Main Street Magic: How Tennessee Revitalizes its Downtowns
Everyone knows that Tennessee has an abundant supply of natural beauty, but that’s not the only thing that attracts prospective residents and visitors alike.
The state is chock-full of charm, from delicious Southern cuisine to friendly Southern hospitality to picturesque, small-town main streets.
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Tennessee Main Street: Revitalizing Downtowns Across the State
These downtown districts are lovingly cared for and curated, and many are participants of the official Tennessee Main Street (TMS) program.
The program serves as a statewide resource for communities seeking to revitalize and manage their traditional downtowns and has been assisting with these efforts for decades.
“The Main Street program’s focus is to preserve the historic buildings, increase tourism, entice more entrepreneurs and create a sense of place in our local Main Street districts,” says Kim Parks, Main Street program director for the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development. “We want to use the historic properties in new ways to create vibrant areas with restaurants, retail/office spaces and urban living, as well as more walkable downtowns with improved streetscaping and connectivity.”
By leveraging local assets, these main streets can reuse and beautify the buildings that already provide so much character.
The Main Street Four-Point Approach: A Proven Methodology
The program has even developed its own trademarked methodology: The Main Street Four-Point Approach.
The first point is design, getting downtown into tip-top physical shape, improving signage and window displays, renovating buildings and more.
Second is economic vitality, which centers on strengthening existing economic assets, working with and recruiting entrepreneurs and small-business owners, and providing training tools.
Third is promotion, creating a branded, positive image through marketing and special events to create a sense of community identity and pride.
The final point is organization, which focuses on building partnerships between groups that have a stake in the downtown, namely businesses and nonprofits.
Tennessee Downtowns: Empowering Smaller Communities
In addition to the Main Street programs, TMS started an additional program, Tennessee Downtowns, in 2010. Its purpose is to help smaller communities begin their downtown revitalization.
“The Tennessee Downtowns program takes applications every two years for a new cohort of communities and involves two years of mentoring, training and a grant project,” Parks says.
There are currently 12 active Tennessee Downtowns programs (plus an additional 78 alumni), plus an additional 47 designated Main Street programs. Over its years of operation, TMS has created over 1,200 new jobs, completed 210 public improvement projects and 657 building rehabilitation projects, and banked 940,000 contributed volunteer hours.
Johnson City: Lively and Robust
Johnson City has been a certified Main Street program for over a decade. Community leaders sought the accreditation when beginning to revitalize the district and promote shopping, dining, living and exploring.
By becoming an accredited Main Street program, downtown Johnson City now has more access to resources like small-business support, grants and funding opportunities for infrastructure improvements and downtown beautification projects.
Since joining TMS in 2017, the city has experienced a surge of growth, resulting in an even more appealing downtown.
“Downton Johnson City is home to 30-plus restaurants and bars, multiple family activities, local shops and vibrant public art,” says Lindsey Jones, Main Street director for the City of Johnson City. “Our downtown district is lively and robust, with free community events, merchant promotions, state-of-the-art green spaces, natural creeks and beautiful mountain views.”
Reviving Rogersville
Preserving the past and honoring the contributions of our predecessors is important and valuable work — and it’s a task that the small town of Rogersville takes seriously.
“We’ve got a great community here,” says Nancy Barker, executive director of the Rogersville/Hawkins County Chamber of Commerce. “All of our downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places, and everyone takes a lot of pride in the beauty of our community — it’s a joy to have people come in and look at our town and see what we saved and that it’s preserved for future generations.”
But keeping old buildings in good, working order is a daunting, expensive and ongoing endeavor — one that requires some outside help. Luckily, there are grants set aside specifically for this purpose, and Rogersville has taken full advantage of every resource at its disposal, especially the Tennessee Historic Preservation Grants.
These grants have been particularly helpful in recent years as Rogersville has tackled two major projects: the preservation of the Clay-Kenner House and St. Mark’s Church, respectively.
The Clay-Kenner House is in the engineering and architectural phase, but the end goal is to turn it into an arts center. The house has had its fair share of damage, from major foundation issues (which have since been repaired) to a roof replacement.
St. Mark’s Church, on the other hand, has been a labor of love for over 20 years, with restoration efforts meeting roadblock after roadblock.
“We’re just so excited to finally be able to save the church, and we hope to turn it into an entrepreneur center in downtown Rogersville,” Barker says.
Get to Know Tennessee
Want to learn more about living and working in Tennessee? Check out the latest edition of Livability Tennessee Economic Development Guide.