COMMITTEE WILL EXPLORE MAIN STREET PROJECT HERE

Judith Lang, a downtown merchant and former president of the Downtown Merchants Association, heads a six-person steering committee named this week to determine proceedings leading to development of a Main Street program for Cape Girardeau.

"This is not a permanent committee," said Lang. "This is a core group to determine where we need to go from here and what we have to do to get on with a Main Street program."

Lang said the needs the support of property owners and merchants in compiling information. "We'll need to look at funding and sources of funding," she said. "And we'll be looking at establishing a Main Street board."

Joining Lang on the panel are Michael Miller, Cape Girardeau city manager; John Mehner, president of the Chamber of Commerce; Scott Shivelbine of the upper Broadway area; Gregory L. Williams, director of the Regional Commerce and Growth Association; and Ted Coalter, president of the Haarig Area Development Corp.

The panel was selected during a meeting at Wildwood, home of Southeast Missouri State University President Dale F. Nitzschke, Monday night.

Present were people who recently went to Columbus, Ind., where they visited with Main Street coordinators from four areas ranging in population from 4,500 in Southern Illinois to Columbus' 35,000 population. Also present were a number of people who didn't make the trip.

The trip was sponsored by the university following an invitation by Main Street Columbus coordinator John Bry, a Southeast Missouri State University graduate who has been working in Main Street programs since his graduation with a historic-preservation degree four years ago.

Art Wallhausen, assistant to the president at Southeast, briefly described the Main Street program at Columbus. He said the proposed program here is not a university project. "But the University is interested and wants to be a partner in the Main Street program," said Walhausen.

The proposed project would include three primary areas in the city: downtown, the Haarig district and upper Broadway.

The Main Street program is administered by the Missouri Department of Economic Development under auspices of the National Main Street Center established by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is intended to assist communities in downtown revitalization efforts.

The Missouri Department of Economic Development provides Main Street towns with technical expertise, design assistance for property owners and volunteer training programs.

The community must arrange for public and private support for the commercial district revitalization process. A Main Street board of directors must be established along with a plan for an operating budget that would include a hired director. The board must adopt a training program for volunteers, develop an improvement plan, and be committed to historical preservation.

The Main Street Center has worked with more than 1,400 communities since its started more than 20 years ago in 1977. Approximately $8.2 billion has been reinvested in main streets and neighborhood commercial districts, creating more than 161,000 jobs, 42,800 businesses and 48,800 building rehabilitation projects.

During the period, Main Street programs have generated an average of more than $35 in new investment for every dollar spent on community revitalization.