The city of Dayton plans to spend about $1.5 million beautifying downtown ahead of the five-day event in late May, which will give the community international exposure. City officials hope that visitors and onlookers from across the globe will get a good impression of the Gem City and the larger region.
Getting ready
Earlier this month, Cadwallender and Sébastien Botella, head of operational management with the NATO PA, and their staff visited Dayton for a final walkthrough of local venues that will host assembly meetings and events.
Cadwallender first came to Dayton in late 2022 to evaluate the community’s ability to host a Parliamentary Assembly session, which are held twice a year.
Cadwallender was pleased to learn that Dayton would be a good fit for the spring 2025 PA session, which will be first session held stateside since 2003.
Cadwallender said they received a warm welcome and have been very impressed with the community.
Cadwallender and Botella got to know the community after attending a University of Dayton basketball game, eating at local establishments, touring venues and meeting leaders, said Jason Galanes, chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, who was instrumental in bringing the NATO PA here.
Cadwallender said she first talked with Turner about hosting a NATO PA session in Dayton about three years ago. She said it’s an appropriate location given that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia.
The city is going to welcome delegates from the 32 NATO member nations, plus representatives from associate countries and other parties, like members of the global news media.
Galanes said President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have been invited. It’s unclear whether they’ll actually attend.
NATO has been a hot topic recently since the Trump administration has given mixed signals about America’s commitment and relationship to the alliance.
Galanes said he’s participated in multiple meetings about security for the event with police, state officials and federal partners.
He said they are discussing and evaluating potential threats and activities that could try to disrupt the session.
“We’re taking it very seriously and it’s progressing quite nicely,” he said.
The city hopes and expects that it will be reimbursed millions of dollars from the state of Ohio for security costs for the event.
Local leaders also hope that visitors will be impressed by the community. They believe this event could help promote Dayton and Ohio.
“It gives us a chance to show people what we really have,” said Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr., who later added that the NATO PA session should provide a “tremendous” boost to the local economy.
Botella said this is an opportunity to “show off your wonderful city.”
Volunteers are wanted to help clean up downtown on April 26.
The Dayton City Commission recently approved a roughly $990,000 contract for lighting upgrades at multiple sites along Main Street to get ready for the session. The city budgeted $1.5 million for capital improvements for downtown beautification projects.
New lighting will be installed at the Pvt. George Washington Fair monument, which is part of a plaza on an island located in the middle of North Main Street, between Monument Avenue and First Street.
Lighting upgrades also are being made to the Wright brothers “Flyover” sculpture, located in the middle of South Main Street near the Dayton Convention Center.
Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said the city also is improving downtown landscaping and streetscapes, though some of that work isn’t directly related to the NATO PA event. The city will paint utility poles and install new waste receptacles.
All of the downtown upgrades ahead of the NATO PA are permanent improvements that will benefit the urban center long after the event concludes, Dickstein said.
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