Antigo has potential. Easily accessible by two intersecting highways, it is well positioned to be a day-trip destination. So where are the visitors?

Currently, Antigo has few businesses, activities, or events to draw day-trippers. Most local events are organized to entertain & engage the local community (not a bad thing, but not big revenue generators). Very few restaurants & retailers are remarkable enough to qualify as a “must-stop”. Our new playground & proposed boardwalk aren’t spectacular enough, in & of themselves, to lure visitors. Antigo is not IN the Northwoods, it is NEAR the Northwoods.

There are lots of GREAT reasons to live in Antigo, but none of those are GOOD reasons to visit Antigo. What could make Antigo unique in the minds of visitors? Get them to stop for a few hours & spend a few dollars?

One thought, not original…close off 5th Ave. permanently & make it an outdoor “mall”. Use the street space to host a farmers market every weekend in summer, allow street performers, bands, artists to showcase their wares (items they THEMSELVES create, not import). Make it available to event organizers (local or not) for car & boat shows/sales, fund-raisers, antique shows, historical reenactments, etc. For holidays, host stationary parades (floats parked at various points, band(s) playing in different areas). The city already has parking lots along the Ave. Businesses have alley access for deliveries, etc. & could claim the sidewalk space in front of their buildings for outdoor seating, display, etc. Not a huge taxpayer investment (plans to re-work the Ave. anyway). New retailers might buy into the concept & revitalize empty storefronts. Some current businesses may resist losing a few front-door parking spaces & drive by traffic. Would need a
coordinator to handle information requests, qualify events & maintain the schedule.

Pie-in-the-sky? Sure, but downtown hasn’t much left to lose & business-as-usual isn’t working very well. Time for some ideas for positive change…

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