A Foundation Made From Partnerships: The National Trust Main Street Center
Faced with the continued decay of America’s beloved and historic commercial cores across the country, the National Trust began their Main Street campaign in the 1970’s.What began as a pilot project among a few select Midwestern cities, has developed into one of the most successful economic generating preservation programs in history. The approach, patented by the Main Street organization, begins with local assets (community leaders, heritage, history, architecture, local businesses) and focuses the revitalization in four areas: Organization, Promotion, Design, and Economic Restructuring. The purpose of these focus areas is to establish a committee or group to provide an armature for each that can facilitate sustainable organization, building improvements, recruitment of new enterprises, production of events, and attracting people back downtown…
The success of this program relies on the involvement of local stakeholders and government officials as well as concerned citizens working together. This grassroots approach to organizing harnesses the creative energy of the cities’ residents and provides them ownership and eventually stewardship of the resultant progress. In this way, local values and the distinct character of each town is preserved. By revitalizing once dominant commercial centers, we encourage smart growth, maintain investments in public infrastructure, and collectively protect our cultural heritage. The volunteer-dependent model gets even more robust with external partnerships that expand the reach and knowledge base of the community. State and local Main Street programs cast a wide net over ancillary organizations that fall under one of the four points of the Main Street approach. For instance, the volunteers of the Minnesota Design Team—an organization centered around helping small communities grow more sustainably through design—can be referred to a small town without the resources to resolve specific issues of design on their own. This partnership draws upon the talent and expertise of a wide range of individuals who provide more value to a community than may already exist among the citizens.
If at this point you are wondering if Minnesota participates at the state level in the Main Street program, it currently is one of three states in the entire country that does not.Tougher still is the fact that two of the strongest state Main Street programs exist in Iowa and Wisconsin.The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM) strives to change that fact.With Executive Director Bonnie McDonald now at the helm, it is part of their strategic focus to bring the program back to Minnesota.In the mean time, we can learn from the process model that has been established by the Main Street program and work toward moving our community in a positive direction with continued downtown reinvestment.The strength again lies in our partnerships—our ability to band together—that foster communication, support local economies, and improve our environment. Because in the immortal words of John F. Kennedy, “One person can make a difference and every person should try.”