Having the U.S. Open come to Pierce County next year is going to be a big deal.  They already completely sold out of tickets for Sunday.  Having all these visitors from around the nation and world is like having four Super Bowls plus over a week’s worth of international television coverage.  It’s priceless, to borrow the popular phrase.

Are we ready here in Sumner?  There’s a term called Destination Readiness.  It’s pretty self-explanatory, and it’s becoming very important with the Open less than a year away.  We have many efforts underway but one is making sure that our historic Downtown is ready.  It’s kind of like having guests over to your house.  That pile of mail may sit on the counter for a week, even if it bugs you, but once you know someone’s coming over, you deal with it quickly.

There’s no doubt that Sumner is charming.  But, we have a few stacks of mail sitting around that we don’t really want the world to see.  Thank you to the Sumner Downtown Association for bringing in Nicholas Vann, our state historical architect, and Michael Houser, our state architectural historian.  Last week, they met with many owners of Sumner’s downtown buildings and gave an overview for facade improvements.  Then, they walked up and down Main Street to give owners specific suggestions to make their buildings look the best.  Owners will continue to spend this year working together, coordinating and getting some help from the City to make sure we all look our best for the world to see us next June.

If you’re really interested in building rehabilitation, or are just simply an addict of HGTV and DIY network, you may find the slides from last week’s presentation interesting.

Mayor Dave Enslow