson County.

The key word to this.... PROMOTION. You asked about the Chamber. What about the role the Star could play. What if someone put out a historical booklet (something short, informative, and interesting) and draw people to these businesses. Put a face to the name. Let's see who Miles & Ulmer were. Al Furstnow? What does he look like? L.A. Huffman? Good 'ole Charlie Brown? William Reece? How about Gen. N.A. Miles and Fort Keogh (and Tongue Riv. Cantonment). What about putting little tidbits and facts about Miles City and Custer County on laminated sheets of paper and sticking them in restaurants on South Haynes. Let's see what buildings were famous downtown and why. Let's see pictures of them. Historical residences?

I discovered the rich history of Buffalo, Wyoming at that restaurant I ate at that night. In the little pamphlet I read about the Johnson County cattle wars (even though I had already knew about--it just refreshed my mind and I said, "This is the place"). The Occidental Hotel, The Jim Gatchell Museum were also mentioned. The next morning I went to look at it all, and I was drawn into a tiny cafe where I ate below a good sized head mount of a mule buck (shot in Montana--that's right). It was a place that was the "Cheers" eating establishment, where everyone knew everyone else's name. I wasn't an outsider, I was enthralled by it all as I looked at the large Johnson County courthouse acrossed the street and listened to the general conversations within the cafe. I thought to myself, "This is really a nice place I could see myself move back to". Everyone knows about the Fetterman Massacre. Fort Phil Kearny is just a hop-jump-skip away from Buffalo right along the interestate. Once I was sucked in by that restaurant, it was done. I expected to eat a nice buffalo burger and call it a night, it turned out to be a whole lot more.

Online. Something could be done. I see the Bucking Horse Sale on here all the time, big deal. Everyone knows about BHS and less and less people care each year. PROMOTE the ghost tour. Establish an internet site (and PROMOTE it on these laminated sheets in restaurants or the booklet in the motel rooms), make it catchy, like www.milescity.com (I'm know the webmaster like this--I'm joking around). Put a BIG FAT BUTTON that says come visit Miles City on the front. I see an events button on the top, but it does not stick out. Where do I go to see what's going on in Deadwood, South Dakota. Online, to their long list of events going on all year. Promote the website, promote the events and commerce should follow.

Issues have to be addressed (there's a few in my head, but I'm short on time now). I believe what is happening on South Haynes is great...that's Miles City's cash cow. I'm not saying this is something to live and die by, I'm not even vying for this as my grand testimonial to great business success, but it's something to think about. Many minds are stronger than one, please chime in and give your input.

Pat.

Bus them down town. Catch them at the hotels and say, for a free trip down town follow us. We will show you the West as it was. Wild West skit on the streets- shoot out. Again build statues of Wild West Charcters that graced Miles City and put them in Veterans Park. A Convention Center, whether on Haynes or not would be a start. Convince a developer to rejuvinate the Olive Hotel. It is a run down hole. If some one could make tourist stay down town we would not have this problem. But it is more likly that a convention center would fly on Haynes then bus the people down town for late night shoping , entertainment and fun.

Brady.

> Miles City does not even come close to having the
> population to support an internet cafe. There would have
> to be a lot of out of pocket expense for a long time for
> it to get established enough to even begin to draw the
> required interest from the community. Billings can
> barely support the two or three that they have and even
> those guys have a tough time staying alive. Just call
> and ask them, I did.

It's alot cheaper than you think. Being an IT myself, I know how to get high speed pipes at a decent price. I can get T1 speeds through SDSL at around $60/month, vs $1500 for a T1.
I also want to start my Wireless ISP here in Miles City. That way people from a radius of 10 miles can have broadband internet access.
Another idea is server hosting and co-location, that way some companies can rely on a local provider instead of sending their servers hundreds of miles away.

..as for the population.. I've seen towns much smaller than this one having an internet cafe. It's usually quite busy on the weekends.

What do you think I should charge per minute of high-speed internet access?

-- Simba7

A tropical climate would sell me on down town Miles City about now.

James, I don't know about the whole internet cafe. It sounds great and I've seen some pretty decent ones in larger towns and cities. Do you think you can get people to come to an internet cafe? What are people saying in town? If they are saying good things, go for it. One reason why I think a majority of people do not pursue starting a business in MC is the high prices downtown not matching their monthly revenue (pretty obvious), but also people don't start businesses just because so many of them have flopped on their bellies, people are really intimidated and don't want to risk loss. A lot of people are giving up. Residents in Miles City need a "pick me up". I think if you get positive feedback, go for it, but I honestly cannot see people leaving their homes for an internet cafe unless for social reasons. Homes have higher speed cable and broadband connections and it will become difficult to pry customers from their comfortable seat to one elsewhere. I think you would draw a much younger crowd than you expect (junior high kids). That could chase off college kids or high schoolers at that. Who will give you the biggest bang for your buck in Miles City?

Brady, I like your idea of statues. One that I've thought about for a few years would be a full size statue of Gen. Nelson Miles on the northwest corner of the courthouse lawn saying on a bronze template below it "Whether for reverance or spite this town is named". Sort of a little fantasy game of mine, "If it were my town".

I think Miles City will be alright. In Miles City there are some very enthusiastic people who care about this little place. With all that enthusiasm and people working together, something could really happen. Amorette, I think it would be great to see pamphlets, tour guides, booklets, something within hotels on S. Haynes. Much like you can't have Bo without Luke in the Dukes of Hazzard, you can't have a hotel without local promotion.

Pat.

[This message has been edited by Patrick Petroff (edited 2/28/2004).]

If you are interested in downtown revitalization you should check out the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "Main Street Approach to Commercial District Revitalization." www.mainst.org. It gives you the recipe for proven results since 1980 in over 1700 communities across the country. I don't think Montana has a statewide Main Street program, but Wyoming just adopted the program a couple of months ago.

The Miles City Preservation Office belong to the National Trust Main Street Program and we had several meetings following their advice in the past. While lots of folks expressed interest, nobody seemed to have the time or energy to work on it. I still try to fan the flame. Or ember, as it were. It is a superb program, incredibly successful nationwide, but the movers and shakers of Miles City don't seem to be interested.

Amorette

Don't feel bad. I have the same trouble in my city. Don't give up and don't expect acceptance overnight. After 3 years of preaching Main Street as mayor, I'm just noticing it entering the consciousness of fellow councilmembers and chamber types. Tom Hagen, Mayor, City of Waseca, Minn.

Amorette, "Keep on Truckin'", I think that Miles City is in the early stages of a renaissance. Those of us that have made new beginnings and cultural inroads into the Main Street area have been rewarded by overwhelming participation and appreciation.

I hear a lot of "What can they do", "Why don't they" and "They should". You are asking the right question. What can we do, what can I do?

As for me, I have chosen my battles. Do what I can to bring music and art to Main street in an effort to bring people out of there houses and socialize, as a community, downtown. I don't say this to blow my own horn. I have many partners in this endevour. I do want to offer encouragment to others. Pick your fight, make your plan, get some help and go to work.

It is nice to see MC.com transcend the trivial. Keep it up.

Jack, as for the tropical weather, that grasp could just exceed our reach.

"keep on truckin"? Like your painting downtown? Who is that? You?

We need to get the working downtown Miles City people to park of the main street and the first block. We could also ask Dennis Leidholt why he bought the lot next to the 600 hundred cafe and roped it off. That was where people did park. Just another good miles City merchant.

Duane

I think that downtown has a lot going on. True, businesses have closed down, but that has been ongoing and downtown always has a way of coming back. We can't stop expansion, nor should we, however there are many people who find the things that they need downtown without having to go "uptown". Most community happenings happen on Main Street. There are several new things happening downtown that have been going on for awhile. The music is one and that has been a great addition. It is nice to see people of all ages carry their plastic chairs to Veterans Park on Friday nights to hear the local talent. Joe's bookstore also has several free events that happen on a weekly basis. Though I have not been (sorry Joe..) I have heard that Joe's Salon is a fun event. Perhaps more of the downtown businesses should follow in that lead. As a community, we are getting stronger and that should be the focus. If we want downtown to thrive, we must quit our bitching about how it is going downhill and PARTICIPATE in the things that are going on! So let's get off of our computers and out of our easy chairs and make Miles City the place that we want it to be. I will quote the fabulous Sheryl Crow, "It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you've got".
We have a lot here in Miles City, what we make of it is up to us.

Cheryred1973: You seem to have some skill as a "cheerleader" for downtown MC, which is great. Hopefully, your enthusiasum can become infectious and turned into action.

It seems to me that the REAL issue with downtown MC is lack of vision. For example, what do the citizens want the community to look like in 5 years? How many residence are antipated to live there in 5 years. What will these people be doing for a living in 5 years, or 20? What are the plans for economic development? How should MC be distinguished from other communities in MT?

I believe that it is going to take a group of new people with some leadership to come together and answer some of these questions and put forward a plan of action. If you continue to rely on the "good-old boy" network, you have all you are ever going to get. Unfortunatly, there is more to gaining sustainability and vision than just particpating in "free" events

I know! how about a gambling hall and saloon.

Don't we already have enough of those???

Obviously not. Look around. The only new businesses in our fair city seems to be gambling halls and saloons. That must be where the money is. Now... If we could just learn how to get them to share the wealth with the rest of us.

I believe that there have been other new businesses in town, and wether you like it or not, gambling halls as you call them still bring JOBS to people that need them.

Well you could allow business to come into miles city and maybe it would generateenough income that you wouldn't have to rob money from the local water board and you could afford to give your downtown a face lift. Miles city is an old town and when you live there you can tell it is an old town. Maybe fix broken sidewalks or even plant a few trees maybe add old style street lamps or coble stone main street. there are a million options but being that miles city is stuck in the same small town rut most of your downtown building owners are afraid of new oppertunities. And our city counsil is afraid of growth. Miles city is on the interstate look at your room for growth. miles city would be a great tourist own if your comunity would work together. Chamber of commerce and internet can do wonders but only if your local government advertises that they want growth.

A new business that entered into our community about a year ago was Boss, Inc., the office supply company from Glendive who decided to open up a satellite facility next to my office at 1001 Main Street.
Next week they will begin an expansion of that building, and I think you will be pleased with the look that is about to occur on that corner of good old downtown Main Street Miles City.

Tom Clarke

Gang:
The gambling hall and saloon statement was tongue in cheek. sorry.
Lee

Two questions. WHERE are they going to expand? There isn't much space on that lot. We were chatting about this at the office today and decided they were going to use a wormhole into the nth dimension because they can't go in any direction very far. . .unless they plan on a ten story building. Second, have you seen what it will look like? Please, no 80's cedar shingles! I suppose this means that lovely flower garden in the tire will go. Snort.

Amorette

They could move it to in front of the Historical preservation center. The nice southern exposure provides lots of sunshine, and could dress up the block.

Just a thought.

[This message has been edited by Lee Akers (edited 9/3/2004).]

Want to get them downtown? Try giving them directions and incentive. I'd suggest cleaning up the sign clutter along Haynes, that goes for both highway signs and business signs. (Can you say sign ordinace?).

Develop landscaping on Haynes through to Main and downtown- provide continuity from one area to the other. Like it or not, the landscaping/trees downtown have helped to unify the appearance of Main Street; they also provide a connection to something that is alive and growing. Haynes Avenue has evolved into a vast wasteland of concrete, asphalt, big box stores, and a jumbled mess of signs.

Develop a limited number of decorative signs connecting the areas- well designed signs with some aesthetic and visual appeal. Signs that provide hints of information about the downtown businesses, unique things to see or do (Denton Field, The Oasis, etc.).

Develop a painted path guiding people and cars downtown or to other features- follow the green stripes to get to the parks; follow the painted baseballs to get to Denton Field; follow the red brick stripe to historic downtown Miles City; Blue stripes could lead to the Oasis or the Tongue or Yellowstone rivers; how about little scultures leading out to the Art Center? What about winter you say? How many tourists do we get when there's snow on the ground?

I'm suggessting trying a unique approach that is attractive and not like something you see in every other town. Make the journey interesting.

I like your idea of of the color codes and painted symbols. That's pretty interesting and doesn't seem especially costly. Volunteers could always carry out the job.

Lots of the above suggestions are good. I know when I travel, I usually look at the brochure racks in the lobbies of the hotel we stay in to see what is available in the area. If someone had the money and artistic ability to design something to entice travelers into town, it could be a starting point. Another thing, and I know Amorette has looked into this, is seeing about restoring the NP depot. Someone from this area has refurbished the local depot and there are craft shops, an investment firm, and a survey office in it and all are keeping it up. We recently went on a seniors' outing (showing my age here) to Brevard, North Carolina, and the local railroad hobbyists are leasing that building and fixing it up, with mostly free labor from the local jail (people having to perform community service instead of jail time). The group has all their HO scale railroads set up in the building, showing the routes the Norfolk Southern RR takes, with all their houses, depots, round houses, etc. There is usually one or two from the club that spends Saturdays there, keeping it open for visitors, on a donation basis. And, their depot was not as good looking as the NP depot was in it's prime. Then, Greenville and Greer, South Carolina are trying to revitalize their downtown areas too. They have lots of little quaint shops, nice restaurants, antique shops, and are promoting loft apartments for those that want to be downtown. Miles City has much wasted space above a lot of the downtown buildings. You could promote an interest in having someone fix them up for apartments. A local artist in Greer has a beautiful loft apartment above her shop. The local papers and the Chambers of Commerce in the area feature things like that to let people know what is going on. I realize it all takes money and a desire to do this, but Miles City does look sad after you have been away for a while. I could help out if I came back, but you would also have to do something about the winters! I am spoiled and can't take the cold weather anymore!

Lee, I know it was tongue and cheek, but you may be onto something. What if you did have what you were talking about, but it was done up like an old western saloon. Period costumes, old style, etc...

I hope you all succeed. Every time I go home to visit my family, I am dissappointed in how MC has been slowly dying for years. Its at the point now where when I come home there is literally nothing to do.

On a side note; Last time I was in town I heard about the ghost walk tour, but was confused onto why it was not on more often? This sounded like a great little tour, why is it not on more often?

On a side note; Last time I was in town I heard about the ghost walk tour, but was confused onto why it was not on more often? This sounded like a great little tour, why is it not on more often?

Since I learned of the Toppenish Murals in Toppenish, WA, I could visualize Miles City doing something similar. The Murals actually take people approx. 60 miles off the interstate to view the collection.

I spoke with a person from their Chamber of Commerce when ordering one of their Mural books. She told me that it all started when a group gathered to plan a mural for their Centennial in, I believe, 1989. They held a large fund raising dinner to pay an artist to paint the mural. It was such an asset to the town that their ideas grew to adding more and more. Please visit the Mural website at:

http://www.aviewofamerica...murals.htm

After looking at them, visualize a tour of Miles City with Murals on the Main area depicting Miles City's growth, the Cavalry, Custer, etc. The lady said that having attractive RV parks at each end of town is one of their assets. Have tours planned to take the people through the area learning the history via Murals. Maybe horse and buggy or some such means.

The Toppinish Chamber lady said that they utilized young people from a detention facility to learn carpenter trades and prepare the store fronts for the artists. Artists are hired, sometimes several at a time and can do a mural in a day.

I personally think it would be neat to utilize the historical information that has been gathered by the Preservation Society and, use it to develop the layout of the history via Murals.

Stores popped up in Toppenish (which had been dying) and, feature Mural memorabelia, ie; pictures, books, sourvenirs, and I am sure you can think of many things.

It will be fun to get other opinions about an endeavor like this. It is just that we have SUCH WONDERFUL HISTORY, right here in Miles City as well as surrounding area. Jeri

The Ghost Walk is all volunteer and getting several dozen folks together and costumed is NOT easy. We do it to earn money to pay the rent on the Miles City Preservation Office and to educate the public. We could charge, I suppose, and pay folks, but that gets terribly complicated (anyone want to figure out workman's comp, for instance) and would take away some of the fun.

I'd love to see someone do some kind of tourist tour that charges that would be like the Ghost Walk, maybe with a guide and a wagon or bus.

Amorette

Ammorette,

I know it may be hard, but those are exactly the type of tourist things that would keep people visiting.I know when I heard about it I wanted to go and I am rarely in town.

I have been reading the many posts on this topic and it made me think of a "little" town in western montana called Philipsburg. This is a small town that still to this day has dirt streets. When we used to visit we would always comment on the little run down town where mom grew up. There isn't anything there except "main street"

Recently this little run down town has cleaned up its act, added some signage and promotion and changed the appearance of many of the old run down buidlings but adding some paint and dressing it up a little with new street signs, lightposts, and things to make it unique. I have recently seen this town portrayed on TV, in newspaper ads, and in magazine articles. The town has become a great tourist attraction for people traveling.

Here is a link to see what Philipsburg is now offering and there many be some great ideas there for things that even Miles City could promote about this town.

http://www.philipsburgmt.com/


Just some thoughts.

Julie H.

Catacomb tours. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to sneak into those things. And putting the Olive Hotel on the registry of Haunted places might help tourism, but may hurt their business for people not wanting anything to do with a supposedly haunted hotel. Also, as some of you know Miles City is a feature in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence. Every year motorcyclists complete Pirsig's journey, and most make a stop at the Olive Hotel. I've also read that Jack Kerouac had the idea to write "On the Road" in front of Big Sky Pharmacy. With a little research, and a tourism link from this site, you could bring in more tourists.

This must have been what I had read about Kerouac in Miles City:

While gathering material for On the Road, criss-crossing America, Kerouac stopped in the eastern Montana town of Miles City. Soon Kerouac had one of his many epiphanies. "In a drugstore window I saw a book on sale -- so beautiful!" he wrote in his diary. "'Yellowstone Red,' a story of a man in the early days of the valley, & his tribulations & triumphs. Is this not better reading in Miles City than the Iliad? -- their own epic?" Kerouac was intent on creating his own Yellowstone Red story -- but in a modern context, where existential jazz players and lost highway speedsters would be celebrated as the new vagabond saints.

Julie,

What tv show?

Who currently owns the Olive Hotel?

In an attempt as an outsider looking in, I think Miles City has so much potential. It's been over 10 years since I have stepped foot in the great city that I grew up in, but I must say...Miles City has always been in the back of my mind and will always be one of my favorite places...(besides Thailand..hehe)

I'll make this short and sweet. There are so many things that can be done, it's just a matter of finding a way to raise the capital and/or the people to follow through with such projects. An old saying comes to mind. Talk is cheap.

Find a good marketing and/or business consulting firm, hire them to come evaluate the city and make up a plan for bringing tourists and more profit into the city. How to pay for this: How about donations?? How about a yearly city fee??

Fortunately, there are many other options than this. Whatever happens in Miles City, I hope it's for the good and can really stimulate the economy.

I agree,
I think Miles City has potential that needs to be tapped into.
One suggestion I can make is to utilize weather and seasons. I have always enjoyed returning to Miles City around Mid May when the weather is still bearable, not too hot, not cold and again in the fall. Bucking Horse is an excellent revenue generator for Miles City but should not be the only thing. Make the month of May into June a time for special events. During May the trees are fully grown back from the winter and the grass is green all over the town. Thanks to those who live on our main street and others major streets and all the older well manicured homes.
As an enticement for merchants offer normally abandoned buildings during slow months open for short term leases for summer and again for the holiday rush. Small businesses cannot always afford to start off with a full one year contract or more but if they know they can enter a building use the space for a reasonable rent and then bail out to reduce energy & rent costs citizens to try to start more of their own little shops. Then market, market, market for those times of the year. Consult a professional advertising company who has the experience to get the word out. Just some thoughts....
I just hate to see Miles City slowly dying each time I come back to visit