After a successful application last fall, the South Pierce County Historical Society became a Washington Main Street Affiliate effective January 1st.
Including this new organization in Eatonville, the Washington State Main Street Program network utilizes the nationally proven Main Street Four Points approach to 69 towns and cities that revitalize historic downtown districts statewide. represent the city.
South Pierce County Historical Society President Bob Walter said in a news release: “Washington Main Street provides a strategic framework, a focus on historic features, and the resources to accomplish both.”
Since 1984, WSMSP has helped communities revitalize the economy, look and identity of downtown Washington’s business districts. WSMSP is a program of the Washington State Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation and is administered under contract with the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.
The program network has two tiers: affiliate and main street community. The purpose of the Main Street Affiliate level is to provide resource access and networking opportunities for entities interested in revitalizing downtown or nearby historic commercial districts. WSMSP uses the Main Street Four-Point Approach, a framework developed by the National Main Street Center that is utilized in 45 states and thousands of towns nationwide, to support local grassroots economic and community development. is supported.
“For more than 40 years, Downtown has retained our unique architectural and cultural assets, which is why people from all over the country have come to see Main Street,” said Jonel McCoy, a Main Street expert with the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. We have reinvested in our historic commercial core using a four-point approach.” “Downtown is where we do business, but it is also where we come together as a community and make memories.
WSMSP represents various small towns and major cities in the state. According to his 2019 survey conducted by Jon Stover & Associates, 1 in 4 people live within 5 miles of Washington’s Main Street community. This equates to 1.9 million Washingtonians enjoying a place they call home, welcoming historic neighborhoods and benefiting from a thriving commercial district.
The South Pierce County Historical Society has scheduled a town hall meeting at the Eatonville Community Center on January 18 at 7:00 pm to gather ideas, increase local awareness of the program, and encourage the organization to take on relevant members of its network. Explore the first step. .
