Main Street program could revitalize downtown
Staff Writer
City officials are hoping the answer to revitalizing Annapolis downtown economy is right in front of them.
Mike Miron, the city's director of economic development, is considering applying to have Annapolis be a part of the Main Street Maryland program, a comprehensive downtown revitalization project that focuses on historic preservation and economic development.
"We need to do something with the downtown area, not to compete with the mall or Parole, but to link it somehow," he said.
Main Street Maryland, begun in 1998, has a four-point approach to revitalization: design, organization, promotion and economic restructuring.
It advocates ideas such as creating and promoting events downtown, improving streetscapes and fixing up the facades of some buildings.
Towns are selected based on a competitive application process, and although the process is currently closed, officials with the state Department of Housing and Community Development are considering opening it up in the spring.
Since its beginnings in Cumberland, Main Street Maryland has accepted 18 towns throughout the state, including Frederick, Westminster, Frostburg and Dundalk.
In Westminster for example, $16 million has gone toward the revitalization from public and private partnerships, 295 new jobs have been created and 80 new businesses have opened since 1999, when it joined Main Street Maryland.
"Downtown belongs to everybody," said Kevin Baynes, director of the Office of Programs and Regional Development for the state, who made a presentation about Main Street Maryland to about 30 merchants and residents of Ward 1 Tuesday evening. "We want to bring people together for one common goal of bringing them back to downtown."
Mr. Miron said Main, Inner West and Randall streets, as well as Maryland Avenue, are being looked at as beneficiaries of the program.
Annapolis has to link its downtown to the new developments on the fringe of the city, making it easier for people to get to each of the commerce areas, he said.
"I think the program has always been looked at as a revitalization tool," Mr. Miron said. "But now we are looking at the restructuring of downtown vis-a-vis the mall and Parole. With that management training, capital, grants and other things, that is how we are looking at it - not as revitalization, but restructuring."
Several downtown businesses, including Randall Street's Artini, a women's clothing and accessory store, are rooting for the program. It will bring the business community and local government together, and will create better planning and promotions, said Colleen Joseph and her other two partners in the business.
"We need to work to be more cohesive in downtown," Mrs. Joseph said. "But we can still maintain the uniqueness and individuality (of downtown), which is why we're here."
Mrs. Joseph said she's encouraged by the idea of having one person managing the downtown project - having a single leader for everyone to go to instead of the various organizations such as the Annapolis Business Association and the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce.
But not everyone is convinced that the Main Street program is right for Annapolis.
Sveinn Storm, owner of Storm Bros. Ice Cream Factory and City Wraps, both at City Dock, called it a "boondoggle."
Mr. Storm argues that the program is for downtown areas plagued by fringe developments, which he says is not the case for Annapolis.
"Here's a program where they say they will rejuvenate downtown and bring it to life. The fact of the matter is that it's already alive," he said. "A thriving downtown area - that we have. But to take taxpayer dollars for this program downtown is deceitful."
Only a portion of the funding will come from tax revenues, officials from the city and Main Street Maryland have stressed, saying most of the costs will eventually be paid through public and private partnerships and the income generated from festivals and other promotional events, as well as donations.
Mr. Baynes said that although many of the programs start off depending highly on government funding, it eventually evens out.
"We've been aggressive in going after grant money and foundation money to complete things we're going after for a long time," Mayor Ellen O. Moyer said. "From my perspective, any time we can do a good job of selling ourselves and the additional needs we want to make happen, that's a plus."
She said she and other city officials, including Mr. Miron, have been interested in the Main Street Maryland program as long as it's been around, but the city hadn't previously been able to apply.
Mr. Miron said the next step in the process is to get with Ms. Moyer upon her return from the European sister cities tour, and visit and study other towns' involvement in the program, their budgets and how they're managed.
"We want to look at how they are doing it rather than try to reinvent the wheel," he said.
Mr. Miron said he'll send a letter to local businesses to gauge their reaction to the program and its impact on downtown. He also plans on more public meetings as the progress continues; for now, though, there aren't any scheduled.
