Many will note that the Bulls have been drawing hundreds of thousands of people to Durham for years to see a game in the classy Durham Bulls Athletic Park. And they'd be right -- as far as a point on a map goes.

But if the DBAP draws from a wide geographical base, it deposits folks into a fairly narrow funnel. After all, going to a ballgame is all about the ballpark itself. You arrive there in a car or a bus; you enter the facility and buy your food there; the park disgorges you at game's end, and you return to your hometown.

For years the DBAP did so by necessity; across the street from it sat some old factory, fenced up and boarded up and generally unhospitable. Now revitalized as American Tobacco, its restaurants and bars certainly play a big role in pre- and post-game festivities, but as much due to their waystation role between parking and the ballpark as anything else. It's a veritable black hole of spending and interest.

Contrast that with the Durham Performing Arts Center -- which, by both its single-purpose nature and its marketing, has the ability to make Durham broadly a destination for traffic, as opposed to the locus of the ballpark just to its south.

Take this email, which ended up forwarded to elected officials earlier this week, from a non-Durhamite describing their experience at DPAC; she came to Durham to see "Fiddler on the Roof" this week, and ended up losing her sunglasses. The process of getting them back led to an interesting profile on the couple's DPAC trip:

I received an e-mail the week prior to the show to get me thinking about where we might have dinner and enjoy some time with my husband prior to the show.  Because of this e-mail, I asked my husband to leave work early day of the show.  Without the e-mail the day would have come and we would have rushed out the door and made it just in time for the show.  Because of this suggestion I was prompted to make it more of an evening and experience.

When we arrived in Durham I had the wrong parking deck in mind (because I did not read the info provided).  Because of signage and helpful people it took no time for us to find where we should be.  After parking we were asked if we needed help finding anything and were pleasantly guided to many good options for a light bite and a beverage.  Even who I believe were Security Guards asked if they could help us when we were looking at the directory!!!

After a nice meal with my husband we enjoyed the short walk to DPAC and Upon arrival were greeted and directed pleasantly...

After the show I received [a customer satisfaction] survey and truly feel like you care about my feedback.  Too often people ask for opinion but do nothing with the feedback provided.  I have all the confidence in the world that you will take all feedback into consideration and act appropriately.  An e-mail from the General Manager and Office Manager over something like a pair of sunglasses is the type of service people desire.  My request for help could have so easily been ignored or pushed aside but instead you took the time to communicate.  Even if you had not found my glasses I would have been equally impressed because you made the effort.

I feel valued as a customer.  I have a large network of friends that I share information with, they know I do not refer or recommend lightly so I believe they pay attention when I make a suggestion.  Later today I will send an e-mail to my network and share my WONDERFUL experience at the DPAC and the Tobacco Trail district.  Thank you for being part of that positive experience. 

I'd think of this as sui generis -- except I've seen similar tales to this on an Internet message board I frequent that has discussion about the various parts of the Triangle. Before DPAC, I can't say that I remember many questions about where to go eat in downtown Durham -- and where those questions arose, they often focused on Brightleaf Square and Ninth Street, or American Tobacco.

Since DPAC, I see more and more questions about where to eat in downtown within walking distance of the theater. The pre-show email seems to be a big part of that, giving guests a sense of where they might go to eat before the event and encouraging more dining dollars to be spent in the Bull City.

I've also seen plenty of positive comments and feedback about the facility and individuals' experiences at the show. The small detail of greeting and welcoming visitors at the door goes over very well, as does the post-show survey, for instance. It's a small matter of making guests feel welcome, something that should be part of basic customer service training for everyone in the public eye.

(It always amazes me, for instance, that airlines have been around nearly a century yet only one, Southwest, goes out of its way to deliver outstanding customer service every flight, from every employee. Not surprisingly, it's the most profitable airline in the U.S. most years.)

Certainly the Carolina has been around for a couple of decades; I'd be curious, though, to see from whence they draw visitors for shows. I might tend to suspect it's a Durham- and Chapel Hill-centric crowd already familiar with downtown -- though that's pure speculation on my part. And the Carolina, to put it mildly, doesn't seem to take the same approach to customer service as the DPAC, perhaps seeing the crux of the experience as the artist performance itself as opposed to the broader characteristics of the visit.

Whatever the core reasons, my hunch from the conversations I see online about DPAC shows is that the theater is, somehow and in some way, managing to engage its visitors more broadly with Durham's core, in a way that the Bulls and the Carolina may not have been able to do over the years.

Is this a good thing? Arts aside, to the extent that Durham wants to continue to grow and nurture its center city, to create a destination for tourist dollars that drives more storefronts, more dining and entertainment choices, and to generally revitalize its image -- absolutely.

Some Durhamites love the arts choices at the DPAC; others eschew them, preferring the selection at the Carolina or community arts organizagtions. No matter which camp one falls into, though, the benefits to taxpayers resulting from a more positive reputation for Durham is undeniable.