Silver City MainStreet/Arts & Culture District has been designated as an accredited Main Street America™ program for meeting rigorous performance standards set by the National Main Street Center. Each year, the National Main Street Center and its Coordinating Program partners announce the list of accredited Main Street America programs in recognition of their exemplary commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach.
“We are proud to acknowledge this year’s 840 nationally accredited Main Street America programs that have worked tirelessly to strengthen their communities, said Patrice Frey, President & CEO of the National Main Street Center. These programs deserve recognition for generating impressive economic returns, preserving community character, and celebrating local history. Main Street America Accredited communities are part of a powerful movement of changemakers, and their dedication to improving quality of life in the places they call home is inspiring.”
In 2018 alone, Main Street America programs generated $4.93 billion in local reinvestment, helped open 5,310 net new businesses, generated 25,301 net new jobs, catalyzed the rehabilitation of 8,146 historic buildings, and clocked 2.2 million volunteer hours.
The Silver City MainStreet Project’s performance is annually evaluated by New Mexico MainStreet, which works in partnership with the National Main Street Center to identify the local programs that meet ten national performance standards. Evaluation criteria determines the communities that are building comprehensive and sustainable revitalization efforts and include standards such as fostering strong public-private partnerships, documenting programmatic progress, and actively preserving historic buildings.
In this past year alone, Silver City MainStreet has improved a block of Broadway Street, been awarded grants for the Main Street Plaza including Phase I public restrooms, promoted downtown to our community with Love Local promotions, the Urban Challenge Fun Run, Lighted Christmas Parade, and Shop Small and continue engaging merchants with the Merchant Mingles and communication about events they can participate in. We continue to host the Community Coordinating Council meeting each month to share information and best practices with other organizations.
Silver City MainStreet is one of the states oldest and most successful programs in the state, winning a Great American MainStreet Award in 2011, the only NM MainStreet program to win the award. Only three MainStreet programs from across the country are awarded this honor each year.
About Main Street America
Main Street America has been helping revitalize older and historic commercial districts for more than 35 years. Today, it is a network of more than 1,600 neighborhoods and communities, rural and urban, who share both a commitment to place and to building stronger communities through preservation-based economic development. Since 1980, communities participating in the program have leveraged more than $79.12 billion in new public and private investment, generated 640,017 net new jobs and 143,613 net new businesses, and rehabilitated more than 284,936 buildings. Main Street America is a program of the nonprofit National Main Street Center, a subsidiary of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The mission of Silver City MainStreet is "To encourage a vibrant, historic downtown Silver City which is recognized as the heart of our diverse community." Please visit our website, www.silvercitymainstreet.com to learn more.