Twelve-year city employee, Robert Ironsmith, a leader in Dunedin’s economic development, has been promoted to head the city’s newly created Department of Economic and Housing Development.

The City Commission unanimously approved the promotion, proposed by recently appointed City Manager Robert DiSpirito, in May. It was admittedly an attempt to keep Ironsmith, an asset by all accounts, as a city employee in light of higher paying offers from four other communities.

As head of the Department, Ironsmith’s job will be to attract more business and housing options to Dunedin in order to expand the city’s tax base. The creation of the new department illustrates the City’s efforts to address the need for affordable workforce housing as a partner to economic development, A need so key to bringing new businesses to Pinellas that some communities offer building incentives to developers to promote it.

The City Commission has set the adoption of a strategic plan for the department as one of its four priorities this year along with prioritization of land acquisition, management agreement on a city development plan and revising city services, like permitting, to be more user friendly.

Ironsmith is largely credited with Downtown Dunedin’s extremely successful redevelopment. It is recognized statewide as a benchmark for success and has been a model for other local cities wishing to improve their downtowns including Safety Harbor, Oldsmar, Tarpon Springs and New Port Richey.

“Twelve years ago Dunedin was definitely a different place,” Mayor Bob Hackworth told the St. Petersburg Times in June. “And (Ironsmith) kind of was the ring leader of pulling all the different pieces of the puzzle together.” In a May 2007 editorial, The St. Petersburg Times noted that Ironsmith “Rightly deserves a lot of credit for keeping downtown delightful and successful” stating that “his energy is contagious and his business savvy serves the city well.”

“Have you ever been to Dunedin? It’s fabulous,” Carole Westmoreland, executive director of The Florida Redevelopment Association, said in a 2003. Ironsmith has said of the city’s improvement, “We created the conditions for redevelopment and let nature take its course.”

Dunedin had real problems in the mid 80s, especially in the 217-acre downtown area that was relatively abandoned. Photos of the area from the mid-80s actually show a tumbleweed inside an empty concrete island off Main Street. The Chamber of Commerce was downtown’s only historic feature at the time.

Before redevelopment, Main Street was a fast three-lane highway. The area had broken sidewalks, overhead utilities and 30 percent vacancy. Traffi c calming made the area more comfortable and safe for pedestrians, and also focused the attention of vehicles passing local businesses. Downtown housing and an eclectic, multi-use atmosphere now keep the area active for more hours each day. The ease this atmosphere creates in moving from business to business along with a connection to the Pinellas Trail and the city’s regular special events like Mardi Gras and Dunedin Wines The Blues attract thousands of visitors regularly from all around the area.

Ironsmith’s personal dedication and likable personality are thought by some to be tailor-made to his role. They have played a big factor in his success, along with his knack for building positive personal relationships and understanding communication with local business owners and his sensitivity to emerging business trends, leading the city to a strategic response.

Because of Ironsmith’s infl uence, the pedestrian, multi-use downtown area’s fun, thought-out pleasant details like brick sidewalks, decorative lighting, comfortable antique looking benches and sawtooth parking all work together to make it that much nicer.

The improvement of downtown’s Pioneer Park will be a lasting contribution he can take credit for. Residents and visitors will enjoy its redesigned band shell for years ahead at great times with their families and friends during celebrations and events there. It will be a stage for all types of terrific live entertainment including dance and especially, fantastic live music of all varieties. One important trait of people who are able to create a lot of success may be their way of looking at efforts that haven’t been successful yet. Of the Patricia Avenue property vacated by Nielsen Media Research in 2001, which still remains empty, Ironsmith has said simply, “We’ll get it going.” In the future the property could employ hundreds of city residents.

Bob Ironsmith’s future plans for the city include improvements in downtown parking and expansion of redevelopment beyond downtown to the SR 580 corridor. “I have to be creative,” he told the Times in June. “I have to create opportunity.”