The Medallion, Volume 48, Number 3-4, March/April 2011 Page: 4
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Making Main Street Meaningful
Vital Downtown Revitalization Program Celebrates 30th AnniversaryNearly 30 years ago, the National
Trust for Historic Preservation
tested a theory in three Midwestern
communities to revitalize America's
neglected downtowns. At the time,
historic business districts across the
country were struggling against the
exodus of customers and businesses to
the suburbs.
The selected pilot communities
experienced positive, incremental
change in a relatively short period of
time. A national competition soon
followed, resulting in the selection of
six states (including Texas) that became
the first official state-coordinating
programs for a new concept called the
Main Street Four-Point Approach,
which uses historic preservation
and downtown revitalization as an
economic development tool.
Since its inception in 1981, the
program has helped generate
approximately $2.2 billion in
reinvestment in Texas
downtowns and urban
neighborhood commercial
districts, created more than
26,500 jobs, and established
more than 6,800 new
businesses. Volunteers have ,
contributed almost 685,000
hours to their Texas Main
Street cities since these
figures were initially collected
in 2001. Texas Main Street .communities currently represent more
than 2.5 million of the state's residents.
This year, the Texas Historical
Commission's (THC) Texas Main
Street Program (TMSP) celebrates 30
years of helping local communities
implement the Four-Point Approach
of preservation-based downtown
revitalization. These four points are
essential for a Main Street community's
success:
m An organization that capitalizes on
community-wide engagement
m Promotion (festivals, image
building, retail activities, and branding)
that introduces the downtown
experience to residents and visitors
m Design activities that capitalize
on the Main Street district's unique
physical characteristics and heritage
m Economic restructuring that
identifies new market opportunities,
new uses for historic buildings, and
works to strengthen small businesses.Bastrop's Baxters on Main restaurant (at left) rece
ur. II I i I I design assistance from the Texas Main Street Progr
return to its original 1890 appearance (at the far
I the above 1900 photo).
I ILOne of the most unique aspects
of the program is the preservation
ethic Main Street helps instill in a
community through a grassroots,
solution-oriented philosophy.
"Main Street in Texas is no
longer a concept you have to explain
to people like you did in the early
years," says THC Deputy Executive
Director Terry Colley, who served as
a Main Street manager in the 1980s.
"People understand what downtown
revitalization can do-they have seen
enough Main Street cities to know."
A successful project recently
completed in Bastrop, a four-year Main
Street community, helped refurbish
the Baxters on Main restaurant (see
photos at left). Constructed circa 1890,
the building originally functioned
as a grocery and dry goods business.
Over time, the structure had been
extensively modified. When TMSP
design staff initially consulted on the
project, they suggested the
property owner should
avoid further insensitive
modifications. Their
report recommended using
traditional commercial
building design elements
in a thoughtful way that
were respectful to the
.i t remaining historic fabric
of the building.
Their specific
S suggestions included
reintroducing the building's
transom windows and
storefront configuration;
repairing the existing
ived canopy and installing
ram to new support columns;
right in installing signs on the
underside of the canopy
or the storefront glass to
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Texas Historical Commission. The Medallion, Volume 48, Number 3-4, March/April 2011, periodical, March 2011; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth309006/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Commission.