Janaury 2008: Heritage Ohio recently announced the search committee results for this years accepted Main Street Communities. Jeff Siegler of Heritage Ohio informed the Downtown Painesville Organization’s Board of Directors that Heritage Ohio has been very impressed by the progress that has been made by the Downtown Painesville Organization. “The selection committee felt that Painesville is an incredibly strong program and on the cusp of being ready.” He also regretfully expressed that Downtown Painesville Organization needed a little more time to strengthen the organization and funding. The committee encouraged “the Downtown Painesville Organization” to continue to mimic the main street approach in the coming year towards future acceptance. Siegler stated “It was a very close decision and everyone was most impressed with the organizations progress in Painesville”. “The committee felt another year would mature the existing program in its mission and execution of programmatic activity.”

“Heritage Ohio has been incredibly supportive of our efforts over the past year” states Beckie Binder President of the Downtown Painesville Organization. We plan to use the next year to begin implementation of the Main Street approach and strengthen our organization as well as our committee’s in preparation for re-application next fall. The Downtown Painesville Organization was formed just one year ago, in January 2007 in response to the community’s desire to see a revitalized downtown filled with shops, eateries and activities. Several approaches to accomplish the desired results were studied and the Main Street approach to economic revitalization was determined to be the best fit for Painesville. The approach provides avenues for economic development while being sensitive to historic preservation. This program is a key component for a community lamenting the loss of beautiful historic structures during the age of urban renewal.

“Mary Jo Miller, chair of the Downtown Painesville Organization’s Design Committee and owner of Bella Donna Salon & Spa is excited by what she sees happening in the downtown. “We have come a long way in a short time for a young organization.” The community will see the results of one of the design committee’s projects this spring as beautiful new hanging planters will appear at intersections in and around the downtown. “We could not have done it without the help and support of the Painesville City Improvement Corporation states Miller. Fostering cooperation among the various existing community organizations is a monumental goal of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s approach.

“While not being accepted as a main street community during this round of applications has been disappointing it was not wholly unexpected. Many of the communities we were competing against this year have had organizations in place for years. We knew we were competing against communities that had also applied numerous times and had secured much more funding over those years. In fact I believe each of the accepted communities already had downtown managers in place prior to application.” says Cathy Bieterman Board Member of the Downtown Painesville Organization. “I spoke with Jeff Siegler shortly after their decision and he expressed that this was the hardest call for him to make, he indicated that Painesville was on the brink and just needed a bit more structure within its committee’s and a bit more financing in place. He suggested that with one more year operating as a Main Street Community, we will be in much better shape for application.” Bieterman also said that Heritage Ohio’s objective is to accept communities that are fully operating under the Main Street Program and this is the reason that Heritage Ohio has a very low failure rate because of the strict guidelines they have in place prior to acceptance.

The Board of Directors is looking forward to an event filled 2008. The organization will continue to work closely with the staff of Heritage Ohio to implement the Main Street approach to economic redevelopment as outlined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. They also plan to hire the executive director by June of 2008 and will be working toward strengthening the organization for application in fall of 2008. The organization is a cooperative venture between the City of Painesville, Lake Erie College, Lake Hospital Systems, Painesville City Improvement Corporation and the Painesville Rotary to create a structured management system in downtown Painesville. The organizations mission is to work together to preserve protect and rebuild downtown Painesville into a vibrant, diverse, cosmopolitan area where people of all walks of life can work, play and live.

More information can be found at www.downtownpainesville.org

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