In May of 2007, film crews from NBC Nightly News came to Lexington to profile the city's efforts to participate in the growing national trend of "downtown living." Little more than a year later, the heart of Lexington's Main Street is barely recognizable, and no one can say for sure what downtown will look like in one year, or in five. Undeniably, Lexington's downtown is poised at a crossroads, currently marked by a seeming lack of unified direction as well as internal quibbling about development versus preservation.
Active local resistance to the downtown development project CentrePointe was quieted with the demolition of the so-called "Woolworth's, Rosenberg or Dame Block" (depending on your perspective.) However, developer and preservationist alike will agree that a building or a design alone does not make or break a business or a downtown, representing instead pieces of a puzzle that also include community leadership, civic cooperation, thoughtful planning, wise economic structuring and close attention to sustainable infrastructure.
In the late 1970s, during a time when downtowns everywhere were losing their viability under the weight of commercial development and suburban living, the National Trust for Historic Preservation started the National Trust Main Street Center to provide resources for towns that wished to revitalize their downtowns. The program launched with three pilot cities: Galesburg, Ill.; Madison, Ind.; and Hot Springs, S.D. During that time, the Kentucky Heritage Council kept a close eye on Madison, Ind., and in 1979, launched the country's first State Main Street Program.
Mark Dennen, staff architect of the Kentucky Main Street Center, says that at the time, national preservation efforts focused primarily on repairing and rehabilitating the buildings to make them look nice.
"The failure of that is that when that is done, as soon as it's done, they generally start to deteriorate again. They have no identified use or purpose or ongoing way to keep the building in good shape," he said. "Also, there had been no connection to the overall economic stability and the health of a downtown area. And that was the point of the Main Street Program: to hit all those areas so that you're really focusing on bringing back the downtown area and making it an economically viable place, with all those things being addressed."
In partnership with the state government's Renaissance on Main Program and the Governor's Office for Local Development (GOLD), the Kentucky Main Street Program follows a four-point approach of organization, promotion, design and economic restructuring, as developed by the National Main Street Center. The intention is to "encourage downtown revitalization and economic development within the context of preservation." The Kentucky Main Street Program provides cities with training, guidance, information and support, and can help pair preservation efforts with grants administered by GOLD. Unbeknownst to many, Kentucky has long been somewhat of a leader in downtown development - the program has currently certified over 80 Main Street Cities, more than any other state in the nation, according to Dennen. (See "Resources" for more information about these programs.)
With the help of local Main Street Programs, many of Lexington's neighboring communities are enjoying the benefits of vibrant, successful downtowns within their own scale - and they've accomplished this so quietly that many in Lexington often forget or are unaware that they are there. The common thread linking these communities seems to be a focus on unique, local "niche" businesses in a preserved historic setting. Recent visits to four towns within 20 miles of downtown Lexington - Midway, Nicholasville, Paris, and Winchester - provided pleasant discoveries of communities that have successfully found common ground between historic preservation and new economic development, and are flourishing as a result.
Nicholasville
The official Web site of Nicholasville, Kentucky (www.nicholasville.org), boasts of the town's "affordable housing with elbow room, excellent schools, bountiful recreational opportunities and unique shopping and dining venues" - and sure enough, Nicholasville, a town of just under 20,000, received national attention in July as it was named "Most Affordable Small City" in Money Magazine." 'Affordable' doesn't carry much weight in a town that has no other draws, but the abundance of natural beauty in and around Nicholasville, paired with its quaint and charming downtown stretch, make it a notable small city indeed.
The economic viability of Nicholasville's downtown has perhaps been hindered by the abundance of suburban development on the city's outskirts, and protecting downtowns from folding to this kind of development is one of the reasons local Main Street Programs like Jessamine County's Nicholasville Now! exist. Under the leadership of Tonya Coleman, Nicholasville Now! is currently working with the city to implement a Downtown Master Plan that intends to highlight unique features of Nicholasville: the Palisades, Bluegrass music and the wine industry.
"We want to work on making the downtown more eye-pleasing, pleasant," said Coleman. "We would like to bury the electrical lines or move them to the back of the buildings."
New sidewalks, new planting of trees and plants, and two or three downtown parks to add more green space are also part of the Master Plan.
Nicholasville Now! has been working with the city and the state to restore and preserve several of the buildings
in downtown Nicholasville since 1999,
the year after a new CVC Pharmacy reportedly contributed to the demise of downtown's Hemphill Pharmacy. Downtown Nicholasville's most recent revitalization project, Main and Maple Coffeehouse, received a $146,000 grant in 2006 from GOLD to remodel the Hemphill Pharmacy building, which had also been used as a post office and a dentist's office during the 20th century, and today it functions as a cyber-cafÈ that hosts live music each week.
Other prospective business owners downtown have taken note.
Since 2002, Nicholasville resident Charlie Hensley has been manager of The Wine Shop, a beautifully remodeled space that carries an assortment of unique and quality wine, spirits and sundries. In January 2008, Hensley took his love of wine to a new level and opened Euro Wine Bar, also on Main Street. The distinctive restaurant offers tapas and small plates, 18-19 wines by the glass, house-infused vodkas, and fresh-squeezed juices - they even make their own Sweet & Sour mix in-house.
Hensley, who had lived in Indianapolis, New York, and Lexington before settling in Nicholasville, sees the development of downtown Lexington as beneficial to the so-called "bedroom communities" in the Central Kentucky region - as Lexington builds up and out, more and more people are escaping to the quaint, small, historic downtowns of Nicholasville, Paris, Winchester and Midway, to dine, shop and live.
The attractive, historic, preserved streetscape certainly garners attention from visitors, and Hensley cites the close relationship between the city government and the business owners as a primary benefit of being a downtown business owner in Nicholasville. The police come around at night checking all the doors to make sure they're locked, and check on the business owners to make sure they feel safe. Additionally, city officials - including Mayor Russ Meyer - frequently pop in to make sure the businesses have everything they need. The community-oriented state of the downtown makes for an inviting environment, for patrons as well as business owners, and the state of downtown Nicholasville is steadily improving as a result.
"You have to create a reason for them to come downtown," said Hensley. "'Build it and they will come' - that doesn't work."
Winchester
Many Kentuckians know the city of Winchester as the place that produces their beloved soft drink Ale-8-One. But Winchester residents know and love their town for its oft-overlooked small-town graces: Southern hospitality, genuine customer service and a tediously restored historic downtown, including a large collection of intact Victorian architecture.
In addition to the typical small town businesses - law offices, banks, country style cafes - Main Street in Winchester contains the original city courthouse; a beautifully remodeled opera house ballroom and art gallery; the Leeds Theater (still showing classic movies like Rear Window, To Kill A Mockingbird, and The African Queen in its original 1926 building); Shaolin's Martial Arts Academy; an original corner drug store; a quilt shop; and Bridges and Lane Hardware Store, which is located in a building that has housed various hardware stores for over 100 years. New businesses downtown include Vittorino's Cucina (an Italian eatery), Expressions CoffeeHouse, Bluegrass Design Company, Jako's Homemade Candles, Three's Company (a boutique), and Threads, a children's consignment store.
With a population just over 16,000, Winchester's downtown is modest, and it doesn't have any posh dining establishments, which seems to be the factor that puts most small towns on the map in the region. What it does have going for it is a high ratio of active to empty storefronts on Main Street, a friendly and helpful community atmosphere, and businesses that work together toward each other's success.
Lara Thornbury, Main Street manager and executive director of Winchester First, a state and nationally accredited Main Street Program, encourages healthy competition between the downtown businesses. Similarly, she likes to work with the surrounding communities to promote the Central Kentucky region as a whole. Winchester is currently launching a television ad campaign to promote its downtown, which is characterized by its historic architecture.
"Under no circumstance do I recommend tearing down a building," Thornbury said. "Once you start tearing down what makes you different, what makes you unique, you lose that."
Winchester First is a private/public organization - it is supported by the city government but also very much reliant on the support and participation of local businesses. Serving as a medium between building owners and prospective tenants/business owners, Thornbury works extremely hard to recruit new businesses to come downtown, and she doesn't like finding 'just anybody' to fill a building.
"I think it's like a puzzle, finding someone who appreciates the building," she said. She encourages small independent businesses over chains or corporations, for the most part. "You want someone to come downtown who has a vested interest, Ö not just someone who comes in as an island. We encourage partnership."
Winchester resident Emily Ginter admits that when she decided to start a children's consignment store with three of her best friends, she was a little wary about locating the business downtown. They were set to move to the Bypass, a more suburban development area that felt more comfortable to her and her partners. She abashedly cites a stigma about downtown that people like Thornbury have been working hard to reverse. Upon Thornbury's insistence, the women came to Main Street to look at a property that had recently been purchased and awarded a faÁade grant for much-needed renovations. Ginter and her business partners fell in love with the spot, and since the July 1 opening of their store, Threads, they have been falling in love with downtown Winchester.
Ginter, who has lived in Winchester her entire life, never knew how much she would love working downtown. She's been shocked at how much pedestrian traffic they get at their location; it's generated more business than any of their advertising efforts. She has also been awestruck by the support of the fellow downtown businesses. During their grand opening, one by one, practically every business on the block brought gifts from their own shop to welcome them to Main Street.
"We didn't think we'd have any of this," Ginter said. "The support has been overwhelming from the downtown."
Paris
The Main Street stretch of Paris, Kentucky, is another product of much time, effort, and money put into the preservation and revitalization of historic buildings downtown. With a handful of new restaurants garnering attention from the Central Kentucky region and beyond, a variety of downtown Paris businesses are reaping the benefits.
"People just drive through and they just fall in love with it," Paris Main Street manager and tourism director Linda Stubblefield said of the town. "I think we're being discovered."
The Main Street Program in Paris has been active since 1992, and has seen the renovation of 15 buildings in the past two years, with more renovations currently underway. Many projects have utilized faÁade grants administered through GOLD, a state-funded program that works with Renaissance on Main to reward communities that "take steps to revitalize and maintain vibrant, economically sound development in Kentucky's downtown areas."
The new four-lane highway from Lexington to Paris certainly helps encourage travel from Paris' most populous neighbor, and the surprising variety of restaurants, antique stores, and art galleries give visitors a reason to return. I visited Paris one recent evening to have dinner at Migdalia's, an upscale restaurant situated in a remodeled 1850s building that was at one time the Odd Fellows Hall. Admittedly, Main Street traffic is somewhat sparse at 8 p.m., but the restaurant was certainly bustling for a Tuesday evening and the food was as good as one would expect from any fine dining establishment in Lexington. Should I return to Paris for lunch - as I certainly intend to - I have the option of eating at a number of restaurants situated in preserved historic buildings: Varden's, a cafÈ situated in the historic George S. Varden Drug Store building; Ardery's, an antique store that serves lunch at a restored authentic fountain counter; Stonefence Bistro; or Campbell's.
The unique historic atmosphere, paired with the quality and variety of dining options, is moving Paris quickly up the list of destination spots in Central Kentucky. The Paris-Bourbon County Chamber of Commerce Web site outlines the following additional reasons to make downtown Paris a destination spot: "You can shop for fine antiques, unique gifts, furniture, art, appliances, jewelry, flowers, shoes, candles, Mexican groceries, make-up or hair care products, or you can fill a prescription, have a picture framed, have your suit cleaned, have some furniture refinished, rent a movie, have your business cards printed, shoot a game of pool, exercise, get a massage, or choose from a variety of specialty restaurants - all in downtown Paris!"
Midway
Conveniently nestled at a crossroads halfway between Frankfort and Lexington as well as Versailles and Georgetown is Midway - the state's oldest and quite possibly most charming railroad town. Southern Living touted Midway as an "Undiscovered Town" in 2004, but with a recent influx of wonderful new restaurants and shops garnering lots of attention, Midway is no longer considered a well-kept secret to very many Central Kentuckians.
Mark Dennen, Kentucky Main Street Program's staff architect, sees Midway as a great success story, recalling the ups and downs the city has seen in recent decades.
"I remember when I first came to Kentucky, in the late '70s and through the early '80s, Midway was a really vibrant place. It was a place people thought to go to," he said. "Then they sort of lost their focus. It began to decline - they were losing their retail, there was no place to eat there, Ö It just was not the destination."
During the '90s, downtown Midway saw the opening of new businesses in an attempt to restore life to Main Street - many of them, including Bistro La Belle and the Historic Midway Museum Store, are alive and well today. The town still saw its share of difficult times, with two infrastructure projects - a federally-funded water run-off project and a streetscape project - basically turning Main Street into a dirt road for an extended stint in the early part of this decade. Though the projects were ultimately beneficial to the downtown, they all but ceased pedestrian traffic during that time.
Dennen credits the strength of Midway's Main Street Program throughout this time with getting the town to the bustling tourist destination it has become today. "They were focused on managing the issues, promoting the downtown, keeping people aware of what's going on and why they were doing all this," he recalled. "All four points were really hit hard on the Main Street front, and it really is a great success story."
The success of downtown Midway may be threatened by an impending mixed-use commercial and residential development slated for Midway Station, just across the highway from downtown, pending rezoning approval from the city council. Despite mixed reviews, including some adamant opposition from locals, the project received approval from the Woodford County planning commission at a July 10 meeting. It is criticized by some as being too dramatic, out of scale, and out of place for the community (sound familiar, Lexington?).
But in the meantime, pedestrian traffic in downtown Midway couldn't be better, and practically every storefront on Main Street contains a charming independent business. Contributing significantly to its destination status are the restaurants - Midway eateries cater to any class of visitor, from the old-fashioned Darlin' Jean's Apple Cobbler CafÈ to award-winning fine dining establishments (Heirloom was recently named "Best New Restaurant in Kentucky" by Prep Magazine, and Black Tulip attracts much of the European upscale equestrian-oriented clientele that has been patronizing Lexington's best restaurants for years). Yes, many of these businesses are world-class, which shouldn't come as a surprise to Central Kentuckians who know the uniqueness of their surroundings - but in a railroad town of less than 2,000, somehow it still kind of does.
According to Midway Business Association president and owner of Quirk CafÈ Grayson Vandegriff, the biggest problem downtown Midway faces right now is that sometimes there's not enough parking to accommodate all the patrons. "It's a great problem to have," he said with a laugh. "It's such a destination. We don't even have to advertise."
The current state of the economy has left business owners all over the country fearing for the future, but Vandegriff isn't worried. He says downtown Midway has been on a huge upswing, despite national economic woes and despite all odds. He's also not worried about new development hurting his business.
"I don't think that it will," he said. "I hope that it won't."
Similarly, Mary Thoreson, owner of the eclectic art gallery and shop Damselfly, sees living in Midway as living in a parallel universe of sorts. She lived in New York, New Jersey, Alaska, and Virginia before ending her "gyspy venture" in Midway with her artist husband, Eric.
"We love it here," she said. "It's like not living in such a hectic world."