DHDC

Downtown Hays has experienced a significant transformation during the past decade. Major building renovations and new businesses made the historic area an exciting destination and community gathering space, but there is a need to develop and market Downtown Hays as a unified, cohesive brand, referring to all of Downtown, including the Chestnut Street District.

Bricks are a distinguishing part of Downtown Hays, as the bricks are a common design element among the buildings and the streets. The bricks also remind community members of past memories in Downtown Hays or other downtowns – stimulating a positive feeling of nostalgia. Bricks are the one unifying, distinguishing characteristic of Downtown Hays.

 The branding and marketing strategies Downtown Hays Development Corporation feels “The Bricks” addresses are:

•   The need to develop a place identity for Downtown Hays.

•   The need to get people on the streets, regularly and consistently, shifting the community’s focus from thinking about what businesses need to come to downtown to thinking about how to bring people downtown.

•   The need to unify Downtown Hays, in physical appearance, in cohesion, cooperation and appreciation among the Downtown Hays business owners, and with Fort Hays State University and the community of Hays.

 We are excited about the possibilities the branding of Downtown as a whole offers but we are also very conscious of the history of this area. The Chestnut Street District will not disappear or be forgotten. The Bricks will only be used to enhance and bring more awareness to our wonderful Downtown.

To learn more about “The Bricks,” please join us for a Launch Party on Thursday from 3-5pm at The Hays Public Library. At 4 p.m. an official Ribbon Cutting in partnership with The Hays Area Chamber of Commerce will also take place. Refreshments will be served.