I've actually been hoping that, that place would come to life again; summer's here and I'd love to take part, I need to work on PS...
Even though I'm off, I know a majority of people still have like, 3-2 weeks of school remaining. It might take a while to kick it off, but it'll get there, slowly and gradually.
IOTW; is easier to manage.
And since making icons doesn't take as much time as tags and banners, relatively speaking of course. It'll fire up in no time.
As for SOTW; it would need a little more time, but all this section has riding on is the fact that people will return when Summer starts. Godspeed to that since it's pretty valid..
Give the G&P section some time; it'll wake up.
Start the contests again, in a week or two; hopefully, you might get results.