Last Friday Roger Brooks presented his recommended brand for Okotoks to a standing room only crowd at the Rotary Performing Arts Centre. We got more than expected because this started as a rebranding project for downtown but the presentation gave branding direction for downtown and the community as a whole.
Brooks suggests that the downtown be rebranded to The Link District with a focus on restaurants, shops, activities and special events. He also feels that the community wide brand should shift from the existing slogan “Historic Past, Sustainable Future” to “Join the Innovation”. The blue and black logo would be traded in for a black and green logo. Does anyone else still remember the brand from before our current one? The logo featured colourful balloons and a slogan of “The Spirit of Youth.” I used to like that one but I was young at the time.
The great thing about the recommendations from Brooks is that there is much more than just the new logo and slogan, he has provided the foundation of an action plan to help the town draw in more visitors and boost the local economy.
In The Link District, he recommends that we move forward with a public plaza including programmed activities, a year round indoor market, more public gathering places, improved walkability, some parking structures to be shared among businesses, way finding signage and more programming of the existing Olde Towne Plaza. My overall take on it is that it’s all about creating more reasons for people to visit Okotoks and more reasons for Okotokians to enjoy our downtown.
I really like the concept of having a year round public market somewhere downtown. I always thought that the old Creamery building would make a good indoor market space. Unfortunately that opportunity went up in smoke. That said, a new building specifically designed to be an indoor market probably makes more sense anyhow.
Brooks has certainly given us lots of ideas to keep us moving forward in a positive direction as the opportunities arise. Close to 900 local people provided input to Brooks and his team that helped to shape their recommendations.
Thank you to everyone who was involved. I feel like I’m ready to Join the Innovation and this could be really cool. The fascinating thing about innovation is that it isn’t easy. Some risk taking is required to move forward on new ideas.
