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By Confounded in Christiansburg On September 28, 2007 at 10:36 AM
On September 19 and 20, over 70 participants from local governments and
downtown associations attended a statewide Main Street Essentials training
seminar.
Program managers, board and committee members, local government officials
and other interested participants gathered to focus on elements for successful design and promotion of downtown districts. Of the over 70 participants, nine New River Valley downtown merchant groups or Main Street programs and governments were represented. An additional nine communities from the region were represented, including Bedford, Lynchburg, Galax, and Vinton. No Christiansburg officials were present, although invited.
The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) sponsors the Virginia Main Street program and works as a resource for revitalizing Virginia's historic downtowns by providing training and technical support.
"It was a great opportunity to hear about what others have implemented in
their communities," said Ernie Bentley. Bentley, owner of Old Town Printing, attended as a business supporter of the Downtown Christiansburg Partners. "A comprehensive and collaborative approach appears to have provided these localities with many successes in revitalizing their downtowns."
The four-point Main Street approach was pioneered by the National Trust for
Historic Preservation in the 1970s and combines preservation of traditional
commercial areas with grass-roots based economic development to restore
prosperity and vitality to downtowns and neighborhood business districts. Today, this program has been widely applied throughout the United States and currently boasts more than 1,200 active Main Street programs nationally aligned. In Virginia, currently there are 21 designated Main Street communities and 66 DHCD Commercial District Affiliates.
"A visit with our hosts, Main Street Radford, demonstrates how this works locally,"said Leslie Hager-Smith, director of Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg. "Having this training in the Bondurant Center is another way to showcase the benefits of these public-private efforts."
The variety of issues and problems faced by traditional business districts are common to all sizes of communities. This training advocates a return to community self-reliance, local empowerment, and the rebuilding of downtown districts based on their unique assets: distinctive architecture,
pedestrian-friendly environments, personal service, local ownership, and a sense of community.
"Improving Virginia downtown districts can serve as an economic engine for encouraging private investment, growing and sustaining local businesses, and
increasing tourism,” stated Tacy Newell-Foutz. "All this enhances a
community’s overall quality of life and serves as an economic stimulus." Newell-Foutz is a property and business owner in downtown Christiansburg.
The featured speakers were Virginia Main Street architect Kathy Frazier of the Frazier Associates in Staunton and Kathy LaPlante of the National Main Street Center in Washington, DC.
To learn more about the Virginia Main Street program, visit
http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/communitydevelopmentrevitalization/virginiamainstreet.htm.
To learn more about the national program, visit:
http://www.mainstreet.org/content.aspx?page=3§ion=2