Wine country biking routes, establishing an arts and cultural district and branding among topics discussed

By Damian Mann for Ashland.news

The Talent Business Alliance talked tourism with residents from Talent and Phoenix during a Thursday, July 10, listening session.

Talent and Phoenix, the two cities that experienced the worst of the 2020 Almeda Fire, have come together to bolster tourism in their respective communities in the years after the devastating fire.

The purpose of Thursday’s session was to brainstorm strategies to bring more visitors to the area.

“We’re actually a destination now,” said Phoenix Mayor Al Muelhoefer.

The session, held in the Talent Community Center, drew about 30 people from Talent and Phoenix.

Cecilia Bagnoli, destination and tourism strategic planner for Talent Business Alliance, presented preliminary results that will provide a path to bolster tourism in the region. Bagnoli, who is from Kentucky, was hired about a year ago to help Talent develop tourism in the area.

Bagnoli, during her presentation, emphasized that attracting visitors is a long-term effort that could take up to a decade.

“This is not a quick fix or a quick solution,” she said.

With more outreach in the coming months, Bagnoli said she expects to finalize the plan by the fall. The strategies going forward rest on developing three pillars: wine country biking routes, arts and cultural districts, and creating an identity and branding.

Biking routes will be developed off the “spine” of the Bear Creek Greenway, Bagnoli said. This would provide connections to farmstands, vineyards, wineries and downtown hubs. In the second phase, the bike routes would connect with county roads.

The second pillar would create an arts and cultural district that would link the two cities, including a Phoenix-Talent trolley.
Events such as the quarterly Talent Art Walk will be part of this effort.

Both Talent and Phoenix would create a unified tourism identity.

Bagnoli said the goal is to capitalize on the strengths Phoenix and Talent already have rather than creating a new attraction.
“This is not a blueprint for a Disneyland,” she said.

Some of the stakeholders in this effort include Jackson County Roads and Parks, Rogue Valley Farm-to-School Program, Rogue Valley Food System Network, Rogue Valley Safe Routes to School and the Siskiyou Velo Club.

Also involved in the effort are cyclists and bike shop owners, downtown business owners, artists, community members, local artists, farmers, and winery, brewery and distillery owners.

After listening to the presentation, Phoenix resident Roxy Ashworth said, “This is all very pretty,” but she wondered about all the lingering damage from the fire that hasn’t been addressed.

Darby Ayers-Flood, mayor of Talent and executive director of the Talent Business Alliance, formally known as the Talent Chamber of Commerce, said the ongoing study could help provide opportunities for further funding to help take on additional projects that could address those concerns.

Some audience members said the entrance to Talent off the freeway was confusing, and the old Walmart building at the Talent Interstate 5 exit doesn’t help. Ayers-Flood said the former Walmart, which is in the city limits, is privately owned and up for sale. She said she and other members of the community are hoping something eventually changes to improve the Walmart property.

Both Ayers-Flood and Muelhoefer hope to see more connections between the greenway and the town centers in the future.
Muelhoefer said Save the Phoenix Wetlands, a citizen group effort to protect and restore wetlands and riparian areas, have taken various projects that include clearing debris and building hiking paths.

Ayers-Flood said the two cities need to make it easier and more appealing to come to their downtowns.

“They only survive when we have robust foot traffic,” she said.

Talent and Phoenix have both undergone dramatic changes since the 2020 fire that destroyed about 2,500 residences, businesses and other buildings.

Phoenix had to rebuild much of its downtown, but now boasts The Phoodery, a collection of outdoor food stands; the Oregon Cheese Cave; and Clyde’s Corner, a popular pizzeria that has capitalized on its proximity to the Bear Creek Greenway.

Talent has undergone a number of changes over the past 20 years, with the opening of the new Camelot Theatre in 2011, and a number of refurbished buildings, new restaurants and efforts to restore other buildings.

Muelhoefer said he’d long admired the changes taking place in Talent. He said Phoenix, in just the last few years, has finally turned a corner, creating a more walkable and interesting downtown.

The planning effort has identified a number of strengths Talent and Phoenix already have, such as a small-town atmosphere, local arts and culture, outdoor recreation, and thriving agriculture and food experience.

Weaknesses include a lack of staff devoted to promoting tourism, a lack of unified branding, limited lodging options and insufficient signage. Many of the weaknesses could be turned into strengths with enough effort, according to the analysis by Bagnoli.

Threats that could undermine tourism efforts for both cities include competition from nearby destinations, economic constraints, safety risks for cyclists and climate risks, specifically wildfires.

Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.