Well, that headline sure says it all, doesn't it? If you didn't get a chance to read yesterday's Free Press, here's the editorial that caught our eye (highlights below, but the whole thing is definitely worth reading):

Just off Cooper Street in Jackson sits a renovation project that economic leaders statewide ought to be eyeing. It's a textbook example of creative revitalization.

In January, a historic 19th Century former prison will be reopened as an incubator for artistic talent and economic growth. The project, called the Armory Arts Village, is a twist on the familiar formula of reviving a piece of history with a modern marketable use. In Jackson's case, it's not just any piece of history, but the very building that launched the city's long involvement with the prison industry.

The project, five years in the making, saved the building from becoming another sign of economic blight, all because the Enterprise Group, an economic development agency, had the vision and a creative funding strategy to turn the old jailhouse into something more, a $12.5-million subsidized housing complex for artists.

We're written about the Armory Arts project in the past, so it's nice to see this innovative redevelopment initiative getting some ink in the state's most widely-read newspaper.

This is the sort of work we've been highlighting here on the blog all year:

Going after the creative class is hardly a new idea. But plans in most cities center on attracting the pocketbooks of established artists and creative types who can afford market rate lifestyles. Armory Arts Village appropriately flips the theory by targeting artists who need both a break in rent and the skills to market their talent. The Armory lofts' appeal hinges as much on the 13-foot-tall ceilings as it does on the promise that tenants will acquire the skills to grow their talent into lucrative enterprises, ranging from a teaching workshop for the local school district to designing art for area businesses.

"We see the artists who will live here as small businesses in the making," said Steve Czarnecki, president and CEO of the Enterprise Group. "We intend to capture their creativity and show them how to turn it into wealth for themselves and for Jackson."

It's all part of a shrewd attempt to stimulate a stretch of Jackson, just four blocks from downtown, into a thriving destination and tax base. "This will be an iconic project not only for Jackson, but for Michigan," says Peter Kageyama, president of Creative Tampa Bay, a nonprofit development group that studies reuse projects around the world.

The Armory Arts project is exciting for a number of reasons, but the fact that the developers are taking such an iconic symbol -- the old Jackson prison -- and turning it into a haven for young, creative artists perfectly encapsulates everything we're trying to do here in Michigan.

"This project just epitomizes the idea of using where you've been as a city to take the leap forward into the future," said project director Jane Robinson, who is also a local painter and spent years working in the city's prisons. "The prison industry really built Jackson, starting right here. And now we're using it as the catalyst to reinvent ourselves again."

"If Jackson can be uppity enough to think it can transform itself into a cool city," said Czarnecki, "any city in the state can. It's all about seeing the value creativity and a knowledge-based economy can bring."

Looking to government or any single industry to revive a city is ancient economic thinking. The momentum is in growing and maximizing partnerships, especially those that aim, as the Armory does, to turn historic relics into viable resources again.Developers and strategists across the state ought to start looking for more creative ways to bet on their city's futures.

Hey, we're already there. Like our Vision Statement says:

Where others see empty, broken storefronts...
We envision the realization of the entrepreneurial dreams of successful small businesses which will create jobs.

Where others see hopelessness and overwhelming problems...
We envision new and renovated facilities through which non-profits can better serve their communities.