07/17/2009 Phoenixville nominated to be a classic By Dennis J. Wright, dwright@pottsmerc.com PHOENIXVILLE — Borough Manager E. Gene Krack told Borough Council Tuesday that Phoenixville is a classic. Well, maybe not quite yet, but at least it's on the short list. Krack informed the council that the borough has been nominated to be a part of the Classic Towns of Greater Philadelphia Program. Krack said Phoenixville would become one of 30 Classic Towns in the program. "I think this is a big deal," Krack said. "It is limited to 30 towns a year, and we are within the top 20. The county commissioners and those who nominated us believe we are a classic town. I think we raised the bar with what's going on here with entertainment, restaurants and events. We are a nice, walkable community." The program, developed by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, provides individual municipalities and neighborhoods as great places to live, work and play, with the tools they need to launch their own marketing campaigns. The program also helps create a marketing strategy to promote positive images of the region's classic communities and neighborhoods. One of the criteria for becoming a Classic Town is that it has to be a walkable community, with rich history and a unique identity, with political or business leadership working to strengthen that identity. Other Classic Towns in the surrounding area include Ambler, Bristol, Lansdowne, Media, West Chester and Manayunk. Phoenixville will be featured along with those other towns on the Classic Towns Web site with links and information provided to the community. Krack said that Phoenixville will participate in this program for two years with an option to renew its participation. "You get a logo and marketing materials," he said. "We will put it on our Web site, which will get the word out that we are a Classic Town. We are going to put out some Classic Town merchandise. The more this gets out, the more people will want to come here. "I'm extremely excited about this. I know what this can do for our community," he added. The program costs $2,500 a year, which Borough Council passed a motion 7 to 0 to approve. Kendrick Buckwalter (R-West) made the motion, and Mike Speck (D-East) seconded it. Richard Mark Kirkner (D-North) amended the motion to see if Krack could look for any business benefactor to "kick some money towards it." Krack said that he has until July 22 to submit all of the necessary information and provide the financing by Oct. 1. "I'm going to try the approach to go to the business community," he said. "This is for them, so I'll go knock on some doors. At the end of the day, I know we can find $2,500 in our budget. "It's not a deal-breaking amount of money. I believe in this and I know I can get some of this from our businesses. This is regional advertising and I see it as a great value at $2,500. The financial part will not keep us from becoming a classic town."