Main Street Project officials share their success story
Published 9:49 am Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Austin Main Street Project program shared its “secrets” with other Minnesota communities at a Hometown Minnesota, Inc. workshop Tuesday afternoon.
Sponsored by the West Central Initiative Foundation, the Initiative Foundation and the Minnesota Main Street Committee, as well as Hometown Minnesota, Inc. Tuesday’s session at the Town Center in downtown Austin was one of three workshops focusing on revitalizing traditional downtowns. Two others will be held May 14 at Brainerd and May 15 at Fergus Falls.
Austin’s is one of four Main Street projects in the state.
Sarah Douty, Austin MSP coordinator, is a member of a steering committee trying to create a statewide Main Street program.
Craig Byram, vice president of the Austin MSP board of directors, made Tuesday’s presentation to representatives from a handfull of communities.
Belita Schindler, president of the Austin MSP board, also gave remarks to the workshop participants, and Douty joined the informal discussion.
Brian Ross, representing Hometown Minnesota, Inc., the advocate for downtown revitalization, was the workshop’s facilitator.
“The main focus today was to hear about the Austin Main Street Program and how it has been a success in achieving downtown revitalization,” Ross said. That success is everywhere on North Main Street: Hastings Shoes, the former Granle Gallery and Custom Framing (now Steve’s Pizza), historic First National Bank building at the corner of North Main Street and Second Avenue Northeast and others.
Today, Schindler, Byram and Douty hope to add to that list of accomplishments when they request funding for no less than seven new revitalization projects to the Austin Port Authority Board of Commissioners.
According to Ross, Austin MSP is the poster child for Hometown Minnesota, Inc.’s goals to help greater Minnesota communities.
“We hope the communities who were represented here can adopt some of those downtown revitalization and economic development goals that Austin Main Street has done for the city and also adopt some of the same methods that Austin Main Street used,” Ross said.
He said the Austin Main Street Project example can be adopted by communities larger — Mankato — or smaller — Brownsdale.
“The Austin Main Street Project is modeled after the national Main Street Program, and we’ve seen a community of only 700 people in Iowa, which has its own stand-alone Main Street program. It can be done,” Ross said. “It takes a different form when it’s in a smaller form, but it can be done.”
Ross said communities need to “create a public will that we need to do something.”
That attitude — that the problems are overwhelming in the stagnant economy is, Ross added, the “largest barrier” to downtown revitalization efforts. Since the Austin MSP was incorporated in Sept. 2005, it has attracted the “public will” that Ross said is so important.
“I think it’s really exciting to look back over the last few years and see where we’ve started and the plans that we made and then see the progress we have made in a short time,” Byram said.
Douty said she is hopeful plans to create a new statewide program will succeed. “We’re in the early stages of trying to secure some funding and hire a director, hopefully, early next year,” Douty said.
Minnesota is only one of four states that do not have current Main Street Programs.
The Minnesota program disbanded in 1995.