Words from Pat Robins, Co-founder of SymQuest

Reflecting on our 20th anniversary, I think it’s quite remarkable that visionary ideas, great timing, and a lot of good fortune converged to create the Marketplace. But it was the committed, hard-working people I remember most.

Penrose Jackson, our first Executive Director, brought tremendous intelligence and drive to the project and helped make the Marketplace what it is today. She was involved in the planning, managed the construction of the Marketplace, and led the design of our “safe, clean and fun” model for running the Marketplace today. Randy Kamerbeek, then Planning Director, and Mayor Gordon Paquette supported us in creating the position and in hiring Penrose. Paul Bruhn, who was then a staff member for Senator Leahy, helped engineer meetings with various government agencies in Washington, D.C. Mayor Paquette, Ralph Cramer, general manager of CCTA, Sandy Preston, Penrose Jackson, Randy Kamerbeek and I made that journey to Washington. Our decision to locate the county’s central bus terminal adjacent to the Marketplace ultimately helped us to secure the UMTA (Urban Mass Transportation Administration) grant that funded the project.

The most important part of our success has been the creation of the Marketplace Commission and staff. For the past twenty years, the important distinction has been the Street’s ability – through the Commission – to raise its own funds and manage its own affairs. We’re successful because we have a full-time staff and we can get the job done. We don’t have to turn to other City departments for help – especially when those City departments may not have the ownership and commitment that our own staff has. Other cities across the country that have created pedestrian malls, and staffed them with merchant volunteers and contracted services, have seen their pedestrian malls decline and fail. Our management model for the Marketplace came out of a cross-country tour of other downtowns across the country – to learn from their successes and mistakes. When a group of us, including Bill Truex and Carol Johnson, our landscape architect, paid a visit to Disneyland’s Main Street, we noticed how well-maintained the street was, and how successfully amenities were used. We watched how people were greeted and made to feel welcome. I remember we took pages and pages of notes because we knew this was a model that worked and that we wanted to incorporate it into our own plans.

I travel throughout the country these days and I make a point of going out of my way to see other downtowns. One litmus test I use is the number of antique stores a downtown has. To me, it’s a sure sign of “$3-per-square-foot” rents and diminished economic vitality. Today, the Marketplace is not successful because of the canopies, the bike racks and the bricks. It's successful today because of the people behind the scenes.

It’s been an honor and privilege to be a part of Marketplace all of these years. Happy 20th Church Street Marketplace!
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