What do you get when you mix loud southern rock bands, inexpensive yellow lager that should only be consumed when served just above freezing and a room full of people with nowhere else to hang out?
You get black eyes. Many, many black eyes.
The Blue Rodeo, a building now standing vacant on Hwy 53 just west of downtown Jasper, is one example of a live music club in Pickens County now lying face down in the dust with one too many renditions of Lynard Skynard's "Gimmie Three Steps.”
The Pueblo Cantina owner José Torres said of the live music at his restaurant, “It depends on what bands you have. There is one group, they play more southern rock, and they bring in a bad crowd. You get into trouble with them. Some bands who come in play good music, and you get a more upper class crowd.”
What Pickens needs is a central spot for all things art, from live music to theatre to recitals to visual galleries. Pickens needs a venue that does more than attract people looking to get drunk as ol’ Cooter Brown.
Sure there is live music in the county, but it’s shoved into dark restaurant corners. And sure there is theatre, but it is relegated to the PHS auditorium or wherever they can talk someone into letting them perform.
“Big Blue,” as we here at the Progress now affectionately call the building on the corner of Main Street and Church Street has been sitting empty for years and presents itself as wonderful potential oasis to Pickens’ arts and entertainment desert.
Big Blue is in a central location near downtown restaurants and shops and has potential for helping to keep business in Pickens as well as attracting folks (and acts) from neighboring counties.
A Big Blue conversion, if well thought out and well designed, would play a role downtown similar to the Pickens County Courthouse and would act as a conduit for Main Street foot traffic during evening hours.
The venue would need to be for all ages but also able to serve alcohol and some food that is easy to prepare and to clean up. Of course, events geared toward children and adolescents would be alcohol-free.
The venue could also be rented to private functions such as business meetings, lectures and receptions to provide the owner with some revenue on days when no public performance is scheduled.
Pickens County is more diverse than people give it credit for, and there is ample room for a venue that showcases a wide variety of acts, not just malodorous bands that draw the “I don’t speak YOUR language. You learn mine or leave!” bumper sticker crowd.
It would be easiest if an independent investor bought Big Blue and converted it privately. But the prospect of investments by organizations with a vested interest in downtown (such as the Downtown Development Authority for example) could help get the project off the ground, too.
The city, county, Chamber of Commerce and any other interested parties could maybe assist with funding the project through annual contributions or other help that would provide returns by increasing tourism and a general interest in the county.
Look at the summer crowds drawn by the monthly Main Street Mania concerts. Now imagine that year-round with some occasional high-brow art shows thrown in.
Canton has a theatre (operated by the Downtown Development Authority of the City of Canton). Dahlonega has its gold panning and a thriving art community, and Ellijay has the Gilmer County Arts & Heritage Association, a non-profit organization that holds juried art exhibits, plays and has a full orchestra (how wonderful) booked for early December.
Of course with the "maintenance only" mantra of 2008, spending extra money on an art and music center may seem frivolous, delusional even.
But as it stands, people aren't traveling to Pickens the way they travel to Dahlonega and Ellijay. They travel through Pickens and talk about the nice landscape from the car window. |
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