By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Stevens Point has been recommended to become a part of Wisconsin's Main Street Program to help revitalize the downtown area.
The Main Street Bureau of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce recommended Tuesday, April 20, that the city be accepted into the program, which provides technical assistance to communities. A final decision on the program will be announced by Gov. Jim Doyle in late May.
The program doesn't offer grants, leaving it to the communities to develop plans for the organization, planning and financial commitment to carry out a program to revitalize downtown areas.
The Association of Downtown Businesses (ADB) spearheaded Stevens Point's effort, and ADB president Ron Blaha said the recommendation was appreciated. "We were happy with it and felt very good about it. It's just the beginning now, we have a lot of work ahead."
He said the ADB will continue to move forward because of the association's commitment to the program. "This gives us a sound base and we expect to move ahead. We have enough money to move forward with the Main Street manager," he said.
The ADB board will also have to adopt a budget for the program, he said, and approve the objectives of the four committees established to work on the program.
In its application, the city had to identify seven segments for assistance: physical capacity, historic identity, need, organizational capability, public sector commitment, private sector commitment and financial capacity.
The application addressed those points and received the recommendation on its first try. Fond du Lac was also recommended on its second try.
"The city scored very high," said Mayor Gary Wescott. "We were one of the first communities in the state to be accepted on its first application."
Wescott said the participation in the program is extremely important to the long-term viability to the downtown. "You have to have a strong community base to start with," he said. "This showed the strength of the downtown and that building blocks are in place for future success."
While the program doesn't bring funding, there is a myriad of resources available in terms of experts, he said.
The state program is part of the National Main Street Center, which traces its roots to a program begun in 1977 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The center started in 1980 and has expanded into 44 states and more than 1,650 communities.
The Wisconsin program is an economic development program that targets the state's historic commercial districts, providing technical support and training to communities that show a grass roots commitment to revitalizing traditional business districts using a comprehensive strategy based on historic preservation.
The program isn't expected to revitalize the area overnight and is different than revitalization projects the city has undertaken downtown in the past. Instead of the city initiating and spearheading the program, downtown businesses are doing it. The state has 33 communities involved, including Wausau, Marshfield, Waupaca and Tigerton.
Under the program the state provides five years of intensive training and technical assistance and allows communities to continue in the program after that period.
The four committees necessary for the program are Organization, Promotion, Design and Economic Restructuring.
Organization has to deal with fund raising, volunteer development, promoting the program and administration, which will require hiring a Main Street manager and devising annual work plans.
Promotion is responsible to develop programs for image building, special events, retail promotions and tourism.
Design deals with building rehabilitation projects, education, design review and improving all aspects of design.
Economic Restructuring is responsible for market analysis, business retention and expansion, business recruitment, real estate development and incentive programs.
The ADB has set an annual budget of $95,000 for the next three years to fund its "Main Street Initiative," with about two-thirds of that amount going to manager-related expenses and office operations.
Blaha said the entire effort wouldn't have been possible "without all of our members and friends coming forward to agree to be part of our membership and financially commit to the Association of Downtown Businesses."
The foundation for the program came from downtown leaders in the 1980s and 1990s who set the stage, he said. He thanked Guy Janssen for helping resurrect ADB in 2000; Ann Kulinski, the previous president; and Dan Johnson, who put together the strategic planning group.
He noted the contributions of city officials, city staff and the Portage County Business Council in helping to advance the application.
Blaha said his job assignment "has been to bring all of us together. This has been fairly easy because so many people and organizations have been willingly giving their talents to the downtown all along."
The community support of the program, he pointed out, has resulted in 120 contributors to the downtown making a three-year commitment of $240,000.
The ADB is accepting donations for the program at Association of Downtown Businesses, PO Box 675, Stevens Point, WI 54481. If individuals or businesses are unable to donate cash, goods or services will also be accepted.