Thursday, March 14, 2024–2:15 p.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Although Saturday’s Trump campaign rally at the Forum went smoothly, the anticipation of large crowds downtown did keep some away.
In 2020, the last time Donald Trump visited Rome and Floyd County, around 20,000 people attended a rally at the Richard B. Russell Airport. With those types of numbers in mind, many opted to stay away from the downtown area, according to Rome Downtown Development Authority Director Aundi Lesley, who shared some feedback from some of the businesses during Thursday’s DDA board meeting.
“A lot of our retailers just decided to close ahead of the event in anticipation there would be a lot of people crowding the streets and waiting in line to get into the event,” she said. “Some ended up deciding to close early, given the slow foot traffic that they experienced on Saturday. The restaurants were slower in the morning and afternoon, but several of them saw a little bit of a lift in sales when the rally let out.”
Police cut attendance inside the Forum off at 4,000, and there was another 500 outside on the Town Green.
“The media attention surrounding the event and the anticipation of the crowds were worse than what we actually experienced, but unfortunately, a lot of the businesses did close or just did not do well that weekend,” Lesley added.
A survey has been sent to downtown business owners to get their feedback regarding events at the Forum.
“So far we are seeing that a lot of the concerts do well, specifically for the restaurants,” Lesley said. “We just want to get an idea of what types of events are benefitting the restaurants and are benefiting the retailers, so hopefully the Forum could host more of those. It just gives us a better idea of what to anticipate as far as the economic impact of each of those events.”
DDA awards six Impact Grants
Six organizations have received $1,000 Impact Grants from the Rome Downtown Development Authority for 2024.
The recipients are the Rome International Film Festival, Schnauzerfest, Going Caching, the Rome Little Theatre, the Rome Shakespeare Festival, and the Three Rivers Yoga Festival.
“The idea of the Impact Grant is to fund outside organizers who host events downtown,” said DDA Director Aundi Lesley. “We show priority in funding events that have a strong economic and tourism impact. Ultimately, we want our hotels and businesses to benefit. A lot of these are returning events. We have seen that impact through the film festival and the Shakespeare Festival. We are very fortunate to have those organizations in our community, and this is our small way of helping them make those events happen.”
The 2024 edition of the Rome International Film Festival is set for Oct. 31-Nov. 3. It brings an estimated $350,000 in income to the city. Schnauzerfest, which typically brings in 1,500 attendees, is set for Oct. 25-26. 2024 will be the last year for Going Cashing, which is scheduled for Oct. 2-6. It is the third largest geo-caching event in North America with a $500,000 economic impact and around 1,500 attendees. Productions at the Rome Little Theatre are expected to draw around 20,000 people for its 91st season in 2024. The Rome Shakespeare Festival is scheduled for June at the Town Green. It typically draws between up to 2,500 attendees. The Three Rivers Yoga Festival was held earlier this month at the Forum with around 100 in attendance. Organizers hope to grow the event.
