Plans to make Aberdeen a Main Street community are proceeding, and the Aberdeen Revitalization Movement wants to tell you more about it at an open house Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the D&R Events Center on the corner of Heron and I streets.
The City of Aberdeen approved a contract last month with the revitalization movement group to provide funds to help offset the cost of hiring a director for the Main Street district. A director is required to get such a designation, noted Aberdeen Revitalization Movement board member Bette Worth.
The city will provide $17,000 for the remainder of 2017 and $60,000 per year for the remaining three years on the contract, as explained by Aberdeen Mayor Erik Larson. According to Worth, this will not cover all expenses connected to the movement; the rest will be made up with fundraising, grants and other sources.
The idea is to get all business and property owners within the district to work together as one to improve the appeal of downtown Aberdeen for shoppers, tourists and potential new businesses, Worth said. This can include cleaning up storefronts and finding and encouraging potential investors in existing and new businesses.
Gary Jones, the driving force behind the Main Street movement and President of the Aberdeen Revitalization Movement, is no stranger to navigating the long list of requirements needed to gain the designation from the State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, said Worth.
“Gary worked with Ellensburg through their entire Main Street process, beginning to end,” she said. “He’d gone through four, five directors during the process, but they got it done.” When Jones, vice president of commercial banking at the Bank of the Pacific, moved to Aberdeen he decided to try his hand at it here, added Worth.
She said the initial core target area of the movement would be from F Street on the east to L Street on the west, and First Street on the north to State Street on the south. But that doesn’t mean the benefits would end at those borders, she said.
“There’s usually a domino effect,” she said. “Ultimately, everyone benefits from the program and what it does to help create business.”
The fact there are already a number of organized events happening throughout the year puts Aberdeen in an excellent position to smoothly adopt the Main Street model, said Worth.
“We’ve already done so much here it will make it easier to transition to the Main Street model,” she said. “We’ve got Splash, WinterFest, Art Walk, all these things are already here.”
What the Main Street director will do is serve as a go-between with the state and local businesses. The director will disseminate information provided by the state that can help local businesses grow, while being a central voice for the Main Street district to air its needs and concerns to local governments.
Jones, the person behind the effort and with his experience in Ellensburg, will be the main speaker at Tuesday’s event.
Worth said the group is looking to complete the lengthy Main Street application by the end of October. The search for a director is ongoing, she said.
