Several events are upcoming for Downtown Sikeston

SIKESTON — With the COVID-19 pandemic canceling all of Historic Downtown Sikeston’s events that were planned through September, the group is not sitting back being idle despite there being just a few months left in 2020.

“I decided we could do one of two things,” Jason Davis, director of Historic Downtown Sikeston told those in attendance at Thursday’s Sikeston Regional Chamber luncheon. “We could sit and wallow in our tears or we could move forward and make the best of what we’ve got left. And I choose the second option.

“We are trying to be creative and visionary with our time.”

__New event__

Part of that vision is the Scary Good Chili Cook Off and Haunted Ghost Tours planned from 3-9 p.m. on Oct. 10.

The chili cook off will feature 10 teams that will be vying for the best chili in Sikeston. Those who attend can sample the chilis, vote for their favorite and a winner will be crowned at the end of the night.

There will also be live music and Jeremiah’s will be serving drinks.

“While that is going on we will have tours of the old jail,” Davis said.

Stories of eerie happenings have circulated for years about the old post office, which later became the Sikeston Department of Public Safety headquarters and now houses Historic Downtown Sikeston offices.

“We partnered with the American Ghost Project and they’ll be leading tours of the building,” Davis said. “If you’ve not been there recently, the basement is still completely a jail. There are jail cells and everything down there and then upstairs is pretty wicked as well.”

Davis said the American Ghost Project is also putting together a 30 minute movie.

“They’ve been doing work there for the last three months and recording stuff,” Davis said. “After you watch the movie they’re going to take you to locations in the building where you just saw on the movie that they experienced things. That’s going to be a 30-minute video and a 30-minute tour of the building.

There is also an opportunity for an overnight ghost hunt for 15 people. Those taking part in the ghost hunt will stay the night in the building on Oct. 10 and the American Ghost Project will have their equipment on sight to hunt ghosts. Those taking part will be taught how to use the equipment and Davis said they’ll also be taught how to use their cell phone to search for ghosts as well.

“It’s going to be an exciting night,” Davis said. “We’re using that as a fundraiser because our St. Patrick’s Day Festival and our Wine Festival both had to be canceled, which are our two primary fundraisers for our operating budget for downtown Sikeston.”

__Other events in 2020__

On Nov. 13-14, Historic Downtown Sikeston will hold the annual Holiday Open House which features carriage rides, music and a visit from Santa Claus. Merchants also have snacks and drinks available for shoppers as well.

“It’s a great time to come, spend some time and find some great deals for Christmas,” Davis said.

A second holiday open house will be Dec. 4 and 5. In year’s past, the Friday night has featured the Parade of Lights along with the tree lighting, shopping and live music. However, Davis said this year they are going to spread events across two days.

Friday night will feature the tree lighting, which Davis said he has heard “will be pretty amazing with the tree they’re trying to get.” There will also be Christmas music in the park on Friday night with the Christmas village being lit up along with a second holiday open house with Downtown merchants open late.

“We’re moving the parade to Saturday night this year for several reasons,” Davis said. “One, that way we don’t have to shut down the streets during shopping time for the merchants. Two, usually the SEMO Conference Basketball Tournament championship is that night and we want to give our students and parents an opportunity to come and be a part of that Parade of Lights as well.”

Fountain update

Davis also briefed those at the luncheon about the progress on the Bob Depro Memorial Fountain. In 2017, Historic Downtown Sikeston began working fountain and it is nearing fruition. Parts are supposed to be obtained in St. Louis on Monday, with work beginning on the fountain next week.

“(Work) actually has already begun you just haven’t been able to see things happening behind the scenes,” Davis said. “They’ll start tearing Legion Park up soon and then people will be able to tell then. They are saying it will be completed within two months, so that will put us sometime before Thanksgiving hopefully.”

__New opportunities downtown__

Davis said there are some different opportunities that could be coming downtown in the future.

“There are some empty storefronts downtown that we’ve heard rumors will be potentially not be empty much longer,” Davis said. “We have a couple of projects coming up with merchants who have bought buildings that are going to invest into our downtown. That leads to all kinds of new opportunities and possibilities.”

Davis said he recently had a conversation with a person who asked him what Historic Downtown Sikeston did to restore old buildings. He said that Historic Downtown Sikeston does nothing to them because the buildings are the property of the owners.

“We can’t invest money into the property owner’s building and try to restore that building,” Davis said. “Our focus is to help the property owners do that. We have facade grants that are available. Recent conversations that we’ve had may open up some financial help down the road for restoring buildings and those type of things. That’s what our organization does.”

__Volunteers needed__

Davis said they are currently looking for volunteers to serve on their board of directors or two serve on committees or sub-committees.

“Those committees and sub-committees help play an integral part of what takes place downtown,” Davis said. “Whether it be putting on events or deciding what downtown is going to look like.”

Davis said they use a four committee approach. Those committees are promotion, economic vitality, organization and design. He added each one of those committees serve an important role.

“The promotions committee is the one most everybody wants to be on because it’s the event planners and parties and those types of things,” Davis said. “That sounds all fun but it’s very important because those committees position the downtown commercial district as the center of the community and the hub of economic activity also producing a positive image. Those events are not just things we do for fun, although they are fun, but they help promote downtown. To let downtown be where things are happening.”

Davis said the economic vitality committee focuses on capital and taking care of what financial things are happening downtown, things like helping businesses grow and helping new businesses come in.

The organization committee involves creating a strong foundation for revitalization efforts while the design committee helps with what downtown is going to look like.

Davis said they will begin their partnership drive for 2021 soon.

“You can be a partner with downtown Sikeston from $25 to our platinum partnership of $5,000,” Davis said. “If you’re interested in being a partner, you can let me know, you can go to our Facebook page or our website, downtownsikeston.org and see our levels.”