commercial districts within the
context of historic preservation.”
Currently 21 communities are
members of the Colorado Main
Street program.
The program centers around
helping communities help
themselves by organizing community
needs and ideas, in many cases
resulting in a strategic plan to guide
future work. Colorado Main Street
provides technical resources and
training to member communities.
‘Best Practices’ shape
basic blueprint
Ayres Associates, headed by its
urban planning group, was hired
by DOLA to create a Best Practices
Snapshot that Colorado Main Street
distributes to its members to guide
their Main Street efforts. “The Best
Practices Snapshot is essentially a
tips and tricks for successful Main
Street boards of directors to help
them manage their programs,”
said Matt Ashby, an urban planner
at Ayres Associates. Ashby has a
depth of knowledge on Main Street
revitalization efforts, serving on the
board of directors for the Wyoming
Main Street Advisory Board for the
past eight years. As part of this
effort, Ayres also created short
videos for training topics to provide
yet another avenue to train the Main
Street boards.
The Best Practices Snapshot and
training videos comprise DOLA’s
board of directors toolkit, which is
aimed at assisting Colorado Main
Street community boards to become
informed, engaged, and empowered
leaders, said Johanna Jamison,
Community Economic Development
Specialist with DOLA. The toolkit
serves as the basis for in-person,
community-specific training and is
structured in a way to guide this type
of thorough, extensive training as
well as allow for periodic refresher
COLORADO MAIN
STREET PROGRAM
T
he Colorado Main Street program is a part the National Main Street
Center, a national organization whose mission is to promote historic
preservation-based community revitalization across the country. According
to its website, the statewide program is designed “to advocate and support
a return to local empowerment and the rebuilding of central business
districts based on each community’s unique architecture, character, and
local ownership.” The program provides technical resources and training
to member communities based on four areas of the National Main Street
Center approach: economic vitality, design, organization, and promotion.
Currently Colorado has 21 Main Street communities: Steamboat Springs,
Lyons, Brush, Granby, Rifle, Meeker, Montrose, Buena Vista, Woodland Park,
Victor, Westcliffe & Silver Cliff, Ridgway, Lake City, Trinidad, Lamar, Elizabeth,
Leadville, Wellington, Windsor, and Central City.
In 2016 the Colorado Main Street program led to the creation of 191
full-time jobs, 186 part-time jobs, and 121 new businesses throughout
the 18 communities that then participated in Colorado Main Street. The
program facilitated many physical improvements through public and private
investment during 2016. These improvements included 157 facade updates
and rehabilitations in all 18 of the communities. (Source: www.colorado.gov/
pacific/dola/main-street-data)
– Tawny Quast
AyresAssociates.com
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