Arizona Main Street, a state program that focuses on economic revitalization through historic preservation, is working with the Arizona Downtown Alliance to bring its efforts to downtown Phoenix.
The Arizona Main Street Program was formerly a government-funded project within the Arizona Department of Commerce that underwent a major transition in 2011 when the Department of Commerce became the Arizona Commerce Authority. The program is now housed under the state parks department and receives no money from the state legislature.
While the Main Street program is still alive and well, representatives said they’re unable to take on any large revitalization projects on their own. The new program is supported by the Arizona Downtown Alliance, which first convened when the 2011 transition forced Arizona communities to get creative about inspiring economic development and historic preservation.
“We’re just a coalition of folks who are passionate about community revitalization,” said Lani Lott, executive director of the Arizona Downtown Alliance. “We’re basically operating as an educational resource, a networking resource.”
Phoenix does not currently have its own Main Street program, but Patrice Frey, president and CEO of of the National Main Street Center, said she was optimistic about the prospect of establishing an affiliate in the city.
“We’re going to be exploring some opportunities to develop a Main Street in some of the downtown districts or neighborhood … here in Phoenix,” she said.
The Arizona Downtown Alliance supports the Main Street Four-Point Approach, an integral part of Arizona Main Street’s mission developed by the National Main Street Program. The four-point approach includes organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring. Details about the approach are as follows, paraphrased from the group’s website:
Organization
• Establish consensus and cooperation by building partnerships among the various groups that have a stake in the commercial district
• Get everyone working toward the same goal
Promotion
• Create a positive image that will renew community pride and tell your community’s story
• Rekindle the vitality of the community
Design
• Create a safe, inviting environment for shoppers, workers and visitors while preserving a place’s historic character
• Take advantage of visual opportunities inherent in a commercial district by directing attention to all of its physical elements: public and private buildings, storefronts, signs, public spaces, parking areas, street furniture, public art, landscaping, merchandising, window displays and promotional materials
Economic Restructuring
• Strengthen a community’s existing economic assets while diversifying its economic base
• Evaluate how to retain and expand successful businesses to provide a balanced commercial mix, sharpening the competitiveness and merchandising skills of business owners, and attracting new businesses that the market can support
Frey recently visited the Arizona Main Street Program and said she was impressed by adaptive reuse projects in downtown Phoenix, like those on Roosevelt Row.
“There’s been some terrific reuse of older houses there, turning those into really creative spaces, galleries, that sort of thing,” Frey said. “And I think even just local examples of taking old post offices or old buildings that maybe used to be car repair facilities and turning them into restaurants or coffee shops, really repurposing those buildings in a very imaginative way, you all have done really terrific work there, and the city is all the better for it.”
Before the Department of Commerce became the Commerce Authority, Frey said Maricopa and Pima counties were banned from establishing Main Street programs in their areas. However, the benefits of the program elsewhere in Arizona pointed to the economic potential of adaptive reuse. Figures in one pamphlet from the Arizona Main Street program show that between 1986 and 2002, reinvestment dollars created 1,647 net new businesses and 8,484 net new jobs in Arizona.
Frey said local and independently-owned businesses are drawn to historic buildings because they provide an affordable alternative to newly-constructed spaces.
“Those buildings can be great incubation space for those businesses because they are typically more affordable, and they’ve got great quirks and character and really help create a sense of place and a sense of atmosphere,” she said.
Arizona Main Street Coordinator Eric Vondy said Phoenix residents, especially millenials, have been growing more enthusiastic about adaptive reuse projects that involve restoring historic buildings for commercial purposes.
“Modern Phoenix … has developed a large following for mid-century houses,” he said.
Vondy also said recent development projects in the downtown Phoenix area have garnered success, like Hanny’s restaurant, which moved into the former Hanny’s department store on First and Adams streets in 2008. Lott said projects around Roosevelt Row and the Arts District have also been successful.
“I think that pockets of downtown Phoenix are doing a great job of … supporting their local economy, looking at investing in some of the buildings,” Lott said. “It takes a community to really support that.”
Contact the reporter at Faith.Anne.Miller@asu.edu.
