A meeting was held last Wednesday afternoon, involving several community organizations and their leaders in order to discuss the revitalization of downtown Albany.
Kitty Dougoud, Coordinator of the Kentucky Main Street Program, was on hand to explain what the Main Street Program is and how it can help make Albany more appealing to out-of-towners, as well as its own citizenry.
Kentucky Main Street is a part of the Kentucky Heritage Council State Historic Preservation Office.
Kentucky Main Street pushes the return of community self-reliance, local empowerment, and the rebuilding of downtowns based on traditional assets including distinctive architecture, historic character, a pedestrian friendly environment, personal service, local ownership and a sense of place.
Kentucky Main Street was the first state wide program in the United States when the program began in 1979.
Some of the main benefits of being a part of the Kentucky Main Street Program include design assistance, tax credit assistance, National Register support and grant opportunities for projects that could help restore the beauty of Albany’s downtown area when those grants are available.
“We want our communities to be places that our residents want to be in,” Dougoud said. “That’s sort of my job … to come in and help you realize the things that need to be done that other people notice.”
Dougoud gave plenty of examples of other efforts she had advised and witnessed in communities across Kentucky to implement similar downtown revitalization projects.
While she reviewed many community successes in those efforts, she also didn’t paint an entirely positive picture of other attempts to bring new life to downtown areas, noting that in some cases, those efforts just didn’t pan out.
Her presentation stressed community togetherness in efforts to bring new commerce and life to the downtown area, and the importance to not be afraid to “think outside of the box” when implementing new ideas.
Dougoud also didn’t spend much time talking about programs in towns and cities larger than Albany, instead giving examples of efforts that were successful in towns and communities very similar in size to the Albany population.
Her presentation was extremely well accepted by those attending last week’s gathering at the Welcome Center and seemed to give the audience a sense of rejuvenation in putting together plans to boost the downtown Albany renewal undertaking.
Revitalization is important for many reasons.
It can increase the tax base of the community by converting unoccupied buildings into revenue producing businesses and in doing that will create jobs in Albany.
With more jobs and businesses in Albany, more money will be spent in Clinton County that might not have been spent before and that will circulate more revenue locally.
The heart of any community needs to be established and restoring the downtown area and making it more visually appealing will give a sense of pride among the residents, as well as make it appealing to out-of-towners who visit Dale Hollow and Lake Cumberland every summer.
According to a brochure issued by the Kentucky Main Street Program, the program is built around four fundamental points, the first thing being, sustainable organization. The community needs to create a board with a dedicated board of directors and working committees who develop and plan the direction of the program to improve the quality of life and economic vitality of Albany.
That newly formed board should also be a 501c3 organization, which is non-profit, in order to qualify for grant money dedicated to downtown revitalization.
The second key is having a quality design. The board needs to be able to enhance the appearance of Albany and make it more visually appealing.
Once the visual appeal has been completed, the third point is the City of Albany needs to promote the image of downtown and develop “customers” to make it exciting and make it an enjoyable place to live, work and shop.
Finally, the fourth key is to develop entrepreneurs and retain and expand current businesses.
“We have the resources to help make that happen,” Dougoud said. “I have a lot of resources and I will help you when you need grant information or any other kind of information.”
If you would like to learn more about the local Downtown Revitalization effort, contact Wendy Holden at: wsholden1@gmail.com