Tying into Jo's recent blog Hanging Out In Downtown Russellville, Arkansas, this week's volunteer opportunity is Main Street Russellville. Main Street Russellville does a lot of work keeping the heart of Russellville alive! Their director, Danielle Housenick, is super friendly and readily available to answer your questions or put you to work!
Just a few of Main Street Russellville's events include:
What Is Main Street Russellville About?
What is the Main Street Program?
It is a national program designed to restore downtown areas as viable marketplaces and centers of community activity. It is successful because it is a program that builds on the downtown's total image; therefore, the approach is an incremental one that utilizes four elements:
Design - Organization - Promotion - Economic Vitality
The Main Street District Main Street Russellville's designated district is bounded by Parkway Avenue on the north, El Paso Avenue on the west, Boston Avenue on the east, and 3rd Street on the south. Mission Statement The purpose of Main Street Russellville is to revitalize and develop the downtown area of Russellville as a business and government center and as a cultural center for the River Valley. Through community effort, a strategy will be developed to build a vital and growing economy, improve the appearance of Downtown Russellville through historic preservation and good design and promote the image of Downtown Russellville. Our Vision Creating Community Through Culture and Development Since 1980, the National Main Street Center (www.preservationnation.org/main-street) has been working with communities across the nation to revitalize their historic or traditional commercial areas. Based on historic preservation, the Main Street approach was developed to save historic commercial architecture and the fabric of American communities' built environment but has become a powerful economic development tool as well.
Main Street Russellville's Work Includes
How We Help the Community - The Main Street Four-Point Approach The Main Street Four-Point Approach is a unique preservation-based economic development tool that enables communities to revitalize downtown and neighborhood business districts by leveraging local assets - from historic, cultural, and architectural resources to local enterprises and community pride. It is a comprehensive strategy that addresses the variety of issues and problems that challenge traditional commercial districts. Since its founding in 1980, Main Street has been the leader in more than 2,000 programs and leaders who use the Main Street approach to rebuild the places and enterprises that create sustainable, vibrant communities. This approach has been implemented in over 1,200 cities and towns in 40 states across the nation with the help of the National Main Street Center and statewide downtown revitalization programs. The success of the Main Street approach is based on its comprehensive nature. By carefully integrating four points into a practical downtown management strategy, a local Main Street program will produce fundamental changes in a community's economic base. ORGANIZATION involves building a Main Street framework that is well represented by business and property owners, bankers, citizens, historic preservationists, entrepreneurs, public officials, chamber of commerce, and other local economic development organizations. Everyone must work together to renew downtown. A strong organization provides the structure and stability to build and maintain a long-term effort. PROMOTION creates excitement and vibrancy downtown. Street festivals, parades, retail events, and image development campaigns are some of the ways Main Street provides education on what's downtown and encourages customer traffic. Promotion involves marketing an enticing image to shoppers, investors, and visitors. DESIGN enhances the look and feel of the Downtown Historic District building rehabilitation, street and alley clean-up, landscaping, street furniture, signage, visual merchandising, and lighting all improve the physical image of the downtown as a quality place to shop, work, walk, invest in, and live. Design improvements result in a reinvestment of public and private dollars downtown. ECONOMIC VITALITY involves analyzing current market forces to develop long-term solutions. Recruiting new businesses, creatively converting unused space for new uses, and sharpening the competitiveness of Main Street's merchants are examples of economic restructuring activities.
Like I stated previously, Main Street Russellville does A LOT OF WORK keeping the heart of Russellville alive and Danielle Housenick and team are passionate about keeping Russellville Downtown rockin' and rollin'! If you want to help this great community organization continue to serve your community, you can sign up to volunteer here: https://www.mainstreetrussellville.com/get-involved by filling out the Volunteer Registration at the bottom of the page. To learn everything about Main Street Russellville, you can visit their website here: https://www.mainstreetrussellville.com/ and follow them on Facebook by searching @mainstreetrussellville
Thank YOU for taking the time to read about King Ryan Radio's volunteer opportunity of the week! Bookmark www.kingryanradio.net to stay up to date with weekly volunteer opportunities offering you a chance to give back to your community. If you are like me, your biggest asset is time! Also keep coming back to King Ryan Radio for blogs geared toward creating your best self, blogs about organizations making a huge local impact, and blogs about innovative ideas empowering people to create a more equal and equitable community for everyone.
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