SEARCY — She adjusted her glasses and smiled as she recalled childhood memories of the downtown area of her hometown of Searcy.
Growing up in Searcy gives Amy Burton an edge when it comes to promoting the city’s downtown. Burton has been executive director of Main Street Searcy since the program began in February 2005 and is the only staff member.
“I remember going to Dryer’s Shoe Store and they had this little ride — like a carousel — that went around on a little track,” Burton said with a laugh. “I used to get my school clothes at Young Fashions, and of course there were the parades.”
One of her fondest memories is having a chicken salad sandwich for lunch at Headlee Drug Store on the square.
“When I was a kid, downtown is where you’d go to buy all your stuff, and we’re getting some of that back now,” Burton said about the revitalization of the downtown area. “When you shop at a local business, some of these stores have been here for generations, and you are shopping at your neighbor’s businesses.”
After she graduated from Searcy High School in 1992, Burton got her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and then moved to Blytheville to work at Arkansas Northeastern College in marketing and community development.
“I wanted to raise my family [in Searcy],” Burton said referring to her 6-year-old daughter Kinley. “I was familiar with the Main Street program, and it was a good fit, so I took the job with the new program.”
Burton said Kinley knows Searcy’s heritage well and enjoys helping her promote downtown.
“My daughter is really involved,” Burton said. “She gets up and goes with me to the farmer’s market. She knows the downtown businesses inside and out. She is so in tune with her community for a 6-year-old.”
Although Burton grew up in Searcy, there was still very little she knew about the history of her hometown. She shares that heritage now by speaking to church, civic and school groups.
“I really enjoy talking to the high school students,” Burton said. “I have learned so many interesting facts that I wish I’d known growing up here. Like the evolution of the Rialto Theater. The young kids don’t know there were two theaters here. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Searcy was a resort area.”
Burton said that as she shopped at the downtown stores as a kid, she thought “it would have been neat to know what was there 100 years ago.”
Main Street Searcy is a nonprofit organization that encourages revitalization, business development and historical preservation in the downtown commercial district. It is part of the Main Street Arkansas historic preservation program, and it takes a four-point approach to rebuilding downtown areas.
The four points are: design, organization, promotion and economic restructuring.
Burton said, “Ultimately, it is important to preserve the physical structures, but if you don’t use them …
“Historically downtown has been the heart of the communities, but with urban sprawl, if you’re not careful, you can lose that sense of community.”
One way Burton stimulates the downtown area is through promotional events such as Get Down Downtown and Trick-or-Treat on the Square. She also works closely with Downtown Searcy Association. Three years ago, Burton said she thought the Main Street program needed something to bring people downtown, so she took Peddler’s Day and a couple of other events that had previously gone on downtown and combined them into one event with a kick.
“Conway has Toad Suck; Little Rock has Riverfest,” Burton said, “Searcy needed something like that.”
Get Down Downtown was launched as a free event that continues to grow each year.
“She’s tenacious,” Dwayne LaForce said. “She makes a plan and she works that plan to completion. She has a big heart and wants to help everyone in the downtown area.”
LaForce is president of the Main Street Searcy Board of Directors, and he said he once lived 12 blocks from downtown.
“Knowing that there are a lot of cities in Arkansas that have lost their directors of Main Street, we are very fortunate to have businesses that support Main Street and have a director who is committed to see Main Street flourish and continue to be a historical icon for this community,” he said.
Another way Burton promotes downtown is through a photograph exhibit, which won the 2008 Best Heritage Promotion award from the Main Street Arkansas program. The photographs Burton collected are circa 1898 through 1968, and they depict not only the original buildings but the people of the various eras, too. The photos are also used in helping the downtown merchants restore their buildings back to the original as closely as possible.
“I learn something new every day in this job,” Burton said.
Main Street Searcy is 100 percent dependent on donations. Grants are also obtained for specific projects.
“It’s an ongoing process,” Burton said about revitalizing downtown. “We are bounds ahead of where we were five years ago. I don’t see an end to it. There are still a lot of renovations to be done.”