Main Street Gainesville is looking to take a creative approach when it comes to drawing business to downtown.

Among other things, the group is considering establishing a ghost tour for October and possibly an outdoor "ice" skating rink for December.

Although both ideas are very tentative, the program's advisory board discussed the possibilities during its meeting Wednesday morning.

"The ice skating project could be an incredible draw downtown for Christmas-time," said Debra Harkrider, advisory board chairwoman.

According to board members, the cost associated with keeping an ice rink frozen made the project prohibitive in the past, but Main Street staff may have found a solution to the problem.

Ice Rink Engineering and Manufacturing LLC - a Greenville, S.C.-based company - offers a synthetic ice product that can be used indoors or outdoors. Because the "ice" is synthetic, the temperature doesn't have to be regulated, which helps to reduce the cost.

Coupled with the annual carriage rides around the downtown square, board members say an ice skating rink could be a big hit with visitors.

"We're really trying to think outside of the box to make downtown a destination for the holidays," Harkrider said.

During the meeting, board members also discussed the possibility of having a downtown, ghost tour around Halloween.

According to Harkrider, the Main Street Market building and a few other locations on the square are rumored to have their own phantom residents. Details of the event are still being hammered out, but board members suggested that the tour be spread over multiple days and could possibly include a collaboration with Alta Vista Cemetery.

In an effort to help curtail employees taking up the limited street parking in the downtown area, Main Street Gainesville Manager Angela Thompson announced during the meeting that free parking passes have been printed and will be distributed to downtown merchants.

The passes will allow employees to consistently park for free in the city's parking decks and lots. During special events, a fee is sometimes imposed for drivers looking to park in those areas.