SEARCY — Searcy’s progress in its downtown district hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Main Street Searcy is the recipient of two Main Street Arkansas awards: the Best Total Building Renovation Award in the 5,000-square-feet-and-under category and the Outstanding Executive Director Award.
Main Street Arkansas is a preservation-based economic development program through the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program that helps downtowns in Arkansas flourish. The Arkansas Historic Preservation Program is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.
Greg Phillips, executive director of Main Street Arkansas, said factors such as a downtown organization, mixed-use development, upper-story housing and a walkable retail core are characteristics of a thriving downtown.
Amy Burton, executive director of Main Street Searcy, said the city’s downtown makes a positive economic impact on the community.
“Any time you have a vital, vibrant downtown, then that’s going to generate revenue for the community,” she said “It increases the tax dollars we receive, and then we do activities to promote downtown merchants, so people will realize the importance of shopping local.”
Burton, a Searcy native who became involved in Main Street Searcy since its beginning in 2005, also said quality of life is important to a downtown, and Searcy demonstrates that through opportunities such as the Main Street Searcy Farmers Market and Trick or Treating on the Square.
The Outstanding Executive Director Award is voted on by all the Main Street Arkansas directors — including Burton, who noted she did not vote for herself. She said she wasn’t expecting recognition when the award was announced. The award honors those who demonstrate hard work, dedication and enthusiasm, Phillips said.
“I was really caught off guard,” Burton said. “Anytime your hard work is acknowledged, it’s great. The thing that meant the most to me on that award is the people that vote on that are my fellow Main Street directors in the state.”
Main Street Searcy received the Best Total Building Renovation Award in the 5,000-square-feet-and-under category for renovations on a privately owned building at 309 N. Spruce St. Burton said the renovation revealed the building’s original 1900s facade and provided a new awning, “taking the building back to the original look.” The building’s renovation was completed with help from a Main Street Searcy grant, Burton said.
Phillips said out of all the submissions received, “that project best exemplified appropriate, sympathetic and attractive improvements, as well as compatibility with neighboring buildings.”
Burton said Main Street Searcy has received more than $400,000 in grant funding and also must receive a private match for grants.
“We’ve done several restoration projects on buildings,” she said. “We work to get viable businesses into the buildings. We work to get people in the community downtown via the events that we do. So to see this past 11 years gain momentum has been pretty exciting.”
Burton, who lived away from Searcy for about 10 years before she returned, said Main Street Searcy is working on a downtown beautification project. She also said Main Street Searcy will soon receive a grant that will aid downtown business owners.
“Any of the downtown merchants that are looking at doing projects on their buildings, then they will be eligible to apply for grant assistance,” she said.
She said work is being continued on the city’s historic Rialto Theater.
“We’re right in the middle of kicking that whole thing off,” she said. “People should start seeing some visible work on the Rialto very, very soon.”
Phillips said Arkansas downtowns can improve the livelihood of their cities by providing places for people to open their own businesses, live and play.
“Downtown is the heart of a community, and so if the heart is healthy, the rest of the body is going to be healthy, as well,” he said.
Staff writer Syd Hayman can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or shayman@arkansasonline.com.