A resource team of downtown revitalization professionals will visit Jonesboro, the newest Main Street Arkansas city, June 10-12, Main Street Arkansas Director Greg Phillips announced today. Main Street Arkansas is a program area of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
“The resource team visit is the single most significant component of the first year for a Main Street Arkansas city,” Phillips said. The visit will include a public presentation of recommendations for downtown improvement through organization and design, promotion of downtown as a business and community center, and for strengthening and expanding the economic base of the downtown area. The presentation will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 12, at Skinny J’s at 205 North Main Street in Jonesboro. For more information on the program, contact Hailey Knight at (870) 919-6176 or info@downtownjonesboro.com or Main Street Arkansas Assistant Director Samantha Evans at (501) 324-9356 or samantha@arkansasheritage.org.
The resource team will include Randy Wilson of Community Design Solutions, Inc., of Columbia, S.C.; Jan R. Miller of Energy Consulting, LLC, of Columbus, Mississippi; Kathy LaPlante of the National Main Street Center and Jim Thompson of Main Street Iowa.
Main Street Arkansas Assistant Director Samantha Evans will be the leader of the review team, and Assistant Director Brad Jordan, Small Business Consultant Mark Miller and Exterior Design Consultant Mason Thoms will provide consultation during the visit.
Main Street Arkansas provides technical assistance and design services to help create economic development in the state’s downtown areas. The Main Street approach to downtown revitalization focuses on four areas: design, economic restructuring, organization and promotion.
Cities currently involved in Main Street Arkansas are Batesville, Blytheville, Dumas, El Dorado, Eureka Springs, Hardy, Helena, Jonesboro, Little Rock’s South Main Street (SoMa), Osceola, Ozark, Paragould, Rogers, Russellville, Searcy, Siloam Springs, Texarkana and West Memphis. Members of Main Street’s Arkansas Downtown Network are Pine Bluff, Heber Springs, Fort Smith, DeWitt, Morrilton, Rector, Monticello, Arkadelphia, Clarksville, Warren and Wynne. Other sponsors of the Main Street Arkansas program are the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. To learn more about Main Street Arkansas, visit http://www.arkansaspreservation.com/main-street/.
The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is the agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage responsible for the identification, evaluation, registration and preservation of the state’s cultural resources. Other agencies in the department are the Arkansas Arts Council, the Delta Cultural Center in Helena, the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, the Old State House Museum, the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission and the Historic Arkansas Museum.
(Courtesy of the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program)
